A view on parent-tech, collaboration examples, and how technology can help manage parenthood.
Two children sitting next to each other with a phone in their hands
Photo by McKaela Taylor on Unsplash
Technology always played an important part in my life. Born in the 1980s, meant I was around 8 years young when we had our first computer at home and my first phone was an indestructible Nokia brick phone. I always had an interest in everything tech and mobile and started my first job in the telecommunications industry in 2001.
A lot of things have changed since then. The biggest change in my life happened when I became a parent. During pregnancy, we have prepared as much as possible in an old-fashioned way by reading books. Even with Alexa, where you can get an answer to most questions within seconds, there are so many new things to learn and absorb in order to master at least the basics of parenting 101.
Embrace Digital Parenthood
Services like Amazon have been a lifesaver for me in the early days. Being able to have a professional breast pump (not very sexy, I know) delivered the same day saved me from mastitis (if you are unsure what it is, feel free to ask Alexa and I will spare you the details).
I have ordered many other things in urgent need via Amazon that I never thought of, before having my first child. For example, getting infant milk delivered to a different country whilst on holiday or white noise in the form of a sheep or bear that uses a motion sensor. And yes, you can also play white noise with an app and it kept my baby sleeping for hours. It meant I was able to actually ‘do stuff’ whilst he was asleep.
Other helpful gadgets are smartwatches and tracking devices. It helps parents stay connected with their children and know exactly where they are, which is providing invaluable peace of mind.
Mira Patel
has written an interesting article about smartwatches with a focus on Fitbit recently.
Are Smartwatches A Smart Purchase For Your Kid? ⌚️
I will be performing a heuristic evaluation on the latest innovation in technology, the Fitbit Ace 3, a smartwatch…
medium.com
I have been fortunate to be part of a few tech products and partner launch projects to see the value and long-term benefits.
And of course, there is immersive Tech like Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality that is interesting for children as well as the elderly. During my researched, I also found this article from
Alice Bonasio
a few years back but still relevant today.