By Cheryl Bac
E-mail Cheryl Bac
About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl...
(More)About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons including Chicago and Boston. Exercise is an integral part of my life. I hope to one day go back to long distance running and tackle the New York City Marathon. Right now I run after my one year old son. Although I am a stay-at-home mom, we are rarely "at home." My mom also stayed at home with my brother and me. She warned me that, although rewarding, it can be isolating. So, with her help, I learned the importance of getting out into the community and meeting other mothers. On the rare occasion when I am at home and have a hand or two free, I squeeze in time to scrapbook. As a new mom, many challenges are thrown my way. I hope my opinions, triumphs, and struggles help experienced parents reminisce, new parents cope, and parents-to-be get an honest glimpse of what the first years of motherhood can entail.
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My husband and I never bought a baby monitor for our son. We all shared a room early on, and by the time our son transitioned to his own space, we were quite confident that he would make himself heard if he needed us.
We also never downloaded apps to track his eating or sleeping habits. I tried to log his diaper changes and feedings into the booklet that our hospital handed out but immediately stopped when our pediatrician told us that the log was unnecessary. I personally did not enjoy keeping track of this information. Logging made it too easy to focus on the chores of parenthood rather than the joys.
I've encountered a lot of new moms who are tracking their babies. Most seem to find it useful. Sometimes they use this information to figure out a schedule for their little one. Other times it helps them feel more content to see that their baby is getting the recommended amount of feedings, sleep and diaper changes each day. Or it provides them with an extra sense of security.
There are countless
apps and devices available to monitor baby. Recently I've been seeing a lot of ads for the
Sproutling, a wearable baby monitor that not only tracks baby's heart rate and temperature but it will even predict when it expects baby to wake up. Although we have a new baby in our house, I'm not planning to purchase any of their devices or apps. Maybe it's because I already raised my son without them, so I don't believe they are necessary. Or maybe it is because I feel like using these devices might end up just
eating up time that I would rather spend on more enjoyable activities.
Did you monitor or track your baby? Do you think these new apps and devices are
useful or unnecesary?
