The pink teddy looks like any other soft toy but the £200-plus price tag betrays the high-definition mini-camera concealed in his stuffing. Designed to record his young owner's every sleeping hour and waking move, teddy is just one of numerous child protection devices on sale through Internet shopping sites.
For your child's extra safety, you can hang a high-pitch two-tone whistle around their neck, clip a personal alarm to their waistband or strap them into an electronic tagging gadget which monitors their direction and distance from home. Fear sells, and from the number of security product manufacturers doing business on the web, it seems there are plenty of nervous parents willing to buy.
The sales pitch is often emphasised by startling crime statistics. A child is kidnapped or goes missing in the US "every 40 seconds", one site screams. Happily, the incidence in Ireland is far less common, but the abduction of little Mary Maughan will have chilled every parent's blood and left them wondering what more they can do to safeguard their children. "Something like this has everybody horrified", says Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather, of the National Parents Council (Primary).
"But we can't organise our children as though this is something that happens all the time. We need them to grow up in a normal healthy atmosphere. That raises a dilemma for parents. Ideally, school buses would leave children to their front door, but that's not realistic - you would have to be going up every side road in the country.
"At the same time, this incident has shown that there may only be a few seconds or a few yards between safety and danger, and parents have to bear that in mind."
Ms Kilfeather is concerned that a quarter of all primary schools still do not offer the Department of Education's Stay Safe programme, which teaches children from junior infants upwards basic strategies for dealing with unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations.
"It gives children the confidence to decide something is not right and teaches them basic things like not talking to strangers, shouting and screaming to attract attention, running away and raising the alarm."
The chief executive of Barnardos, Mr Owen Keenan, favours empowering children to protect themselves rather than leaving the job to security devices. "You have to acknowledge the risk but also reassure children that it doesn't happen very often and that there are things you can do to prevent it.
"Most parents tell their children not to talk to strangers and so on, but parents too have to take a collective responsibility and, where children have to walk home alone, they should arrange a collection pool or at least have two or three walk together."
The Garda press office issues guidelines on child safety, including advice on using car pools and recommended childminders, and on teaching children to never talk to strangers.
"Even if it's someone asking for directions, children need to know they're not being rude if they don't respond but that the adult should know better than to ask a child", a spokeswoman said.
Other simple safeguards include dressing children in fluorescent or bright clothing, as a child who is noticeable is less likely to be targeted. "A whistle could also be useful, but on the same understanding that there will be no horseplay."