Victor Marks
Invented by former Apple and Google employees, with the aid of pediatric specialists and Ph.D scientists, Sproutling is the first baby monitor to sense, learn, and predict a baby's behavior, and its creators believe it will make the lives of new parents less stressful.
In the past, baby monitors have been decidedly low-tech, with the best of them being cameras with cloud apps to allow you to remotely view the child on your iPhone' screen. Being the parent of a newborn is really stressful, with not knowing what to expect, worries about the child rolling over, sleeping on its chest, or SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).
Instead of being solely a device you place on a nighttable in the room, Sproutling is a wearable band and separate environmental sensor. The sensor bowl doubles as the charger for the wearable band.
In the past, there really was no great insight into what to do to help the child sleep better or have a better mood during the day. Sproutling claims to change everything, claiming that the product will help parents understand the optimal bedtime for a child, when they'll wake, and what mood they'll be in, "before you even enter the room."
The company also suggests that by having this level of information, parents won't have to completely change their lives, but can instead integrate babies into their existing lives.
The actual data Sproutling gathers includes:
- Is baby's heart rate higher or lower than usual?
- When is the baby most likely to wake?
- Whether the baby is sleeping on back or chest.
- If the baby is calm or fussy/angry when she wakes.
- If it's too bright or loud in the room for the baby to sleep comfortably.
- If it's warmer or cooler than the baby's ideal temperature.
Sproutling is made of medical-grade silicone, and is washing machine safe with a removable sensor. Charging is wireless, and you charge the device by dropping the wearable band into a charging bowl. The charging bowl acts as an environmental sensor for the room.
The app can be shared with babysitters, family members, and caregivers, and parents can keep an eye on things when they aren't home. Being a new parent is stressful, and many new parents don't go out because leaving the newborn at home is scary, even with a babysittter.
The preorders for Sproutling launched today at Sproutling.com. The baby monitor will retail for $299, while early birds can buy in for $249. Shipments are expected to begin in early 2015.
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71 Comments
No more kids for me. But if it senses moods and such, could I get one for my wife?
Interesting idea- I like it. But are we reinventing the wheel? Lets discuss
Great information here. With congenital heart disease being the most common birth defect in the world- where some states are just now requiring heart monitors on baby's for the APGAR test- this is huge.
This is great too- and a benefit for those who don't track sleep.
Good info- a monitor would show it, but this UI seems easier to decipher than a fuzzy screen with night vision- although every time one of my kids rolled over it gave me a red alert- that'd be slightly annoying.
If you need a monitor for this- you're an idiot. Of course- if you're a deaf parent, I could see how this could be useful.
Meh- you should know. Now- if this is adaptable and learnable (some kids are light sleepers, some aren't)- this would be pretty cool
You should be able to tell easily, but I guess it's a good safeguard. Particularly during teething on why they might be fussy.
All in all- I like it. Helicopter moms will faun. First time parents will swoon. 2nd time parents won't care.
Side note: That commercial is great. 1:13 is hilarious.
It looks too much like a criminal's ankle monitor. I'm also not sure how useful this information will all be, or if it will just give paranoid parents a new way to constantly monitor and be overly paranoid. Like Andysol said, you'd expect parents to be able to figure out most of this on their own anyway. As for congenital heart disease, how much of it can be found based on heart rate? I doubt this monitor can track heart sounds.
I will be a first time parent in about 6 weeks and I have no interest in this product. There are some good things, but it's too much.
I say we just surgically insert trackers, monitors and tattoo bar scans on the back of the heads of every new born. Bring on the whole Apocalypse now instead of beating around the bush with slowly getting society used to this kind of technology. Did I just say that aloud.