Baby Archie has arrived: Recommendations for baby-tech gear please!

By on June 7, 2010 in News

On Saturday, our first baby arrived in the form of Archie MacLeod (7lbs, 13, photo) and as a result I now have a rather substantial demand for baby-related technology and applications to augment my parental experience.

Do you have any suggestions for anything I should be looking at? (Mobile or otherwise)

I’d very much appreciate your ideas!

About Ewan

Ewan is Founder and Editor of Mobile Industry Review. He writes about a wide variety of industry issues and is usually active on Twitter most days. You can read more about him or reach him with these details.
View all posts by Ewan →

  • http://www.atmasphere.net Jonathan

    Congratulations!

    You might enjoy geeking out on all your baby stats via the Trixie Tracker which has been around for a while … http://www.trixietracker.com/

  • MelissaKBurns

    Congrats Ewan! Mike is spot on with the Bugaboo recommendation. Get one! You can also grab the wife an iPhone holder to attach to the Bugaboo (http://www.bugaboostrollers.com/BUGABOO-RED-iPhone-holder.pro). I stick my phone in the cup holder, but the iPhone holder is nice as it gives you full access to the screen while you are pushing the stroller.

    Don’t forget the “mute button” pacifier: http://www.amazon.com/Personalized-Pacifiers-Mute-Button-White/dp/B001RNQRBK

    After 5 kids of my own the must have item for the first couple weeks is a good swaddling blanket. The best ones are the Aden + Anais (www.adenandanais.com). Babies love to be swaddled (the boundaries are soothing to them) and the muslin fabric is light and breathable; keeping Archie feeling safe and secure all wrapped up.

    Have a wonderful time and TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES! You look at them and think there is no way you will forget this moment as long as you live…. but you will. They grow SO fast and each day holds a new discovery. Take lots and lots of pictures so you can look back and remind yourself of how far Archie has come.

    Enjoy!!

    Love,
    Melissa

  • Belden

    I am envious, new borns are fantastic! Enjoy him, get lots of sleep. As for gear, my only advice would be don’t buy anything until you have to. We’ve had four. For the first, we bought tons of things. Most of it we didn’t use. In particular, I would advise against any sort of baby-specific “bag”. Just throw everything into any sort of large, single-pocket bag you have (boat bag, wicker basket, whatever).

  • Simon M

    Mazal Tov – lovely news.

    I strongly recommend going down the route of ‘monitoring your baby’s key stats’. As Billy Connolly put it – baby monitors just go to prove that baby’s like to suddenly go quiet and scare the crap out of you. Anyway – how far away are you likely to be that you need to do remote monitoring? Is Archie going to be part of some Star Trek away team?

    You don’t need much tech for a new born – what you do need is caffeine.

    Beyond that – a digital camera with a large memory card, a photo-sharing site and the willingness to accept that posting 1000s of photos of your child is perfectly ok for you, but don’t expect anyone other than a blood relative to care much after the first 2 or 3.

    If the little guy won’t sleep – then a radio tuned to white noise, or a recording of a vacuum cleaner. Babies are about as low-tech as life gets – enjoy it while it lasts. In a few years you will be buying portable DVD players, Nintendo DSi’s, Wii’s, etc.

    Have fun.

    S

  • Chris___

    We had an under-the-mattress breathing monitor wireless gadget thing which was wonderful and provided lots of comfort, knowing that our precious baby was sleeping soundly. RIGHT up until the point where the little sod crawled off it and the ‘your child is dead’ alarm started ringing at 3 in the morning.

    That was an eye opener. My wife almost broke her arm on the doorframe in her rush to get in there.

  • http://eu.techcrunch.com/about Mike Butcher

    Bugaboo stroller. Or Phil & Ted (modular/expandable in event of additional capacity required, e.g. another kid).

  • http://eu.techcrunch.com/about Mike Butcher

    Also. How Not to F*** Them Up (Hardcover) http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Not-F-Them-Up/dp/00…

  • http://twitter.com/ohmyliver oliver gili

    I'd get a large calibre gun, and make it widly known that you'll shoot anyone who gives your son (good name by the way) a tin drum.

    Trust me on this.

  • Txtlocal

    Yes, Magic Piano on the iPAD!! :)

    Babies can touch the screen and make cool sounds.. my 10 week old twins love it and it will only get more fun as they develop.

    Just be careful to move quickly to avoid projectile vomit damaging your pad… other than that it is rewarding and fun for all :)

    Al
    Txtlocal

  • Michael S

    Less tech, more time staring at the baby. Congrats and best wishes.

    Take care,
    Michael

  • Erika

    If you are not much of a singer, you could try out for instance the MobileLullaby app (http://store.ovi.com/content/29292).
    Being a mother of a three-year-old, I’d say that you really will find the mobile device and apps useful – and sometimes even lifesaving! – when the child is a bit older. Drawing on the touchscreen, watching video clips and pictures, etc. have made my life easier in many situations when you have to wait and sit still.

  • http://www.joshuapr.com PatrickatJPR

    I agree on all points here.

  • MarkW

    That's definitely advice I would second. Similarly, we had it all for the first – special bags, nappy bins, monitors, you name it. By number two it was a nappy and a pack of wipes in my wife's handbag. The nappy bin never saw service again. In fact, neither did the changing table. Why bother when there's always a floor?

    What is useful, and for some time to come, is a pair of PMR radios with a vox/baby listening feature, for those times you're in someone else's house, or the little one is asleep in a nearby room at a wedding, or your baby monitor won't work in another country, etc, etc.

    Other than that, the KISS principle rules.

  • Charles

    Bibcom's video monitoring service was originally developed for watching babies in cots. http://www.bibcom.co.uk/

  • dani2xll

    Take it one day at a time. Buy what you need, as you need and don't follow the fads or fashion. Buy a buggy that will do for newborn, baby and toddler. After 10 years of childminding I recommend the MacLaren TX. I have tried them all and that is the one that has lasted and allowed the child to grow with it. When the next came along, buggy board attachment and off we went. Also it is easy to transport anywhere. Don't fuss with baby. He wants to be a baby so don't try to dress him up like a man, taking forever to get his clothes on and off and to access him for nappy change. Follow his routine. He will TELL you what it is and with a little bit of encouragement, his routine will fit yours. Last of all, just do what feels right. There is too much written and there needs to be more 'doing'. I hope you will be one of those dad's, who is a dad fulltime, able to takeover babies needs when you have finished work and able to enjoy the weekends with your family. Too many dad's spend an hour with their child in the evening when the child has to be bathed, read a story and bed. It is not good enough. You wanted a family, not a part-time/spare time occupation. Enjoy it. Oops, I forgot to say, babies NEVER grow up. Expect the worse times to be his terrible two's, his puberty and teenage years and adult hood lol. Are you scared yet?

  • Mike42

    Not really tech, but 9 years and 3 children later, this bag still looks like new: http://bit.ly/b34OGu – sadly it's discontinued, if you find one on eBay grab it. The beauty of it is that it can all be done one-handed. It doubles as a brilliant camera/gadget bag as it's hard shell, has lots of pockets but doesn't look like it's carrying expensive kit.

    And the Baby Bjorn frontpack carriers can be put on by one person whilst holding baby in one hand. You realise just how important one-handedness is after about 3 days.

    Basically, if it's Swedish, it's good ;-)

    Unless it's an Xperia X10.

    In which case run for the hills.

  • Chris

    You can also keep a digital baby book on your iPhone with Emmbook (http://www.emmbook.com).

  • http://rolandtanglao.com roland

    heh you asked for it :-)

    1. digital slr for non blurry pics (canon t2i or nikon d90 or any dsl with iso 6400) with an Eye-Fi SD card automatically uploaded as private to your private, dedicated-to-the-kids-pics flickr account
    2. make the photos that you want public public on your private flickr account
    3. make the photos that you want friends and family, only friends and family on your private flickr account
    4. nokia n86 +shozu for blurry but great in the moment family pics (have it upload automatically to your private flickr account or laboriously curate them :-) your choice) – between your n86 and your digital slr there's no need for a point and shoot IMHO
    5. for when the kid is 6 months old, for sleep training:
    http://www.sleeplady.com/
    6. dedicated 4″x6″ photo printer from epson or hp; yes ink is a ripoff but nothing like a print at 3a.m. when u need it for grandparents or a family occasion (rest of the prints e.g. bigger ones and large runs can be done at your london drugs, costco or uk equivalent)
    7. having said that, we only have 1 kid & as always you know archie the best so please feel free to disregard my advice and everybody else's gratuitous advice :-)

  • Ronald Cummings-John

    Y-Cam! :p

    http://y-cam.com

Switch to our mobile site