20 most recent innovations in childcare

Soother-Like Baby Feeder

Fri, 16 May 2014 00:00:00 Z

The Food Feeder Plus is a brilliant way to help infants make an easy transition between liquid and solid foods. While spoon feeding is messy and has babies be passive during mealtime, the Food Feeder enables them to feed themselves and hone their motor skills and eye coordination in the process. With babies, there are bound to be spills no matter what, but the Food Feeder helps to reduce them with a locking lid and a place to catch drips.

Food Feeder Plus was designed by Herman Lo and Justin Cheung and it's shaped like a baby's pacifier. Like a toy, the device is easy to grip and take ownership of. Filling the Feeder with food is very easy and the whole device can even be encapsulated in a cup for a snack on the go. The soother-like feeding utensil is removable and also makes for easy washing and cleaning out after use.

Inflatable Child Seat

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 00:00:00 Z

Volvo revealed a new child seat concept that could change the industry. What's so great about it? It’s inflatable. It fits in a bag.

Rather than being constructed out of rigid plastic and metal, their seat uses heavy duty drop-stitch fabric--the same stuff you’ll find in outdoor gear such as inflatable rafts. So you can pull that car seat out of a bag, and watch it balloon into a seat. It does this amazing feat in 40 seconds, thanks to a silent internal pump. You can even set it to inflate from your phone via Bluetooth, if you're into that extra effort.

The seat is designed to be rear-facing, which would imply that it’s designed for children up to about age three. Otherwise, there are almost no other details available at this time. Volvo has no immediate plans to bring it to market.

While it’s certainly a compelling concept it's dubious whether it offers suburban parents much of an advantage. Because they can strap in a car seat and leave it there for years. No car rentals, no walk-ups. And while car seats are bulky and heavy, some have more than one use. Infant seats, for example, click conveniently into strollers, and have a handle--which creates a fun grab-and-go concept for your little one.

SwimFin

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 Z

SwimFin is the first truly new development in the teaching of swimming for decades - tried and tested to assist anyone in learning to swim. Unlike arm-bands, noodles or other devices, SwimFin works in harmony with the body, helping to develop a better and more natural swimming position.

SwimFin compensates for different abilities, providing as much support as the swimmer needs, yet giving confidence to even the most timid learner.

SwimFin is also a flotation device that complies with international safety standards, providing enough buoyancy to keep an adult afloat. And after it has done it's job as a learning-aid, SwimFin will always find use as a fun water toy.

Baby clothing designed to save infants from SIDS

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 Z

The causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) aren’t entirely understood, but its consequences are definitely tragic. According to recent figures, approximately 2,500 infants with the disorder cease breathing and subsequently perish every year, in the U.S. alone. While devices such as skin tone-monitoring cameras have been put to use to warn parents when their sleeping babies stop breathing, now researchers are looking into something else – a romper with an integrated stretchable circuit board.

The potentially life-saving baby clothing was designed at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration.

The circuit board itself is made from polyurethane, using conventional manufacturing processes – this means, hopefully, that a commercial version of the romper shouldn’t be too expensive. Because polyurethane is so stretchy, the circuit board conforms to the contours of the baby’s chest and stomach, stretching back and forth as the baby breathes. The idea is that if the infant stops breathing, sensors will detect the cease of movement, and set off an alarm. Parents can then rouse the child, to get them breathing again.

It’s unclear whether or not the romper has been tested on actual babies yet, but the Fraunhofer team are already looking towards other applications for the stretchable circuit boards. These could include lighting built into cars’ roof lining materials, and pressure bandages that provide feedback to nurses applying them.

Another particularly promising application is the testing of kidney function. Presently, such tests involve injecting the patient with a substance that can only be broken down by the kidneys, then performing blood tests over a three-hour period to see if that substance is indeed being removed from the bloodstream.

In the future, however, it is hoped that a plaster made from one of the polyurethane circuit boards could be equipped with a photodetector and a blue LED, then placed on the patient’s skin. The blue light would cause an injected organic colorant to fluoresce, which would in turn allow it to be detected by the photodetector – no more blood tests would be needed, plus it would reportedly be more accurate and cost-effective than the present method.

Plans have been made for clinical tests, although it may be three to five years before such plasters could come into use.

The Breeze, a one-push-setup baby bed/playard

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 00:00:00 Z

Who has the time to set up a playard each day for your baby's nap time? With the 4moms Breeze, all it takes is just one push.

For new parents, the challenges of raising a newborn aren’t always what you can or prepare for out of a book. Every baby is different, they say, so you’ll have to take time adjusting to the unpredictability of life’s greatest joy. While you do that, it’s always nice to have a cool gadget nearby to give you more time to focus on taking care of your baby. That’s why the new 4moms Breeze playard would make an excellent addition to your nursery.

Unless you’re a whiz at putting furnitures together, 4moms’ Breeze is appropriately-named. Like the company’s previous products, setting up never takes more than a push of a button. In Breeze’s case, all you have to do is push down on the center spot and the playard instantly converts to the full-sized shape. When you want to store the item away, just pull up on the handle and the corners will retract back to its closed, vertical form.

Child-resistant spray bottle with double-trigger mechanism

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 Z

The average household contains at least a few spray bottles filled with liquids that ... well, that children shouldn’t be playing with. While most bottles now incorporate nozzles that can be “turned off,” many people don’t bother doing so, plus kids can just turn those nozzles back on themselves. The situation has led to the design of a new type of child-resistant spray bottle that has two triggers.

“The two-stage trigger mechanism design restricts the ability of young children to trigger spray bottles because they lack the development capability to perform the correct operational sequence and because their hand size and strength are not sufficient to activate the mechanism,” said Ohio State’s Prof. Blaine Lilly. “The spray mechanism is designed to be extremely challenging for young children to operate, yet will allow adults comfortable use.”

Shampoo Rinse Cu

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 Z

Take the sting out of washing your children’s hair with the

Shampoo Rinse Cup

. Ideal for bathtime, this specially-designed water jug has a

flexible concave spout

– hopeless for pouring milk on cereal, but perfect for holding against your child’s forehead and rinsing off shampoo.

Thanks to this clever spout the water is directed away from their face as you pour it; so no more soap in the eyes. The compact cup holds up to 1.4 litres of water, but gives you complete control over where it goes; making rinsing quick and easy.

Auti - toy for autistic children

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 Z

Regular readers of Springwise may remember Skoog — the musical instrument designed specifically for children with special needs which we featured late last year. Now, hoping to help others with developmental disorders, Auti is a new toy designed by Helen Andreae for children with autism.

Andreae developed Auti as part an assignment for her Industrial Design degree at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Drawing on observations of a close friend’s autistic child, she noted how autistic children often found it hard to play with others due to a lack of control over their voice and body. This frequently scared other children away when they were trying to make friends. In an effort to improve interactions, she collaborated with child specialists to develop Auti, an interactive toy which helps teach autistic children positive play behaviors. The toy contains programmable sensors that can detect touch and sound, shutting down in response to negative behavior such as screaming and hitting, but responding positively to gentler behavior such as stroking and soft speaking. Auti is animal-like in appearance and action, designed to appeal to children with varying degrees of autism and to stimulate their imagination. Currently still a prototype, Auti is suitable for children aged six months and above, and Andreae claims she would like to broaden its functions for a range of teaching applications before considering producing Auti commercially.

DotPot

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 Z

The dotpot is a combination of 3 different products - a potty, a toilet seat and a step. A simple product combining 3 into 1!

Constructive Eating

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:00:00 Z

We've all seen aeroplane-shaped cutlery, the logical extension of the game where the fork swoops into the mouth - but when it comes to shunting up mash potatoes and rice, I guess digger-inspired utensils make just as much sense, and especially if you have a recalcitrant but machinery-obsessed eater.

The goods on offer are from Constructive Eating are not appealing to me, visually, but I am willing to bet that they will be more desirable than gold to certain small children.

Rolobox

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 Z

If your home is being overrun with empty boxes from FedEx, UPS, Amazon and countless other online purchases, and you have kids, Rolobox will let you kill two birds with one stone. It might be an old joke, but I've never known a kid whose eyes didn't bug out of their heads at the sight of a large, empty box. It's like a blank canvas for an active imagination, and thanks to this Rolobox kit, they can now be used to make more than just forts and castles.

Of course a cardboard box can easily be turned into a race car with nothing more than a crayon and a crude ability to draw circles, but these Rolobox wheels will actually let your kids take it for a spin around your house. They attach to a box using a set of plastic nuts and bolts, and except for the fact that they require you to punch 4 holes in it.

GeoPalz

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 Z

GeoPalz is a simple 2-D pedometer that tracks users steps throughout the day. The steps are then logged onto the GeoPalz website under their profile.

At the end of each day a user logs their steps into the GeoPalz website and the steps are then converted into miles/points that can be redeemed for all sorts of physical prizes that will be shipped to your home as well as certificates that they can print and hang on their wall.

Biosensor track vital signs

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:00:00 Z

Each Exmobaby onesie will come with a baby-safe, rechargeable Zigbee wireless transceiver that snaps into a pouch. From there, the data is transmitted to a nearby PC or cell phone in order to keep parents and other caregivers informed of a baby's status. This continuous monitoring in real time will allow for an "emotional umbilical cord" between mother and child.

The Zigbee wireless standard uses a wireless local area network (LAN) and is targeted at radio frequency applications requiring lower data rate and battery life. It's also compatible with a wide range of USB and mini SD-slot dongle devices, i.e. cell phones.

Parents or caretakers wanting to check in on a baby via cell phone or computer will see icons that represent the baby's heart rate, as well as "emotional state" and "behavior," categories the company admits are less exact. But Exmovere compares its software to voice recognition software, where accuracy increases over time as person-specific data compiles.

Gyro Bowl

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 Z

The kid-proof Gyro Bowl is made to keep snacks neatly encapsulated until a little hand reaches in and takes some out. The bowl actually consists of several rotating parts and an outer rim with handles. The inner bowl is made to rotate 360 degrees and stay upright at all times, no matter the angle it is being carried at. It is said to be durable enough to withstand the rough and tumble life of an active tot and can be safely run through the dishwasher.

Baby Mop

Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 Z

Advertised in Asian magazines as a way to "make your children work for their keep", there is surely a baby mop outfit available in your baby's size. If your child is of crawling age, simply dress them in the special onesie, place them on a hardwood floor , and watch in amazement as they spring into action. The logic falls in the fact the child is just crawling as usual, and the cleaner floors is a bonus, so no child exploitation here, right?

Pampers Dry Max

Mon, 17 May 2010 00:00:00 Z

Drymax is the latest product to prove smaller can be better. Dry Max is referring to the new absorbent part of Swaddlers and Cruisers diaper, which combines the same types of materials we've always used with a new, innovative manufacturing process that allows us to get rid of the bulky fluff material in the storage core. This innovation is very similar to innovation outside of diapers.

In the world around us, everything is getting thinner and smaller and still works even better - like laptops, music player, cell phones and televisions. Now, it is the invention of the Dry Max that allows our diapers to be thinner and our driest ever to help lock in wetness.

Taga Trike Baby Stroller

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 Z

The Taga Trike Baby Stroller combines the clunky utility of an urban tricycle with the darn useful convertibility of a baby buggy. So now mum can ride to the shops, get off, do a quickie conversion and push baby round the store without having to break stride. Almost.

Snow Shorts

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 Z

Pull these shorts over a snowsuit and schuss downhill, lickety-split! Much more fun than pulling a sled—sit down, and you're off! You steer by shifting your weight. Foam-padded PVC seat is fused to the pull-on snowsuit shorts; six “runners” steer like a sled.

Bicycle Expands With Growing Kids

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 Z

This new innovation in bicycles is called the "Kilobike". It is designed to "expand the identity and usage of today's kids bikes."

This bike has the capability to expand along the years 6 to 12 years, multiple settings. Made to provide ergonomically correct conditions and "good outlook at all stages."

Urban cot / crib

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 Z

Bloom's Alma is a beautifully designed folding wooden crib, with stainless steel detailing, that is the perfect choice for parents looking to bring a little contemporary chic to the nursery or home. Alma has two mattress heights combining the benefits of a newborn bassinet or cradle with a cot/crib; a modern easy folding bed that can be used from newborn to two years.