So you’re a month out from the due date. The nursery is painted, the crib is in place, and you can feel the baby inside of you, kicking and trying to get out. It’s an exciting and scary time, and you’ve probably many hours getting prepared and going over your to-do list. Everything from doctor’s appointments to new toys and new clothes – you have it covered. But there’s one category you might have overlooked, even if it is less important than the others: technology. For raising your child, making your life easier, and helping to preserve memories, certain tech products are a worthy consideration at this exciting juncture.
Baby monitors
Gone are the days when a staticy radio signal was all that connected the sleeping child upstairs and the parents downstairs. Monitors these days are high tech affairs, and since there are so many options on the market, it’s worth considering exactly what features you are looking for. Do you want a portable video monitor? Or maybe one with multiple cameras and excellent video quality? Or do you prefer just an old-school audio system that can easily alert you to any cry? There are monitors available that do all this and more and many are very affordable.
Electronic Baby Assistants
For tired and overworked parents, keeping the new baby on a regular schedule can be more difficult than you might think. Planning feeding times, nap times, and diaper changes can get confusing pretty quickly, which is why several devices on the market allow parents to keep track of it all. These portable units can be used as record-keepers, task reminders, and useful analytical tools. They can import data into computer spreadsheets, which doctors find particularly useful come check-up time.
Cameras
Even if the first few months are stressful now, you’re going to want to look back in them in the future. So will your child. Consequently, having a digital camera or camcorder is a necessity that many parents don’t think about until later, when they regret not having that all-important visual documentation of their child’s early growth. If you’re not a big picture- taking family, a cell phone camera should be able to provide some good snapshots. After all, cell phone cameras have incredible quality these days, and recently released phones like the new Samsung galaxy s2 have multiple cameras, high pixilation, and software that can integrate with flash and record high definition movies.
2 Comments
Very true all of it. Especially the camera. Must have pictures of the new baby to look back on!
I love the video monitors! They are fabulous! I love being able to look in on the child to see if they are actually awake or not, even when they aren’t making noise.