Baby Tech

ConnectedLife - Show 33 Baby Tech
ConnectedLife is all about babies. We visit UBC’s Baby Cognitive Lab, look at some popular baby gadgets and learn about a new study that says babies and TV shouldn’t mix. Stop crying - this is ConnectedLife.


Baby Tech
In 2006, tech-savvy, gadget-crazy North Americans spent $2.9 billion on baby goods with $337 million going towards things like video monitors, digital thermometers and wireless surveillance cameras. Technology is everywhere, even the baby’s room.

If emailed photos just won’t do, you can now get video phones to share exciting moments with relatives. In a similar vein, baby monitors - the must-have piece of gadgetry for every parent – are now available with video. Love your iPod? Now so can your baby, the iCrib speaker dock straps to the crib with Velcro and features a slot for your iPod or other mp3-player. Many MP3 players let parents record soothing messages for when they are away.

Having trouble figuring out what's bothering your newborn? The “Why Cry baby-cry analyzer” will translate wails into five expressions--hungry, bored, annoyed, sleepy or stressed--by measuring volume, frequency and crying intervals.

And remember, if technology can’t provide you with the answer – try a hug.

History Bytes - April 24th, 1962
Children all over the world watch cartons that come from satellite signals. On April 24th, 1962, scientists working for M.I.T. and the U.S. Air Force successfully bounced television signals off the Echo I satellite. The signal was sent from an M.I.T. lab in California and was picked up in Massachusetts, 2,700 miles away. The TV signal simply consisted of the word "M.I.T.," written in block letters.

Babies and Television
Do “so-called” educational baby videos really work or are they brain junk food? Studies at the University of Washington suggest that not only do they not make your kids any smarter - they may actually hinder language and attention development, particularly in the first two years. Babies who watched videos scored 17 percent worse on language-skills assessments than babies who didn't. The UW findings are the latest in a growing body of work that questions the use and effect of television on young children. In fact, growing evidence led the American Academy of Pediatrics to issue its recommendation in 1999 that no child under two years old watch any television.

Green Tips
With over 50 million going into landfills every day, diapers are a serious environmental problem. Consider using eco-friendly alternatives like cloth diapers, or greener disposables from Nature Babycare, Moltex, Tushies, or GDiaper. The outer part of the GDiaper is flushable and is made of viscose rayon instead of plastic, with an inner part made from wood pulp. Whichever method you choose, you’ll be helping to keep nasty diapers out of our landfills.