Categories
Connected Objects Kids/Babies Sleep

Suzy Snooze helps Suzy –- and everybody else –- get some sleep

Every parent wants their babies to get some sleep because if an infant doesn’t sleep, the adults don’t either.

patent-claimedSuzy Snooze is a three-in-one device that uses light and sound to soothe kids to sleep — helping their parents get some sleep in the process — and also helps wake kids up. Suzy evolves with children through their early years — serving as first a baby monitor, then a lullaby nightlight, and then a toddler sleep trainer. It plugs into a wall socket and comes with U.S., U.K. and European adapters.

Suzy works out of the box, but also in conjunction with a mobile device app that allows parents to control the device’s functions remotely, including whether to leave the nightlight on or off.

Categories
Kids/Babies Nutrition/Hydration

Proacmom smart baby bottle delivers push-button heating

The problem with baby bottles is that it can be really hard to get the milk inside them to reach the perfect temperature for babies and to then stay at that perfect temperature for very long. That’s especially the case while traveling.

Proacmom is a smart, rechargeable baby bottle designed to solve that problem. It heats milk in the bottle with just the push of a button, then warms and promises to hold the milk temperature for hours. Proacmom features an LCD thermometer strip that gauges the milk’s temperature, enabling feeding to be done at an optimum temperature. Its double wall insulating layer reduces thermal loss and retains heat, so frequent reheating isn’t needed. Included are a detachable lithium-ion battery and control unit, and Proacmom can be charged using a Micro USB mobile charger, car charger or PC.

Categories
Kids/Babies Wearables

Starling helps babies’ vocabularies shine bright

There have been several wearable devices for babies. But Starling is a newcomer with a twist –- a smart device that tracks the number of words that a baby says and hears each day.

patent-claimedStarling is shaped like a star and can be clipped onto a baby’s clothes or wherever he or she is sitting. The small, patent-pending device has been designed for parents who want to take advantage of research showing that early vocabulary development can impact a child’s success in life because a significant amount of brain development happens before the age of three, according to its Indiegogo campaign.

Categories
Kids/Babies

Lullafi bably sleep aid is the next best thing to creating a cribmobile

Lots of new parents know that sometimes, when their baby won’t go to sleep, they have to try the car. For whatever reason, babies love sleeping in the car. Parents have been known to embark on trips to nowhere in the wee hours in the hopes of quiet slumber.

patent-claimedLullafi has figured out why the car works for getting babies to go to sleep. In order to save parents the hassle of late night driving, Lullafi mimics the soothing effects of the car for babies. This small device clips onto cribs and produces soft vibrations and soothing sounds to get baby to fall asleep. In addition, it has Bluetooth integration which lets parents stream whatever they want to the device, whether it’s ambient noise or their child’s favorite lullaby.

Most parents welcome any solution to restless babies. If Lullafi really performs as promised, it’ll make a welcome addition to the baby product market. Parents interested in this product will need to donate $55 for estimated delivery in September 2015. Lullafi is hoping to raise an ambitious $190,000 with the help of Kickstarter.

Categories
Cycling Kids/Babies

Swedish Påhoj offers a stroller and bike seat in one for the young on the run

Travelling with a toddler or small child can be quite the chore. Especially when you consider carseats, strollers, and other safety measures that must be taken.

The Swedish-made Påhoj hopes to make transporting kids a bit easier. This combination child bike seat and stroller clips onto bikes, but also has wheels for ground travel. The black seat looks like a much sleeker bike seat with holes in the back for ventilation. It comes equipped with foot rests and a retractable handle that stays out of the way on a bike, but comes in handy for the stroller. Påhoj is lightweight and has an adjustable harness for kids of different sizes.

The only thing missing from Påhoj’s campaign is specification of which ages the product is appropriate for. Other than that, this product will definitely come in handy for parents, especially those in bike-friendly cities and countries. One will cost kr2,260 (~$249) with estimated delivery in December 2015. Påhoj is looking for kr500,000 (~$57,800) in funding on Kickstarter.

Categories
Connected Objects Kids/Babies

Quiet Night offers music for baby and sleep for parents, allegedly

Babies are cute, except for when they wake up at all hours of the night. When most babies wake up, they don’t really need anything. Rather, they just get bored lying in bed, thereby leaving it up to the parents to rouse themselves to entertain their child back to sleep.

patent-claimedQuiet Night offers a way for parents to sleep through the night while keeping their alert baby entertained. This product consists of a handle that lives in baby’s crib. When the baby wakes up, he/she is supposed to grab the handle which will play music. The longer the baby holds the handle, the more the system will remember that song as soothing to the child. To change the song, the baby need only let go and pull the handle again. Quiet Night features over 125 classical/soothing/acoustic songs handpicked by child psychologists.

The whole idea of soothing classical music comforting a restless child is the stuff of WASPy dreams. The actual execution is doubtful, however. How is an infant supposed to know how to control the music or that holding the handle longer indicates that they like the song? The whole things sounds a little ridiculous and is made even more so by the flaunting of partnering up with child psychologists who supposedly helped design the product. Still, tired parents dazzled at the thought of a full night’s sleep can have one of their own for $59 with delivery set for October 2015. Quiet Night is looking for $100,000 in funding on Indiegogo with a campaign end date of April 23.

Categories
Kids/Babies Wearables

Baby Check checks on your baby’s health so you can rest easy

When someone is sick, they tell the doctor what’s wrong. Babies, however, can’t communicate except through crying. So when there’s a problem, it can be hard to tell right away whether it warrants a visit to the doctor or not.

Baby Check is a wearable for babies. Like many adult wearables, it keeps an eye on health by monitoring temperature, sleep, position and medicine administration. It stays on the arm and is made from safe materials meaning that it’s fine for baby to wear all day and night. The information detected by the armband syncs up with an accompanying Android/iOS app. It tracks data over time and allows for high temperature alarms to be set so that parents know exactly when their baby’s fever spikes. Baby Check runs on a rechargeable battery with a life of about one year.

All in all, Baby Check appears to be another great product for helicopter parents, much like the Fever Smart. While temperatures and sleep patterns aren’t essential for parents to keep super close track of, there’s value in being able to keep tabs on sleeping positions as babies aren’t supposed to sleep on their stomachs. Parents can donate $50 for their own with delivery in June 2015. Baby Check is hoping to raise $35,000 in funding on Kickstarter by April 1.

Categories
Health and Wellness Kids/Babies

BrushyBall stays a head by teaching kids how to brush teeth

Getting kids to brush their teeth is another one of those parental challenges, and it’s one that has the potential to make for some very long nights.

In order to motivate kids to brush their teeth and take the mundane routine out of it, BrushyBall  was created. As noted in Episode 6 of the Backerjack podcast, the battery-operated personal tooth brushing coach for kids has teeth that light up in a specific sequence of six sections. The toothbrush training toy, designed by a dentist, teaches kids by having them follow along with the flashing lights. Music and verbal cues are a part of the thorough process that lasts for about two minutes.

The plastic Muppet-like head isn’t too intimidating, and the developer would ideally like to license well-known characters to keep kids more engaged, but it seems to take up a fair amount of countertop space. Backers looking for a way to encourage kids to floss might want to check out Gummy Floss. This campaign seeks to raise 50,000 by April 5, 2015. For $20, backers get one product with an expected delivery of April 2015.

Categories
Health and Wellness

Fever Reliever lets you wrap your head and keep some cool

A migraine headache or a fever can be pretty debilitating. And if one’s child has a severe fever, it can be scary and challenging trying to get them cooled down.

Fever Reliever is a cooling head wrap that easily holds ice packs on one’s head so that they don’t fall off. The opening in the back of the gadget allows the user to slide cold packs into the front and back of the headband, and then secure the wrap on the head. It fastens via Velcro connectors, which are positioned toward the side of the head. The product can be used for either children or adults. A high fever means that staying hydrated is also very important, so backers might want to check out Square Bottle and Cirkul.

This campaign seeks to raise $16,000 by March 4. For $15, backers get one product with an expected delivery in April of this year.

Categories
Home Kids/Babies Safety

Toddler Safety Electrical Plugs play hide and seek from little fingers

It seems like baby-proofing the house is one of those tasks that is really never done – kind of like parenting. And for whatever reason, toddlers seem to be especially fascinated by electrical outlets. Toddler Safety Electrical Plugs is kind of an out of sight, out of mind gadget that hides the electrical outlet from small fingers, but still allows mom or dad to easily access it when it is needed. Initial installation may be somewhat inconvenient, since it involves using a screwdriver and removing the existing faceplate, but after that, the product is touted as offering one-hand operation convenience.

There is actually a wide variety of outlet covers out there with child safety in mind. This particular product seems to have a similar design as the KidCo Outlet Plug Cover. One of the more popular covers among parents is Munchkin because they are extremely easy to use and inexpensive.  Backers with toddlers may also want to check out the PopSwitch and Bright Switch campaigns. This campaign seeks to raise $5,000, however may have trouble doing so as it is offering no reward tiers.