BabyMonitor
Latest
Withings Baby Monitor works with iPhone, isn't cheap
The Withings Baby Monitor is finally available in the US, and it's one expensive iPhone accessory. First teased in January, the gadget is on sale for US$299. The corresponding iPhone app is free. What does it do for three hundred bucks? It monitors the humidity in Junior's room, lets you know when he's awake and even has night-vision mode. Plus, this goes without saying, it's a huge leap beyond the audio-only set I used when my kids were little. Withings makes other cool goodies, such as an Internet-connected scale and an iPhone-connected blood pressure cuff. Your little princess is worth a $300 baby monitor, right?
Withings Baby Monitor makes its official, expensive US debut
The Withings Baby Monitor has already been available in the UK for sometime now and recently made a splash over at the FCC. Now the iOS accessory is finally for sale here in the good ol' US-of-A, for the rather staggering price of $299. That's right, this sensor-packed web cam probably costs more than your handset. Then again, that $20 set of audio-only monitors you picked up at Walmart can't keep you abreast of the temperature and humidity in your child's sleeping quarters or let you watch your newborn sleep with the aid of a night vision mode. You can get the associated WithBaby app for free in the iTunes App Store now. The only question is, whether or not you love your baby enough to spend $300 on an iPhone accessory. We won't judge you either way. Check out the PR after the break.
Withings Smart Baby Monitor drops through FCC's chimney
Baby monitors. If you're in the market for one (er, congrats) and you run an Apple-flavored household, then this Withings device looks sufficiently over-specced for your needs. It's been out in the UK for a couple of months already priced at £269 ($425), and judging from the FCC filing it's coming to the US too, where it'll face sibling rivalry from the likes of Samsung, Evoz and the Exmobaby bodysuit. The base station fixes to the side of the crib, hooks up over WiFi or Ethernet, and streams audio and three-megapixel video (with night-vision mode) over the web, so you can access it via the iOS app using 3G or any good internet connection -- not only when you're within range of your router. It's even said that if you turn the mic's sensitivity right up, you'll hear the sounds of your old life, calling to you.
Samsung introduces WiFi SmartCam and video baby monitor (update: hands-on!)
For those keen on observing from afar, Samsung's just unveiled two WiFi surveillance cameras. Both can easily be paired with routers that support WPS and offer remote tracking from Sammy's SmartCam website. That video feed is 640 x 480 at 30fps and encoded in H.264. Alternatively on the WiFi SmartCam, footage can automatically be uploaded to YouTube based on predefined activity. And both'll survey in complete darkness thanks to built-in infrared -- up to a few meters at least. Catch either in March when they go on sale for a cool $149. PR, per usual is after the break.Dana Murph and Daniel Cooper contributed to this post.
Exmobaby links up with AT&T, lets you keep tabs on sleeping babes
Ask any parent of a newborn what they miss most and they'll almost always mention sleep. That particular baby-borne exhaustion can take an even greater turn for the worse if said rents happen to be worrywarts. But wouldn't it be nice if bleary-eyed Moms and Pops could outfit those fussy babes with bio-monitoring pajamas and catch up on Zzzz's? It's not as far-fetched as it sounds. Exmovere's already introduced tech along those very lines and, now, the company has AT&T as a partner to push its Exmobaby onesies forward. The transmitter-equipped pjs work by collecting critical data from sleeping tots -- like heart rate and temperature -- that can be sent as alerts to phones, tablets and even PCs running the appropriate software. There's no launch date announced for the washable scifi duds nor has pricing been set at this preliminary stage, but chin up -- those night sweats should soon be a distant memory.
WiFi Baby 3G baby monitor: Watching your baby from afar
Most parents want to keep a close eye on their baby, especially when he or she is sleeping in their room down the hall. Rather than check obsessively, which is what I did when I had my first baby, products like the WiFi Baby 3G let you easily watch your child from afar. Best of all, you can see and hear them without stumbling into their room and accidentally waking them up. The WiFi Baby 3G is a small color and infrared camera housed in an attractive white or black shell. The camera comes with a mounting bracket that lets you attach it to a wall or a stand. The camera has a solid square body with an antenna that is enclosed in thick plastic. It definitely can sustain a fall without breaking. The front of the camera has a color camera, a cluster of IR sensors, a microphone, a power indicator and a light sensor that'll switch the camera from color view to infrared view. It's made by Y-cam and is a quality camera. Unlike most baby monitors which send audio over the same 900MHz bandwidth used by cordless phones, the WiFi Baby works over your home WiFi network. To set it up wirelessly, you must first connect it to your router using a network cable and use the included software to setup the IP address, camera login credentials and other initial features. The setup is extremely easy, and there's an excellent customer support option that'll walk you through the process one step at a time. If you still have problems, a customer service rep can even connect to your computer using a screen sharing tool and set it up while you watch. If you have a plug-n-play UPnP router, the WiFi Baby 3G will be configured for outside access, which lets you view the camera stream using your cell phone's 3G connection. If you don't have UPnP, you will have to configure port routing manually on your router. I tested the WiFi baby remotely, and the video streamed nicely. There was some lag, but it's not really noticeable until someone starts moving the monitor at home. One nice feature is the time and date stamp on the video. This is fed from the baby monitor and is included to let you know the monitor is still working. The WiFi Baby 3G has lots of viewing options for parents that stay at home and for those on the go. There's a viewer for the Mac, the PC, iOS and Android devices. I tested both the iOS app and the Mac app; both worked extremely well. On first launch, both apps will scan the network for the camera and pull down the IP address. You will have to enter your username and password to connect to the camera and receive the audio and video stream. These settings are then saved for future use. The iOS app works on the iPhone and the iPad and lets you watch video and listen to audio on your device. In normal view, the video stream appears in a box at the top of the screen, and the audio levels are below. You can tap the video feed or the audio to mute it and then tap it again to turn it back on. The app has lots of settings to change what you see. You can customize the audio to display either a 5, 10 or 20 minute history or set up alerts for when the baby starts to cry. You can also change the appearance of the app by selecting a pink, blue or night theme. The Mac app is very different from the iOS app. It's from Y-Cam and is general surveillance app. It's not as pretty as the iOS version, but it has several features the iOS version lacks. Because it's a desktop app, the video window is much larger, and the audio is much louder. The video clarity is a bit grainy when you are viewing it at this larger resolution. It's still viewable, just not as nice as the iOS app. With one click, you can record a video stream or take a snapshot which is saved to the hard drive. The app even supports more than one camera feed. We tested it with only one WiFi Baby 3G, but you could use it with several more if you wanted. The WiFi Baby produces a clear video stream and loud audio. It's great as a color camera and even better in night mode. The video at night is nice and bright, and lets you see your little one while he or she sleeps. If you position it correctly, you can even see your baby breathe. It's a real pleasure to use a camera that doesn't cut costs by making it pretty on the outside and then slapping in a low-quality lens and sensor. You can tell from the moment you turn it on; the WiFi Baby is built from the ground up to be an exceptional surveillance camera. Speaking of the position, that's my only complaint about this monitoring solution. Unlike the rival iBaby monitor which moves, the WiFi baby is stationary. You can use the mount to get the right angle, but once it's set, the WiFi baby can't be changed remotely. You can't pan it left or right or scan up or down using your iPhone or computer. This isn't a big deal if you are watching a baby that's sleeping, but it could be a problem if you are trying to follow a toddler playing in his room. The camera partially makes up for its fixed position with a lens that captures a wide part of the room. I set it up in the boy's room, and I was able to see about 75% of the space. It was only the extreme left and the extreme right that I could not see. If you don't mind this limitation, then the WiFi Baby is an excellent choice for a video-enabled baby monitor. The audio and video are excellent, and, best of all, it's easy to configure and use. You can read about the WiFi Baby 3G and watch some demo videos on WiFi Baby's website. There's also an unboxing and setup video from WiFi baby embedded below. The wireless monitor costs US$279 and is available from WiFi Baby's online store. %Gallery-140169%
iBaby monitor: Keeping an iOS eye on your little one
One of the nicest things about Apple's iOS mobile operating system becoming ubiquitous is that accessory manufacturers are coming out with some wonderful devices that work with your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. The latest is one that new parents are going to love: the iBaby Monitor (US$199.95) from iBaby Labs. Of course, you don't have to use the iBaby Monitor to look after a baby. The iBaby Labs website asks the question "Who's your baby?," pointing out that you might want to keep an eye on your dog or cat, an elderly relative or friend, or your house while you're out and about. Design The iBaby Monitor is a Wi-Fi connected webcam with built-in microphones, infrared LED night lighting, and a swivel base. The device is attractive -- made of white plastic, it's relatively unobtrusive and fits in just about anywhere. Once it is set up, the Monitor can be placed anywhere there is a power outlet. The company includes a mount that can be used to place the camera out of reach on a wall if desired. Functionality I'd rate the setup of the iBaby Monitor as "somewhat easy." What I mean by that is that it isn't as drop-dead simple to set up as the Stem Innovations iZON camera, but it can still be accomplished by just about anyone using the Quick Installation Guide that comes along with the device. To start the setup, you must be near a Wi-Fi router with an open Ethernet port. There's a small white "rubber duck" antenna that is plugged into the back of the Monitor to give the device relatively good range. The iBaby Monitor comes with an AC power adapter that is plugged in prior to setup, and then you run the included Ethernet cable between the router and the device. %Gallery-137869% While the iBaby Monitor goes through a set of warmup exercises, you download the iBaby Monitor app to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. This free app is used for the rest of the setup process. It was at about this point that things went a little awry in the setup. I have a Foscam Wi-Fi webcam set up in our house, and the iBaby Monitor app kept finding it, but didn't seem to be able to find the iBaby Monitor. I canceled out of the setup, and then noticed that the app had found both the "iBaby 1" and "RubyCam 1" Wi-Fi webcams, so I switched it over to iBaby 1 to continue the process. From there, things went swimmingly. As soon as I had a Wi-Fi connection from the device to my iPhone, I could see the image and the app asked me to disconnect the Ethernet cable. After the initial setup, you can pretty much move the camera to any location near a power outlet and plug it in. The iBaby Monitor, like my old Foscam webcam, can be swiveled over a wide range. Unlike the Foscam, which didn't come with any Mac or iOS software, the iBaby Monitor is controlled by just swiping the screen in the direction you wish to move the camera. The camera has a 350° pan range, and can also tilt up and down over a 70° range. That's great for coverage of a complete room, and with the wide-angle lens that's built into the camera, you see everything. There are also infrared LEDs built into the camera for illuminating a dark room without waking the baby or Grandma. The lighting has a range of about 16 feet, so you won't want to set up the iBaby Monitor too far away from your intended subject. If you're watching baby and babysitter from work, you might want to hear what's going on as well. The camera has two nice little microphones that pick up sounds and transmit them to the app. My favorite feature? You can plug speakers into the speaker ports on the back of this camera and actually talk to the person on the other end. This would be perfect for yelling at your new puppy just before she's about to relieve herself on your nice imported Turkish rug. You're not going to be able to connect to your iBaby Monitor via 3G; it's just too slow. You can also view the video feed via a PC app or on the web. The website instructions were supposed to be in the Owner's Manual that was not included with the device, and the links to download a PDF version of the manual were not working at the time of this review. The device has a default DDNS address, user name, and password listed on it, but I was unable to attach to the device via a web browser. If the Owner's Manual becomes available before I return this device to iBaby Labs, I'll see if I can use a browser to view the feed. One final feature set to talk about: the app has toggles for two alarm types -- a motion alarm and a sound alarm. I liked the way that the motion alarm worked; small motions didn't set it off, but somebody or something walking into a room was enough to make the iPhone start chiming. I never could get the sound alarm to chime, but it might be more attuned to the sound of a baby screaming. The app was definitely made in China (along with the device itself) as the built-in FAQs use a charming mishmash of Chinglish to explain how to use the iBaby Monitor and app. (Note to iBaby Labs: you can hire me to do a proper English translation of the FAQs for the next version of the app.) Conclusion If you're looking for a really nice baby shower gift for a friend, or if you'd like a webcam that will work well with your iOS devices, then pony up the $200 and buy the iBaby Monitor. It has very few flaws, and the control provided by the free app is very good. The microphone and speaker ports are really the icing on the cake, though. This would be great for someone who was out of town on business but wanted to talk with the person or animal on the other end of the monitored connection. For absolute ease of setup for a non-controllable baby monitor and the ability to monitor via 3G, I'd recommend the less expensive iZON Remote Room Monitor ($129.95). But if you want the ability to pan and tilt the camera, want to see what's going on in a darkened nursery, or want the two-way sound capability, drop the extra $70 for the iBaby Monitor. You'll be very happy that you did.
Evoz Baby Monitor lets you spy on your kid from anywhere your iPhone gets a signal
Worried that your bundle of joy might get up to no good during your weekly Hatha class? Not with this monolith by his bedside, he won't. It's called the Evoz Baby Monitor and it takes its job very seriously. All you have to do is place this WiFi-enabled device next to Junior's crib, download Evoz' app on your iPhone and the monitor will automatically provide you with alerts (via text, e-mail or phone call) whenever your kid cries. Once you sync this watchdog with your phone, you can even use it to remotely listen in on your prince, just in case he utters his first words while you're out on the links. Best of all, the system isn't restricted to a fixed range and promises to work in any area where you've got cellular coverage -- whether that be in the backyard, at the gym, or at Child Protective Services. Evoz won't start shipping the Baby Monitor until October 4th, but gravely concerned parents can pre-order one now for $120, at the source link below. Otherwise, just crawl past the break for more information, in the full PR.
Researchers use wireless network to monitor breathing, could save lives
When Neal Patwari and his team of researchers developed a wireless network capable of seeing through walls, we assumed they were simply looking to cultivate their Alastor Moody-like superpowers. Turns out, they had far more important things on their minds. Patwari and his colleagues at the University of Utah have now penned a new study in which they demonstrate how their motion detecting technology could be used to monitor breathing patterns, as well, potentially enabling doctors to keep closer track of patients with sleep apnea or babies susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). To do this, Patwari reclined on a hospital bed and surrounded himself with 20 wireless transceivers operating at a frequency of 2.4GHz, as pictured above. He then timed his breathing at about 15 breaths per minute (the average rate for a resting adult), which he measured with his array of nodes and a carbon dioxide monitor. The engineer ultimately found that his system's algorithm could accurately measure respiration within 0.4 to 0.2 breaths per minute -- a relatively low error rate, since most monitors round off to the nearest full breath. Patwari says this development could offer a non-invasive and low-cost alternative to the devices used in most hospitals, and hopes to implement his technology into at-home baby monitors, as well. He acknowledges, however, that it will likely take at least five years before any of that happens -- so don't hold your breath. Full PR after the break.
WiFi Baby 3G review, or: How we learned to stop worrying and love a surveillance camera
Obsolescence. Its avoidance is the biggest problem facing any gadget nerd. This affliction, this curse that disables so many would-be tablet and smartphone buyers, only intensifies for those of us who somehow manage to procreate. See, newbie reproducers, temporarily insane from an overblown sense of paternal concern, will pay just about anything for products promising to make their new baby healthier or happier, regardless of the product's potential lifespan. Come on, parents, admit it. Just look at that $100 bottle sterilizer you've already replaced with a more convenient pot of boiled tap water. Or how about that $380 hands-free breast pump that went idle after 6 months of occasional use or that $1,000 euro-exotic stroller that turned out to be too bulky to regularly transport by car? Your well-meaning, but irrational ways made you an easy target for the baby-care industry that places your ilk on the sucker-side of the consumer savviness scale. Just look at the extortionary prices of the typical babycam. You can easily spend between $200 and $300 for a so-called "top-of-the line" monitor that's plagued by radio interference, poor range, and shabby video quality. To make matters worse, these single-purpose cameras lose their usefulness once baby is grown. So what's a rational, resourceful parent to do? Easy, use an IP-based surveillance camera as a baby monitor instead. Not only do you get a superior wireless camera for about the same price (or less), you have the option of repurposing it for inclusion in your home automation or security system after baby is grown. That's what we've been doing for several weeks now thanks to WiFi Baby. And you know what? We'll never go back to traditional baby monitors again. Click through to find out why.
Exmovere shows off Exmobaby biosensor pajamas for babies, coming to retail in 2011
Baby monitors have become quite commonplace over the past 20 years or so, and come in many variations. Exmovere (a company that previously produced the wearable Chariot) has debuted a new type of monitor, however, which are actually part of the baby's pajamas, and which are said to help monitor heart rate, emotional state and behavior. The outfit -- called Exmobaby -- uses the Zigbee wireless standard, effectively connecting the baby to the home wireless network, enabling the parents (or you know, whoever's around) to track the babies various states via icons on their mobile phones. Sound great? Well, it's heading to limited retail in 2011, though no pricing has been announced yet. Full press release is below.
How to insult a Mac mini: make it warm the wipes for you
How would you insult a Mac mini? Well, one way is to discover that, after you move it across the room, away from toddlers with longer arms than they were born with (the better to yank ill-placed computers to the floor through the crib slats, my dear) the Mac mini makes an excellent diaper wipe warmer. I only stuck the container on top of the mini because I had to do a quick change before someone crawled off the changing table. The next diaper change I discovered the wipes were warm and cozy. The Mac mini is sulking. Already its only job was to run the baby monitor cam. Now it can add another job for which it is woefully overqualified. It can talk to the hand, says the lady with the law degree who is relegated to actually changing all those diapers and watching Yo Gabba Gabba. (Don't click. Seriously. I won't be responsible for the ensuing seizure.) NB: If you're reading this post and screaming inside, "teddy bears? Babies? But I came here for technology!" then have a look at this post detailing my tear-down of the standalone iSight so that it works as a night-vision camera. If that doesn't help at least a little, then you may be in need of a hug. Look at the teddy bear. See? He loves you.
DIY iSight night vision camera
Now that most all Apple computers come with their own built-in iSight, the standalone iSight has taken a bit of a back seat. It always was a gorgeous piece of Apple art, though, and I really wanted to use it in a functional way. An easy way was to attach it to the Mac mini I have in the baby's room, acting as a video baby monitor, but the iSight doesn't do that well in low light, and of course works not at all in no light. And while the audio was just fine, there are some neat new "push on motion" capabilities in camera monitoring software that I liked. It will even record on motion, thanks to today's update. "Night vision" is predicated on the idea that infrared light bounces off of objects the same way that any other kind of light does, only that our eyes can't see IR light. So while a room could potentially be brightly lit with an infrared light source, you would see only darkness. Fortunately, camera CCDs aren't human eyes and many are as sensitive to IR light as they are to the visible spectrum. So, ostensibly, all you need is an IR light source. Heck, even a television remote control would do the trick, albeit dimly. The problem is that cameras that are not intended as night-vision cameras have an IR filter built-in so that the camera's reaction is limited to light sources the human eye can see. And, specifically, on the external iSight, that filter is a coating that's bonded to a small block of glass inside the iSight. Now I had a project. After first scoring a broken iSight on Craigslist, should I need parts, I took the iSight apart, took out the glass block, and removed the IR coating in a quick bath of sulfuric acid. [Do not try this at home unless you know what you are doing, please. –Ed.] You could see the film slide off the glass. Once the iSight was reassembled and an IR light source applied, bingo! Night vision. The only downside has been that because sulfuric acid is a bit of a blunt-edged instrument (to put it mildly), whatever was giving it the ability to correctly sense the rest of the red is now gone. In the gallery, you can see the result in the last image. Ah well. If I ever want it to return to regular function, I can drop in the intact lens from the broken iSight. But for now, the increased range is a great asset. My iPhone is a little monitor that follows me around the house and pushes notification of any motion. Special thanks to Jason Babcock, for blazing the trail on iSight tear-downs. %Gallery-79853%
The mighty mini, take two: DIY video baby monitor
What do you get when you combine a new parent on maternity leave with a love of gadgets and Apple products? Why, you get "baby monitor overkill!" In response to Dave Caolo's recent ode to the Mac mini, I figured it was time to step up. I had two things gathering dust: my old standalone iSight, a gorgeous example of Apple design sadly idle since the advent of built-in iSights, and a lovely new Intel Mac Mini that was recently scored on sale at MicroCenter with plans to set it up for my older two kids once I could get my hands on a small LCD monitor. I figured in the meantime it would serve nicely as a baby monitor, since I couldn't find a matching transmitter/receiver pair among the various baby monitors I had accumulated over the years. My idea was that it would live discreetly, headless and tailless (monitor, keyboard, and mouse-free) in the baby's room, and broadcast both locally on my network and also wide-area so grandparents could tune in remotely. For the initial setup, I needed a monitor, but fortunately my TV has a PC (VGA) port, which I used to configure the mini. I set it to login automatically to the main account and join my Airport network. In System Preferences, I enabled screen sharing and added iChat as a login item. In iChat, I enabled Bonjour and instant messaging, added myself as a buddy, and restricted chats to preapproved users under security preferences. Because I didn't want to connect via screen sharing every time I wanted to initiate a chat, I typed the following into Terminal so that it would auto-accept any incoming video chats: defaults write com.apple.ichat AutoAcceptVCInvitations 1 After that, I set it adrift on the network. From my main computer, I watched the mini pop up on Bonjour after reboot, and we were off and running. While this worked great for my own local use, it had some inherent restrictions: remote users (aka "grandparents who love to watch sleeping grandsons") couldn't join the chat easily. Spouses at work had issues with company restrictions on AIM. Plus, it was iPhone-unfriendly; the holy grail for me was turning the iPhone into a video terminal that followed me around. I went through a few different ideas: private channel on Justin.tv (great for multiple viewers, but awash in advertising, restricted at work, and unavailable on iPhone), Skype (great video, automatic call acceptance and limited iPhone capabilities, but terrible for multiple viewers), and complicated setups involving QuickTime Broadcaster. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel (well, no more than I already was doing), I hit upon SJKM's iCam software, which is an iPhone application & accompanying cross-platform video streaming tool specifically designed for video monitoring, available in the iTunes store for $4.99. Initially dismissed for lack of audio, it has since enabled audio monitoring and non-iPhone web access, making it an almost perfect setup. Why "almost?" Well, for reasons I cannot quite figure out, the video is much choppier than AIM, Bonjour, Justin.tv, or Skype. But it works over 3G and Wi-Fi, and it connects multiple viewers without requiring conference setup. And now, with SJKM's latest update, iCam can run in the background and push notification will alert me to sound or video motion. I have not yet enabled that feature, as it is a $.99 add-on and still pending Apple approval in the store. Ultimately, I ended up using a variety of different applications, but I can report a lot of very satisfied relatives dreamily cooing at the computer screens from Portland, OR, to Philadelphia, PA. All thanks to the mac mini and the standalone iSight. And one very cute baby (if I do say so myself.)Upcoming: that's great, but can you make it work in the dark? Adventures in IR.....
Hacked baby monitor becomes wireless guitar amplifier
Whenever your baby monitor isn't pulling in live NASA feeds (or making sure all is well in the life of your child), why not let it really wail? An ingenious hack created by jovial_cynic has us all too excited to snag a Safety 1st monitor of our own, as he's figured out a way to convert it into a low-fi wireless guitar amp. Granted, Mr. Cynic uses a mandolin to demonstrate, but everything from an electric banjo to a Les Paul Custom could take advantage. Hit up the read link to see how it all came together, and peep the in-action video after the break.[Via MAKE]
BT Baby Monitor 150 plays voices, MP3s to impressionable children
Good news parents, Labor Day doesn't mean you just get work off anymore, now you can leave your young children in the care of the BT Baby Monitor 150 and really get that rest you deserve. The device can record your voice for playback to little Timmy in his crib -- he'll never know the difference. You can also hook an MP3 player to the 150, load up some Beehtoven and 50 Cent and you're set. Other features include an intercom for parent talk-back, and an alarm. As far as we can tell, this one is only available in the UK, so we suppose we'll have to import one for next year. They go for £69.99, about $141 US.
When good toys go bad VI: baby monitor swipes NASA shuttle feed
Looks like Summer Infant has a whole lot of explaining to do after one of its baby monitors has reportedly been able to "pick up black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis." A Chicago-based mother probably had uncomfortable flashbacks to Signs after her newly purchased monitoring system chose to broadcast video of the mission right on the screen, but a NASA spokeswoman has already deflated hope that it was somehow coming directly from the shuttle. Apparently, a live feed is also available on NASA's website, which is leading investigators to focus on more earthly origins -- the mom, however, will probably just cancel her cable and keep on watching intently "to see what happens next."[Thanks, Joe]
Philips' new Avalon monitors can track three babies at a time
Lovers of gadgetry, power tools and razors apparently aren't the only consumers easily appeased by the "more is better" mantra, it seems medical purchases can fall prey to its magic spell as well. Philips just busted out the new Avalon FM20 antepartum and FM30 intrapartum monitors (fancy med speak for pre-birth and birth) which can track not one, not two, but three fetal heart traces. That means mothers of triplets can have all three of their precious chilluns monitored at once, throughout the delivery process. In other baby news, a Japanese toy company has created a Mickey Mouse toy that plays soothing music for newborns, and can even create noises that can be heard by the baby while in the womb. Mickey will be hitting US shelves next February for $43.Read - Philips triplets monitor [Via Medgadget]Read - Mickey Mouse baby soother [Via Spluch]
