>Smart home living

Jenifer Phin extols the virtues of smart tech for anxious parents

you could say I’m a baby bore, in the same way you could say that the Grand Canyon is a hole: it’s a massive understatement. I obsess about every aspect of my child’s care, then obsess over the potential impact of obsessive mothering, then share my concerns with friends, family, and the Twitter accounts of minor daytime TV stars.

I am the most boring bore who ever bored. But I’m allowing myself, just this once, to unleash my tedium on you, dear reader, on the off chance you too may benefit from my favorite gadget for the neurotic parent: Withings Smart Baby Monitor, a device that clips to the crib and not only sends live video and audio to your iOS device, but also provides nightlight and white noise options, records room temperature, sends alerts when it detects sound or movement from your little one, and predicts whether she will grow up to be a matricidal sociopath (I made one of those up).

Even better, you can watch the live feed wherever you are! At a fancy soirée? Why not sidle up to your fellow guests and insist they coo over the prone form of your drooling progeny? Hired a babysitter? Check in on bedtime progress then bombard them with “helpful” texts!

The Withings Smart Baby Monitor does actually help me relax. I know it’s monitoring my daughter when I sleep; I can check in on her if I’m away from home, and the poor child gets more rest without me creeping into her room every five minutes. Plus, I can take screengrabs – would you like to see a few? Wait… come back!