Let’s face it—babies need a lot of attention. Whether it's eating, changing their diapers, overall healthcare, etc., there’s so much to do, but what if there were clever methods to make it all simpler? Thanks to smart technology, you can use your smartphone to ease this new part of your life and assist you in taking care of your infant at the same time. With the push of a button (or with your voice), smart nursery tech can monitor the temperature, operate the lights, and play lullabies.
There are many options to take into account while designing a smart nursery. Let’s look at some of our best options for customizing your child’s nursery.
1. Smart Baby Monitors
Smart baby monitors can help first-time parents feel much more at ease by taking some of the unpredictability out of caring for their baby, especially while balancing working from home. Modern monitors are available in wired and wireless versions with live video streaming and a variety of other features, such as breathing, heart rate, and room temperature monitoring. So, if you can’t quite leave your desk just yet, you can still keep an eye on them. And if your baby wakes up, you can use your smartphone to talk to them and lull them back to sleep, thanks to the two-way voice communication capabilities. Or you can use it to speak with another caregiver who is in the same room as your child.
A standalone or wall-mounted HD video monitor with night vision provides a live feed of your baby’s crib to your phone while simultaneously monitoring the room’s temperature and humidity levels and monitoring the infant’s sleep patterns. The software can even utilize this data to suggest ways for them to sleep better, ensuring that everyone has a better night’s sleep.
Another alternative for monitoring your child as they sleep is to use a wearable baby monitor. Their breathing and heart rate are monitored by devices that communicate the data directly to you via your phone using technology like pulse oximetry. For premature babies and infants with medical issues, wearable monitoring is an excellent option, both alone and in conjunction with a video display.
2. Smart Bassinets & Cribs
Another smart nursery essential is a smart bassinet. When a baby cries, smart bassinets can recognize it and instantly calms them with motion and lullabies. Additionally, some systems even adapt to your baby’s needs and can automatically up the motion or music to soothe them.
Similar to bassinets, smart cribs can detect when a baby is waking up and lull them to sleep with a soothing bouncing motion that imitates what a parent would do. When employing smart cribs, parents who struggle with a baby who enjoys moving can see significant advancements toward independent sleep.
3. Smart Thermostats
Soothing your child to sleep is a must, but so is keeping them warm in those first few months, which is where smart thermostats come in. With a mobile device or voice command, you can effortlessly adjust the temperature of your nursery. You can also fully automate temperature regulation in your nursery by adding smart heating control; the heating is turned down at night and on again in the morning to keep from overheating your child.
Pro Tip: Pairing your smart thermostats with your baby monitor is a great option as well, so you can adjust based on your baby’s temp or the current room temp.
4. Smart lighting
As your baby grows and starts getting the urge to explore and sneak out of their cribs, a smart lighting system is a great tool. You can program your lights to come on automatically when a sensor is triggered. The trigger can be a sensor located on the door or a motion sensor on a wall; that way, no funny business goes on without you being alerted.
But that’s not all smart lights can do for your nursery. They can also be used for bedtime and display a light show that helps your baby drift off to dreamland easier. You can also program timers or specific schedules for when your smart lights turn on and even set up rules that trigger them in a special circumstance. Some light systems can also be programmed with music and connected to voice control devices.
5. Smart Shades
You might not think it, but smart shades are a nursery must-have. Installing smart blind control in your smart nursery can help support the natural waking process. You can program them to go up in the morning and down during the evening or afternoon when your little one is going to take a nap. This is great if you're trying to help your baby adjust to a set sleep time.
6. Smart Plugs
Another smart nursery technology essential is a smart plug. With a smart plug, you can use your phone to wirelessly operate any appliance that plugs into an outlet. A smart plug can be used with virtually any other plugged-in device, including fans, humidifiers, and other small appliances. It won’t matter if these devices don’t have smart technology; you’ll still be able to control when to turn them off or on as long as they’re plugged into the smart plug!
As you can see, with smart technology in your nursery, there are many devices that can give you peace of mind and greatly improve the safety of your child in your home. Whether you’re a first-time parent or at kid number three, you can’t deny the load a smart nursery takes off your plate.
If you need help planning out your nursery or want more insights, you’re at the right place! Global Custom Integrations can help you create the smart nursery or smart home you’ve been dreaming of! Get started by booking a consultation with us, and if you have questions before you see us, don't hesitate to give us a call!