Here are five wearables that won’t freak out your parents, and won’t make your baby’s outfit seem like the most boring thing ever.
Whether you’re planning on living with your baby or simply shopping for some cute onesie-wearing accessories, you may have some concerns about what you’ll find on the market for infant gear. Will the products be too babyish? Will they be baby-proofed enough? Are they creepy enough?
Are baby-friendly wearables just a fad, or are they a breakthrough technology that will be a huge part of your little one’s future? Regardless, a wearable can provide you with peace of mind—and more importantly, a greater understanding of your baby.
The day we switched to baby gear may have been the day portable gear crossed the line. I really didn’t want it to rhyme. We all agreed that the wearables market is developing tools to track everything from sun exposure to a better volleyball game, but when you put babies on the changing table, parents are wary.
Are these toys just tricks to embarrass our parents? I doubt it, but they are very nice. Most are aimed at parents rather than children. I’m not kidding, they’re all for parents, but many of these wearables will never be worn by a child. Just relax. It’s all right, it’s all right. That’s the day after you were worried about yesterday.
Ritmo There was a time when, if a mother wanted to play music for her unborn baby, she had to destroy perfectly good headphones by pulling them over her stomach. Besides, she wouldn’t be entirely sure that those tunes would cause the amniotic fluid in her womb to explode.
Ritmo, which means rhythm in Spanish, solved this dilemma. They have developed a belt that is stretched over the mother’s tummy and is equipped with four high-quality mini speakers to rock the baby with the music of your choice. The enhanced version features digital acoustic technology that learns the nature of sounds to reduce decibels.
Yeah, it’s tuning your kid’s music. Let’s see how your home entertainment system is doing. The original Ritmo costs about $80 and the upgraded Ritmo costs about $140. A child playing Bach may not benefit from that in terms of development, but good music played softly can’t hurt. Bleep Bleeps Ultra Stan
Thanks to the exclusive Bleep Bleeps application that comes with the Ultra Stan, you can see and hear your unborn child in the womb. The application allows you to focus, capture still images, take photos and record audio. You can keep in touch with your baby throughout your pregnancy.
Bleep Bleeps offers a range of products for parents and their babies, even as the babies become babies. Ultra Stan’s offer is a very clever way to get you on board, as you’ll probably want to buy everything they offer, but it seems worth it. Why not? Why shouldn’t parents be able to stay by their child’s side for the entire trip? Unfortunately, you will have to stand in line for this. This item has not been shipped yet, but you can be added to the list.
Bellabeat, perhaps the best combination of the first two devices on this list, allows you to hear your baby’s heartbeat and play music. However, it is hardly sustainable. It’s quite bearable. Bellabeat makes the anxieties of expectant parents bearable because you can listen whenever you want. With the Bellbeat app, you can record what you hear and share it with your friends.
Bellabeat is designed to be valuable even after the baby is born and turns into an attractive baby monitor. Shell is able to identify seven different types of crying and then gives you tips on how to deal with them. It even controls the climate of your home for temperature and humidity. Is that reliability? Bellybuds
Bellybuds is inspired by Ritmo and allows parents to play melodies, white noise, mom and dad’s voice, or whatever the child wants to hear. The buttons are discreet, fit under clothing and do not require a belt or strap. They are sutured to the skin using the same technology used in hospitals for monitoring – a medical grade adhesive.
Of course, BellyBuds comes with an app that lets you choose what your baby can hear safely. If playing tunes for your child doesn’t warm your heart enough, know that with every purchase of Bellybuds, a percentage of the purchase price will be donated to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. You’re not just helping your child.
Starling 82% of brain growth occurs before the age of three. The best food for this growth is food. Starling is trying to help parents harness this knowledge by developing a wearable device for toddlers that counts words in real time to help parents talk more. The more they talk, the more the baby’s brain develops. It’s that simple.
While the first four wearables on this list focused more on the lifestyle of mom and dad than that of a child, Starling focuses on the child and the adult they will one day become. Almost more interesting than the product is the story of the founders, who began looking for ways to help students learn.
They began by explaining how they could help high school students, then elementary school and finally children. For $199, you can pre-order Starling. As it stands now, it will be delivered around August.
The beauty of these wearable devices is that they have no ulterior motive for getting your kids addicted to wearable devices. These are not kid-sized fitness trackers, because that would be rude.
These are all tools to make parenting easier, more fun and more fulfilling. Why not? You and your child deserve every chance you can get. This week I received my second gift in my mail from the internet. The gifts were a pair of smart babysocks and a smart dress for my baby. Well, not really, but I understand the sentiment..
