Tech that helped us during the first months with a newborn baby

14 Mar 2024 | #tech | #parenting

I work in tech, and while I try to maintain a healthy work-life balance, I still use many gadgets, so I thought to share which tech solutions helped us during the first month with our newborn baby.

Mobile app for baby tracking

In the hospital we were asked to keep track of when the baby ate, peed, and pooped, and the midwifes would regularly check this paper form. When we got home initially we were using a similar paper-based method, but then changed to a mobile app, and it has been a game changer. We can record on either one of our smart phone or smart watch and it syncs immediately. It also calculates how much time since the last feed/sleep/diaper change, which can help us plan (the baby will wake up soon) and also understand why she is crying (if she just ate 30 minutes ago but hasn’t had her diapers changed in an hour, then it might be diaper).

Based on a friend’s recommendation we went with the app named PiyoLog which is developed by a Japanese company, but has English UI too.

The free version works perfectly fine. If you pay, you get additional icon sets and colors, and the removal of a non-intrusive add from the bottom of the screen. I decided to pay just to support the developers (this is the first WearOS app that I find actually useful), but going with the free version is also totally fine.

Smart watches (for parents)

Both my wife and I have the 1st gen Pixel Watch, and it has been super helpful to help us keep track of our sleep. When we see that we only slept 5-6 hours a night, then we know we have to take a nap during the day, otherwise we will be really exhausted by 7pm (and that’s the time our baby tends to get fussy).

Also the app we use to record things about the baby (see above) has a companion app that works on WearOS, so when we change diapers in the middle of the night, it’s very easy to record it on the watch.

Baby monitor

I guess this is pretty self-explanatory: when the baby sleeps during the day, it’s nice that we can close the door of the bedroom and still keep an eye on her. Based on a friend’s recommendation we went with CuboAI Plus (referral link), but sofar the smartness part is more of a nuance than actually useful.

It detects if the baby’s face is covered and sends a notification to the phone. However our baby moves a lot and often brings her hand in front of her face for a few seconds, which results in a notification. There is also a notification every time the baby enters and leaves the view of the camera, which at this age only happens when we put the baby to bed or take her out, again not very useful at this point. There is also cry detection, which sends notifications too, even if the baby is not in her crib. So I’m often holding the baby, she cries, then I get a notification.

What works really well though is the night vision: even in pitch dark room the camera feed is fully visible (although in black and white), and the ability to go check the history and save images or videos from the past. Also the camera works with Google Home, so we can put the camera feed on our Nest Hub, which is really helpful when the baby is sleeping and we are in the living room.

Smart speaker

Our baby needs a lot of rocking, and walking around with her, and putting on some music during this helps us maintain the rhythm, and it also smooths the baby. Having a smart speaker (in our case a Nest Hub) is a great way to play the music.

Thermometers

Our baby was born in February, so rooms getting too cold is a concern. We put thermometers into all rooms and the crib, and often check on them to see if the temperature is still good. They also measure humidity, and we have been using humidifiers in the bedroom and living room to help with that.

Dimmable lights

After dinner we want to get the baby ready to sleep, so we change our lights to warm white and dim them, then after going to bed we dim the lights in the living room and the room with the diaper changer to minimum. This gives us enough light during the night when we wake up with the baby, but also clearly signals to her that it’s still night and she needs to go back to sleep.

Food delivery

Not directly tech gadget but using food delivery services like Uber Eats have been really helpful when we are both exhausted. Also we had a few guests coming over to meet the baby, and it helps that we could just order food and not having to worry about that.