Kelsey Rose Thomas thought she was safely observing her toddler’s slumber. Turns out, she and her husband weren’t the only ones monitoring their baby, as explained in her now-viral TikTok. This isn’t the kind of stranger danger they teach you about in schools, so listen up.
The nightmare before nap time
If you’ve ever wondered why your little one suddenly wakes up screaming in sheer terror, you probably start with the usual suspects—bad dreams, sleep regression, or maybe even a fear of the dark. What you don’t expect is some rando potentially speaking to your kid via baby monitor in the middle of the night.
But that’s exactly what Kelsey and her husband began to suspect when their 2-year-old son, previously an “all-star sleeper,” suddenly started waking up hysterical. We’re talking full-blown panic, lights on, camera unplugged—basically, a toddler’s version of pulling the fire alarm.
She tells the Daily Dot, for two months, they tried everything to calm their child. Nightlights? Check. Sleep routine updates? Check. A call to a pediatric sleep consultant? Also check. Then one fateful night, Kelsey’s husband noticed something peculiar. “A red light comes on when somebody is watching on the Owlet Cam and my husband was getting our oldest son changed after bath time and he noticed the light was on.”
Normally, this wouldn’t be alarming—except it was past bedtime, Kelsey was downstairs, and neither of them had the app open. That’s suspicious.
So, he did what any rational man of the house would do: He called his wife. On speaker, right next to the camera, Kelsey’s husband asked, “Hey, are you watching through the app?”
She immediately responded, “No, why?”
And just like that—the red light turned off. “Imagine hearing a voice you don’t recognize in the middle of the night,” she told me, “That would terrify me, let alone a toddler!”
I’m scared just thinking about it. Poor baby.
A horrific hypothesis
To test the theory, Kelsey’s husband pretended to leave the room. Their son, now walking around, unknowingly triggered the camera’s red light again—and neither parent was logged in.
If you’re currently clutching your Wi-Fi router in horror, same.
Though they may never know who did it or exactly what was said to their son, their quick thinking saved him from more sleepless nights. He cheered as they unplugged it and said “Bye bye, camera!” Their sweet baby boy has slept soundly ever since.
The internet weighs in on Wi-Fi baby monitor hacks
For the uninitiated, Owlet makes smart baby monitors designed to let parents check in on their kids remotely. The Cam 1 model, which Kelsey received as a baby registry gift in 2024, streams live footage through an app—meaning it relies on Wi-Fi.
The problem? Any device connected to your network is a potential backdoor for hackers. Anything from weak passwords to outdated firmware can serve as an entryway. One TikTok commenter emphasized this, stating comprehensively, “This is usually a user security error not a product vulnerability. Change default passwords, change email passwords, use strong passwords especially for these type(sic) of devices. If it was hacked you have a hole somewhere else in your network. Suck(sic) as your email attached to owlet, or home network. You can also find your leaked passwords at sites like haveibeenpwned.” Roger that.
Reports of baby monitor breaches aren’t new and Kelsey certainly isn’t alone in this. Since posting her viral TikTok, she’s been flooded with supportive comments from other parents. One mom advised, “We got the HelloBaby monitor because I learned this is super common,” while another said, “We got that v tech one!!! No WiFi I’m too paranoid.” Some parents shared their traumatic stories in the comments, one mother detailing, “This happened to us too!! We heard a man’s voice on ours one night. Threw it away immediately,” while another said “someone hacked our non wifi baby monitor as well. it was a neighbor with a drone. we never figured out who it was. nothing is safe.”
Several users expressed outrage, one stating indignantly, “This makes me so angry like whoever does this should be put in jail for the rest of their lives.”
Where to now?
Despite not being a content creator, Kelsey took to the clock app to warn other parents. “Tiktok and social media act as great information-sharing opportunities, and I felt this super strong ‘mom’ urge to share our story,” she explained.
She also reached out to Owlet directly to report the issue, and while the company has responded, there’s still no clear answer on how the breach happened. They have yet to respond to the Daily Dot for comment.
For now, Kelsey and her family have sworn off Wi-Fi-dependent monitors. A friend gifted them a HelloBaby monitor, and based on TikTok recommendations, they’re considering VTech as another option. But honestly? They’re still traumatized enough to just go cameraless for a while. (One thing to note is that regardless of internet connection, electronic devices can be hacked. Two-factor authentication can serve as an additional layer of protection, but nothing is foolproof.) Kelsey explains, “It’s a bummer because as technology advances and we find new and more ways to stay connected, it also presents opportunities for people to hack into your life uninvited.” Literally.
@therealkelseyrose Going low fi from now on!! #owlethack #babysafety ♬ original sound – Kelsey Rose
No better time to unplug
Technology is cool—until it isn’t. And while smart devices like baby monitors offer convenience, they also come with risks that manufacturers and parents alike need to be fully aware of.
As for Kelsey? She’s logging off, unplugging, and definitely sleeping better (as is her toddler).
If you’ve got a Wi-Fi baby monitor, consider this your sign to quadruple-check those security settings. Or, as Kelsey put it, “Unplug that s*** immediately.”
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