How to keep Amazon's Alexa from becoming a parenting nightmare

Amazon's Echo has been the hot tech gadget to own since it first launched more than two years ago.

The home speaker pairs with a digital assistant, Alexa, allowing users to play music, search recipes or check the weather through simple voice commands.

As a parent, the Echo can be your best friend. It tracks to-do-lists, what you need at the grocery store, and can even help with homework.

But it's not perfect. For example, one six-year-old in Texas was chatting with Alexa, and ended up buying four pounds of cookies and a dollhouse worth $170. Then there was the tale of a young boy requesting a song and receiving a very NSFW response, as this YouTube clip shows (again, it's really NSFW).

As of now, Amazon Echo and Alexa don't include parental controls. But there are some simple tips you can use to make your Echo more "child proof":

Add a PIN for purchases. Saying something as simple as "Alexa, buy paper towels," is handy. If you want to prevent unintended purchases, Amazon lets users add a four-digit PIN through the Alexa app. It also works with other third-party apps including BMW and Capital One. After making the request, Alexa will ask for the pin to confirm your purchase. Just make sure your kids aren't listening, too.

Change the wake word. For those parents with children named Alex, Alexis or any variation, using Echo can be very annoying. In the Alexa app, users can change the word used to wake up Alexa to Amazon, Echo or — if you love Star Trek — Computer.

When in doubt, disable. Is ordering pizza via Echo awesome? Yes. Is it worth it if your kid accidentally orders 20 large pepperoni pies to deliver to your home? I'm gonna say no. If you're worried adding an app might lead to something similar, disable it or don't use it. Fortunately, Alexa has many other skills at its disposal to keep everyone happy.

More on Alexa

Seven unexpected Amazon Alexa abilities

5 secrets to using Amazon's ‘Alexa’ and Echo

Alexa is coming to many more devices this year

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.