I've been having this argument with my wife for years. Even before kids could crawl she was wigging out on me. She grew up in a house with 0 firearms, much less any that weren't properly secured. A firearm for bumps in the night are most effective if (A) you can access them quickly, quietly, and efficiently, (B) has a high threat intimidation/damage: operation ratio (C) it can compensate for operator error.
Handguns are awesome for CQB if kept amber/red and close, but to be truly safe, a pistol is empty and locked. Try being the intruder for a second… his eyes are adjusted to the low light more than yours (not to mention what if you have impaired/corrected vision, that means your night vision is most likely even more impaired) and he’s trying to be as quiet as possible, so his hearing is in overdrive. Here you come out your room with a pistol equipped with a light or even worse a laser (lasers are a two way street, as it’s a dead give away to your exact location), and let’s hope that you’re not leaning on the erratic spray and pray method of 9mm all through your house, because it take’s a lot to shoot accurately under pressure in a real life scenario with tons of adrenaline pumping through you. Oh, and did you remember to put that extra mag in your pj’s so you can reload after it took emptying that Glock for your focus to come back?
I’m not saying this is the way, just a way. I prefer the 12 ga. for home defense. 870 with the 6+1. I took a couple old speaker magnets wrapped once with cut up rags and stuck my pump to the bed frame hidden behind my wife’s bed skirt. Chamber empty ready to be racked, and 6 more on standby in the saddle. Ok, so rewind….
You come out your room shotgun in hand, with one hard rack, you just made the intruder shit himself, because it's like my drill sergeant said back on 04, "Not everybody speaks english, but they do speak weapon.", SSG Hursh. It’s easier for one finger to waste rounds down range than it is for two hands to pump and pull, forcing your instincts to make each round count. The audible from one round should be enough to clear the threat out of your immediate area, sending you into room clearance mode with 11 rounds to go. Less fear of over penetration through your little one’s walls, and more confidence to leave a “prepped” weapon in plain sight. But if a shotgun isn’t your cup of tea, then I’d recommend one of these bolted to the side of your headboard,

Gun Vault

more thought. at this point she is too young to rack a shotgun so for now it would be okay but there always is a chance.

IMO racking a shotgun slide is more likely to get you killed. Just think about it... It's a dead giveaway you are armed. An armed intruder won't hesitate to pull the trigger if he knows you're armed. The tactical advantage lies with surprise.

All my home defense guns are condition 1. An unloaded gun is a paperweight. Op: your best bet is a biometric safe on the nightstand.

That bottom link would be in my house if it was in stock lol