7 New Tech Gadgets Every Parent Needs to Know About
After a week interviewing companies and walking the show floor at the International CES in Las Vegas, I usually come home wanting almost all of the latest tech on display; from flexible laptops to connected appliances to gorgeous OLED or 4K TV’s. This year, I want smart pacifiers, baby bottles and a connected thermometer and I don’t even have a small child anymore.
That’s right, after one week of interviewing companies and brands focused on making products for families, I want to have a baby all over again just to be able to use and take advantage of all the innovative, connected products I saw. Well, almost, but not quite!
I can tell you with absolute certainty it’s never been a better time to be a parent, and I am insanely jealous of the new tech available to help make life with children just a little bit easier. I mean, it’s stressful enough being a new mom, right? Parents today need every bit of help they can get and luckily, CES was full of gadgets for babies, kids and the whole family.
TempTraq Thermometer
Stressed-out parents know there’s nothing more difficult than trying to get a crying baby’s temperature. And even older kids who can use an oral thermometer often have a difficult time keeping still enough to get a good reading. The TempTraq from Blue Spark Technologies is a wearable, wireless Bluetooth thermometer – an adhesive patch – that adheres to a child’s armpit sending real time info to a smartphone app. It will record 24 hours’ worth of temperature updates and send an alert if there’s a spike in fever in the middle of the night, which might give parents a better night’s sleep. TempTraq is currently awaiting FDA approval so there’s no pricing info at this time.
BabyGlgl Bottle
Yes, there is now a connected baby bottle. Before you say that’s crazy, consider how helpful it would be for a working parent to know that their baby was fed, how much was consumed and at what time, without having to ask 20 questions of the nanny. The BabyGlgl smart baby bottle holder also lets the user know if the baby is getting too much air and provides feedback on holding the bottle at the right angle. All the info tracked is sent via Bluetooth to a smartphone app. BabyGlgl comes in five colors and will be available this June.
SAFE Kids Paxie Band
The SAFE Kids Paxie Band is a fun-looking wearable for kids that might keep parents from becoming helicopter parents. SAFE, which stands for Security Application for Everyone, created the GPS-enabled wearable and smartphone app to give parents peace of mind while letting kids have a little independence. It measures GPS activity and has boundary settings so parents know if their kids are straying out of the neighborhood or not where they’re supposed to be. Users can create a profile for each child that measures their route, ambient temperature and heart rate. The rechargable…