Church nursery cameras
Let parents see the nursery from the service
A mother who has just handed her baby to a volunteer she met two minutes ago does not hear much of the sermon. CareCam gives her a private, silent live view of the nursery on her own phone, only during the service she is attending, from one or two cameras.
Video only. Nothing recorded. No shared password.
15+ years of parent viewing60+ centers servedmonth-to-month, cancel anytime
What a parent in the sanctuary knows today
Most churches already have a way to reach a parent when a child needs them. Very few have a way to tell a parent that everything is fine, which is the thing a new mother is sitting there wondering.
| What the church uses | What it tells the parent | Where it falls short |
|---|---|---|
| Pager or a number on the screen | Only that something is wrong, after it is wrong | A parent who hears nothing still does not know how the child is doing. |
| Texting the nursery volunteer | Whatever the volunteer has time to type | It pulls a volunteer's attention off the children to answer a phone. |
| A window in the nursery door | Everything, to anyone walking the hallway | The parent has to leave the service, and the child sees them and starts crying. |
| Sharing the security-camera app | Every camera in the building, all week | One shared password, usually with audio, and no way to remove one person. |
Keep the pager. A live view answers the other question, and it answers it without a volunteer picking up a phone or a parent appearing at the door.
The camera follows your service times
A church nursery is open a few hours a week, on a fixed schedule. In CareCam each of those times is a group with its own viewing window. A family is approved for the times it uses the nursery, and the camera is simply not available to them outside those times.
| Nursery is open | Example window | Who can watch |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, first service | 8:45 to 10:15 AM | Families checked in to the nursery for that service |
| Sunday, second service | 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM | Families who attend the later service, or both |
| Wednesday evening | 6:15 to 8:00 PM | Parents in midweek groups and choir rehearsal |
| Weekday mothers' group or Bible study | 9:15 to 11:30 AM | The mothers in that group, for that morning |
Special services are an approval with an end date. Christmas Eve, a wedding, a conference weekend or Vacation Bible School week: approve the families for that event and the access ends on its own.
Volunteers, child protection, and what the camera is for
A church nursery runs on volunteers who rotate, which is the reason parents ask to see in and the reason the setup has to respect the people serving. Volunteers should know the room is on camera during services. With no audio, their conversations and the songs they sing to a fussy baby stay in the room.
The camera belongs alongside your child protection policy. It does not stand in for background checks, the two-adult rule or secure pickup. What it adds is that the nursery is visible to the parents of the children in it, during the time those children are there, and to nobody else.
It also helps the families you most want to keep. Young parents who are visiting decide quickly whether they are comfortable leaving a child, and "you can see the nursery on your phone during the service" is an easy thing for a greeter to say at check-in.
Putting it in writing? See staff & volunteer consent and the camera laws in your state. Running a weekday preschool or Parents Day Out as well? See church daycare cameras.
Setup for a nursery with one or two cameras
- 1
One camera per room
One wide camera for the nursery, and a second for the toddler room if you have one. If the church already has a network camera there, it likely stays. A new PoE camera costs about $56.
- 2
Plug in the CareCam box
Your facilities or IT volunteer adds CareCam's pre-configured appliance ($49 one-time through Oct 31, normally $349) to the church network. We link the cameras remotely; nothing is opened to the internet.
- 3
Enter your service times
Add each service or group as a viewing window. Put the sign-up link on the nursery check-in desk and approve families from the dashboard.
About $18 a week: $79/month for up to 4 cameras. Unlimited family accounts, free for parents, month to month with no contract. The only other cost is a one-time $49 appliance (through Oct 31, normally $349).
Church nursery camera questions
Can parents really watch during the service without disturbing anyone?
We only need one or two cameras. Is that too small for you?
We only run the nursery a few hours a week. Does it cost less?
How does a first-time visitor get access?
Our nursery is staffed by rotating volunteers. Do they need to agree to this?
Does this replace our child protection policy?
Where should the camera not point?
Can we use the church's existing security cameras?
Ask about your church nursery
Ask about parent viewing for your church nursery
Tell us how many rooms you have and your service times, and whether there is a camera in the nursery already. We'll confirm what you need and send an exact price. We reply by email, usually within one business day.