With multiple applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) around home, cars and wearables, connected devices have finally tapped into childhood and parenting.
Since babies can’t communicate their desires and worries in any other way rather than crying, parents are in a desperate need of technology to decrypt their children’s needs. Well, good news, parents! We are about to praise mobile app development and connectivity for the smart products that introduce more safety and convenience into nursing.
Mimo
Created by Boston startup Rest Devices, Mimo is a smart onesie with a cute turtle-like tracker. The sensor within it monitors the baby’s respiration rate, temperature, sleep, body position and activity level. All collected data is transferred to the cloud and a nearby base station in real time, which allows parents and babysitters access and share it via any mobile device.
Changing Pad & Bottle Maker
Created by Itransition, a parenting IoT healthcare solution is a duo of standalone devices that target an infant’s physical development and happy tummy too.
A Changing Pad
Changing pads measure a kid’s weight and height during diaper changing, which eliminates the need to use any scales. The collected information can be accessed on any mobile device and gives parents a comprehensive report on their child’s development. With much more data points compared to regular weighing, the compiled overview is extremely useful for pediatricians to make an informed decision about the need to make changes in the baby’s nutrition or activity routine.
Bottle Maker
A magic wand for busy parents, this smart bottle maker is a fully autonomous system for preparing baby formula. It comprises a water pump, electric motor, warmer and 6 bottles. All that a parent needs to do is to define a fitting schedule and just grab a fresh bottle of formula whenever they need it.
Pacif-i
Pacif-i is a smart pacifier designed to hack parenthood, especially for first-time parents. It helps new moms and dads to cope with their anxiety about their baby’s temperature, especially when ill. The pacifier not only measures the temperature but also creates the time-stamped log, which correlates the changes in temperature with the administered medication. This way, parents can track the effect of treatment on their baby.
Moreover, thanks to a built-in proximity sensor, parents can review the child’s activity and get notified if their kid ventures out. The companion app allows setting the alarm triggered when a child wanders off the pre-defined distance (up to a range of 65 feet). Another alarm starts if a child misplaces or hides the pacifier.
Sproutling
Claiming to turn a newbie parent into a “baby-raising badass,” Sproutling is a wearable band that tracks an infant’s movements and learns from collected information. It can monitor a baby’s sleep and tell if it woke up or rolled over. After a few sleep cycles, the Sproutling companion app will be able to predict a baby’s naps and wake-ups, so that parents could plan their days better. The app will also send personalized tips on bedtime conditions and sleep improvement. Sproutling notifies parents if their baby’s heart rate is higher or lower than usual and if the room temperature is warmer or cooler than it is optimal for a happy sleep time.
Baby-movement Monitor
Based on the power of IBM Watson’s algorithms, the baby-movement monitor is equipped with the sensor that can grasp the exact moment a baby starts to wake up. Instead of running towards an already crying child, parents can anticipate the baby’s needs proactively, so that he or she could fall back to sleep immediately. So, more sleep time for everyone. The notifications can be sent via a call, email, text or tweet, and it’s even possible to update a Facebook status with the alert.
iSwimband
Babies can’t always sleep, can they? When it is time for activity, no safety measure can be extra, especially this one. iSwimband is an anti-drowning system that can be worn as a headband or a wristband. This water safety measure for pools, lakes, rivers and other waters is embedded with a sensor. It detects when the iSwimband was submerged in the water for an amount of time preceding the user-defined number and then alerts a companion app up to 100 feet away.
The Guardian Animals
The good old teddy bear becomes smarter and brings a company of animal guardians for a baby. Each one features a unique super power to measure a child’s vitals. Teddy the Guardian is a fuzzy white bear with a paw-placed sensor that measures body and surrounding temperature. The Tall Giraffe is a yellow and plushy pet monitoring a child’s posture and activity level. The cuddly Brave Lion is made to track a baby’s heart rate, blood oxygen saturation and Heart Rate Variability. All these animals can be good friends for children and valuable assistants for their parents at the same time, monitoring children’s vitals in a subtle way.
Connected Baby Care Makes Parenting Less Scary
For first-time parents, babies can be terrifying. As they can’t explain why they cry or what they want, the frustration from anticipation of sleepless hours and exhaustion is too real. The amount of responsibility can even scare off couples from having children altogether.
Thankfully, baby care mobile app development is booming. More and more products supporting quantified parenting emerge to shift the focus from constant checkups, worries and sleepless nights towards happy smiles, playing, first words and all heartwarming moments of raising a child.
We anticipate nothing but more advanced systems that will help rookie parents to tackle each and every challenge in their new roles.
About the Author: Abby Adams is a senior business analyst with over 5+ years’ experience in the healthcare domain.
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
