There is an extensive line of child safety devices out there intended to give parents an added sense of comfort about their child's safety. These range from door- and window-mounted entry alarms to necklace or bracelet transmitters. The safety measures you choose for your child will depend on his or her age as well as your preferred level of vigilance.

Many parents are content simply to affix a door alarm to their child's room, knowing that their son or daughter has no reason to get up and leave that room in the middle of the night. This is especially the case with infants and toddlers, who may already have a walkie-talkie style monitor in the room to begin with. Older children, however, cannot be expected to stay put in the middle of the night, as they may need to get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. If you're concerned about the safety of older children, a good home alarm system is probably the most effective measure.

Portable Child Safety Devices

Just about every parent has felt the sense of horror that comes when a child disappears from view in a mall or shopping center. To combat this, portable child safety devices provide both parent and child with a necklace or bracelet, one of which acts as transmitter, the other as receiver. If the distance between the two exceeds a set limit (which you can establish and change as you see fit), an alarm sounds and the system goes into search mode. As the signal grows stronger, you and your child are getting nearer to one another.

One of the biggest selling points of neck- and wrist-worn child safety devices is that they're easily concealed. Most times, your child's transmitter is placed inside an animal-shaped case and worn beneath the collar. Better still, these safety products are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. Most require one or two standard batteries and alert you when they're ready to be changed.