Having children is both the best and the worst thing that can happen in many people's lives. While nothing can replicate the joy and pride of your child's first word, first step, or first day at school, there will always be that complaint in the back of your mind that your true freedom is gone forever. .
For the next 18 years, you will be saddled with an increasingly ungrateful dependent.
Jokes aside, having children raises a lot of practical concerns for parents. Sadly, the world is no longer a sepia-toned 1930s utopia:evil, danger, and worry are just around the corner, ready to deal a hammer blow to your serene journey through parenthood. .
Fortunately, the advent of smart technology 5 Disruptive Technological Advances That Will Impact The World 5 Disruptive Technological Advances That Will Impact The World Disruptive technologies, such as the Internet, industrial agriculture, and aeronautics, have profoundly shaped the world and our daily lives. Here are five technologies that are poised to have a disruptive impact in the coming years. Read More Here are some of the most exciting gadgets that will make raising and monitoring your kids so much easier.
It's every parent's worst nightmare; you're at a busy mall, carnival, or airport, only to turn around and find your child missing.
It's usually not the parents' fault. Children are curious about the world they live in, and everything from an ice cream vendor to an interesting-looking inanimate object has the potential to attract them. No matter how much you tell your child to stay close at all times, it's still a possibility.
Based in Utah, USA, Kiband's design premise is that GPS coverage and accuracy GLONASS:The GPS Alternative You Never Knew GLONASS:The GPS Alternative You Never Knew Did you know that location services are more than GPS? There's another satellite navigation system you may not have heard of, but you're probably already using it. It's called GLONASS. Read More Therefore, it is based on Bluetooth 4.1 technology and an alarm.
Bluetooth will provide coverage of up to 60 meters in any direction, and while in range you can set off an 85 decibel alarm to help you locate your child. The band also contains contact information so if someone finds your child before you do, they have a way to reach you.
There is an accompanying smartphone app that gives you an approximate distance and location to your child's location, but does not make use of a map.
It is designed for children between the ages of three and seven.
UK-based Child Angel is similar to Kiband, but works at any distance. All communications are via the smartphone app, and location is via GPS on a map.
It differs from Kiband in many ways:
Both devices also provide "geo-fencing," meaning you can set a boundary (for example, around you and your neighbor's house) and you'll be alerted if your child steps outside that boundary.
One of the biggest concerns of a parent when their child is a baby is "sudden infant death syndrome" (SIDS).
It's not entirely clear what causes SIDS, but it's known that cigarette smoke, premature labor, and excess body heat may play a role.
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suffering to minimize the risk of SIDS. It comes in two parts, a unit that is equipped with two breathing sensors and a hub that transmits data on breathing patterns, sleep activity, skin temperature, and body position directly to your smart device.
It means you'll receive an instant alert if anything unusual happens to your child while they're asleep, allowing you to administer potentially life-saving first aid before it's too late.
It also acts like a traditional baby monitor, transmitting sounds from your baby's room directly into her room.
One of the most frustrating parts of being a parent is trying to get your child to settle down for the night. Kids never want to go to bed, and even once they're supposed to be asleep, there's a good chance they might get up to play computer games, build robots with their LEGO set, or fight with their siblings. Q>
Fortunately, the Sleep IQ Kids smart bed can help provide a weary parent with some answers.
Its main features are the same as those of smart beds for adults; It monitors movement, breathing, and heart rate, and then assigns a score to the quality of your night's rest when you wake up in the morning.
All the data is fed back into a dashboard that both you and your child can access, showing you whether studying, eating, or exercising had an impact on their sleep.
Manufacturers have also included some specific features just for kids. They include an alert for parents if their child gets up at night, soft lighting under the bed, and a "monster detector."
Research suggests that drowning is the number two cause of accidental death in children. It's all too easy for a child to fall into a body of water without anyone noticing, or for them not to reappear in something as innocent as a school swim lesson.
The iSwimband has two models:a swimmer version and a non-swimmer version. The swimmers version will sound an alert on a parent's iOS device if the user does not reappear in a predetermined amount of time, while the non-swimmer version will inform the parent if the user comes into contact with any river, lake , pool or pond.
Sunburns can be terribly dangerous for children. Children who are badly burned at a young age are several times more likely to develop melanoma and skin cancer later in life.
You can take the worry out of endless summer school breaks How can students stay productive during summer break? How can students stay productive over the summer break? Read more with the SunFriend bracelet.
It can measure UVA and UVB rays and will alert the user that it is time to add more sunscreen before permanent skin damage occurs.
The band can also be programmed to match the person's skin tone, from 1 for very light to 11 for very dark.
At what age should your child be given a mobile phone? It's not uncommon to see very young children playing games on their parent's phone, but giving them their own phone is a much more dangerous idea:they could experience cyberbullying. Cyberbullying Unmasked:The Tragic Case of Cassidy's Cyberbullying. Cassidy's children can be cruel. Almost as cruel as the so-called adults. That cruelty has found its way onto the web and into the lives of countless young people who thought they could... Read More money on your smartphone bill:cut mobile Internet How much are you paying for calls and mobile Internet? Is your iPhone really worth that kind of outlay? Do you use your Android tablet enough to justify paying more than $50 a month? Read More
Bocco, a robot designed in Japan, aims to provide a solution.
Instead of trying to be a real human being or provide entertainment, Bocco has only one purpose:to send and receive voice messages to smartphones running the associated app.
To keep things simple, it only has two buttons, one to record messages and one to play them back. He will provide you with a free and easy way to stay in touch no matter where you are in the world, giving you both a level of peace of mind.
One thing to remember is that Bocco will not allow his children to call the emergency services, so he will still have to teach them how to use the landline phone in case a situation arises..
What gadgets do you find that make the job of being a parent easier? Have you used any of the ones we mentioned above?
We'd love to hear his suggestions and experiences, let us know your feedback in the comments below.
