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December 16, 2024

New Year, New Baby: Goals for the New Parent

New Parent New Year’s Resolutions: Setting Goals for You and Baby

New year, new you takes on a whole new meaning as a new parent. You may have very different goals from the ones you envisioned in prior years—and before your new baby. Creating a comfortable environment for your little one is now at the top of your goals. This precious life you brought into your home deserves everything you can give it. As someone navigating a new phase of life and diligently watching a baby cam every night, setting achievable goals can help you build confidence and create a positive space for your baby’s development. 

Goal #1: Cozy Sleep
There’s a lot to say about the importance of sleep. The first three to six months of being a parent can look like you have a little baby bean attached to you, and you love that (mostly). Still, separate sleeping schedules are inevitable. While you are content to enjoy those sweet contact naps in the beginning, for which you are fully awake, you want to encourage sleep habits that work for your lifestyle. That means you need to create a comfortable and secure sleep environment. 

Your baby should have a flat surface where they sleep on their back without nearby obstructions like pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets. This space could be a crib or a bassinet. If your baby sleeps in their own room, a baby monitor lets you know when they wake up. 

Your baby monitor can be a simple camera or a more advanced system. An all-in-one baby monitor can track heart rate, oxygen levels, skin temperature changes, room temperature, and humidity. It may even have a sound-machine function. These advanced systems are convenient and informative, helping you create a comfortable sleep space while giving you peace of mind. You’ll know when your baby wakes up, and you’ll also know when there are any significant changes to their surroundings or vitals. 

Goal #2: Bonding with Your Baby
Most parents can bond with their babies in the first weeks after bringing them home, especially if they use parental leave. Bonding can look like contact naps, playtime, singing them songs (letting your baby hear your voice), or showing them around the home and outside area. In the earliest parts of parenthood, bonding is spending time with your little one—you don’t have to overthink it.

Goal #3: Prioritizing Mental Health
Parenthood is a new phase of life that brings many physical and mental changes to your routines, habits, comfort levels, work, and social life. It’s a big change. Prioritizing your mental health is crucial when taking care of your little one. In order to do so, make sure you do what you must to create space for yourself. You may have a high-quality smart baby monitor, but you’re also your own mommy or daddy baby monitor. When you’re using a baby monitor that alerts your phone to any changes, from your baby waking up to changes in oxygen levels, you can focus on yourself for a little bit, whether that means taking time to listen to your favorite podcast or even scheduling an appointment for yourself with a healthcare provider.

Setting goals as a new parent can feel simple with some tips like these. Achievable goals that support a healthy home environment are the best way to enter the new year with you and your little one. 

 

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and should not replace medical advice from your doctor, pediatrician, or medical professional. If you have questions or concerns, you should contact a medical professional.

December 16, 2024

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June 25, 2025
Postpartum Support: A Guide for Dads & Partners

New parents take on a lot in the weeks and months after having a baby. It’s plenty of fun with many new experiences. While the parent who gave birth, breastfeeds, and pumps has another full-time job, partners can step in to help in different ways.

Researching Baby Products
Parents often research and purchase baby products long before their little one arrives. As parents, both of you should be looking into high-quality baby tech and supplies. One of these essentials is a baby monitor, which you might forget to prioritize. Partners, it’s your turn to research smart baby monitor options that give you extra support.

Nowadays, this goes beyond simple cameras with night vision. You can find monitors with various features, including a smart sensor on an ankle band to track your baby’s heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, and external skin temperature variations. A design that has a nightlight is a plus, too.

Nap-Time Checks
You’ll hear plenty of moms and birth parents acknowledge how difficult it is to sleep when the baby sleeps. They want to watch over their little ones and catch up on things around the house. It’s also surprisingly easy to fall asleep during a contact nap. That’s where your partnership can help. Not only can the birth parent snooze while the baby naps, but they can also rest easy knowing that you’re starting the laundry, there’s a plan for dinner, and you’re making sure the baby is in the right position for a comfortable contact nap.

*Contact naps are only okay if the parent is awake or there’s another person present to monitor the snoozing parent and sleeping baby. 

Late-Night Wake-Ups
If the breastfeeding parent recently fed the baby, there’s breastmilk in the fridge, or your baby takes formula, there’s no reason why a dad or partner shouldn’t take on nighttime wake-ups. You can learn to change a diaper, prepare a bottle, and comfort a baby. We’re in the 21st century, and with birth parents being full-time employees at other jobs, it’s time to share the unpaid role of parent, especially in the beginning.

Someone who has given birth or had a C-section is still recovering from what is technically a surgery. If there is a caregiver who stays home while the other is at work, that home caregiver doesn’t get lunch breaks or a chance to decompress. So, let them sleep or take turns covering nighttime wakeups. You can both access your baby sleep monitor through an app, so it’s not the sole responsibility of one parent.

Scheduling Pediatrician Appointments
Your first pediatrician appointment is likely within a week or two after leaving the hospital or giving birth. There will be several appointments within the first year of your baby’s life, and dads can make those appointments. It’s super easy. After both parents agree on a pediatrician, contact the office and tell them it’s your first appointment with your baby. It’s probably way less stressful than ordering a pizza over the phone back in 1995.

Being a parent is exciting, and if you’re lucky enough to go into parenthood with a partner, do your best to be their best advocate. There are things that only a birth parent can do, and you can help with the rest.

New parents take on a lot in the weeks and months after having a baby. It’s plenty of fun with many new experiences. While the parent who gave birth, breastfeeds, and pumps has another full-time job, partners can step in to help in different ways.

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May 14, 2025
Bedtime Essentials Every New Parent Needs

Establishing a bedtime routine for your baby takes time, but you will eventually curate a bedtime routine and environment that works best for your family. Confidence and comfort are key, and some bedtime essentials, like a baby monitor, will make the whole process a calmer and more enjoyable experience.

Reliable Smart Baby Monitor
Baby monitors are popular pieces of baby tech for new parents. There will come a time when your little one is snoozing and eventually getting a full night of sleep independently of you. Baby monitors give you a clear visual and audio of your baby’s sleep space. A modern baby monitor uses smart technology like a baby temperature monitor to help you monitor the environment and sleep habits. If your baby monitor comes with a smart sensor and ankle band, it can track your baby’s heart rate, oxygen saturation, and skin temperature fluctuations, helping you feel confident that your little one is comfortable, even when you’re not by their side.

Soothing Sleep Sounds
A sound machine that plays white noise or lullabies can be very useful for parents concerned about noise pollution in their child’s sleep space. This sound machine may also be a source of comfort for your baby, especially newborns who are used to a kind of whooshing noise or heartbeat from inside the womb. Of course, a smart baby monitor with a hub tracking environmental changes may be able to double as the soothing sound player near your little one. It is more convenient for parents because you have to buy one less piece of baby tech to complete the sleep space.

Obstruction-Free Sleep Space
Every baby needs an obstruction-free space to sleep. That means no blankets or toys until they are 12 months old and no pillow until they’re two years old. Until then, keep the crib clear to help them sleep comfortably. You can check a baby monitor that tracks environmental changes to make sure the temperature and humidity levels are in a range that suits your baby’s sleepwear and habits. Talk to your pediatrician about this if you want more details on the developmental stages a baby needs to meet before adding to the sleeping area.

Convenient Changing Table
Whether it’s a table or a changing mat you can unfold on the floor beside a diaper caddy, you need a space for quick and easy changes. Late-night diaper changes are common in the early months, so it’s always a good idea to keep the essentials for diaper changes ready to maintain the least amount of stimulation. Diapers, wipes, and hand sanitizers are a great start. Ensure these items are in an area where you can get a little light to see what you’re doing. If you have a baby monitor that also serves as a nightlight, this can come in handy.

New parents have a lot to juggle and think about. You might miss some things as you prepare for your newest family members, but these bedtime essentials will make the process comfortable so you can get through the nights of new parenthood with confidence.

Establishing a bedtime routine for your baby takes time, but you will eventually curate a bedtime routine and environment that works best for your family. Confidence and comfort are key, and some bedtime essentials, like a baby monitor, will make the whole process a calmer and more enjoyable experience.

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A Quick Guide to Sound Machines for New Parents

Technology is helpful to new parents with a young baby looking for support. Rest assured, baby tech, like a smart baby monitor developed by pediatricians and scientists, is tested repeatedly before its release. That said, these products may have features you want to learn more about, like a built-in sound machine that plays white noise and lullabies. If you have heard how sound impacts a baby’s development, additional information can help you decide what’s best for your baby’s environment.

The Truth About Background Noise
White noise or lullabies serve as background noise while your baby sleeps. They help soothe your little one and calm them while blocking out other sounds. This benefits parents and babies, allowing them to get more restful, undisturbed sleep. However, too much of a good thing can have a negative impact. “Too much” means the background noise is too loud and playing too long. You can use a sound machine or a baby sleep monitor that plays white noise or lullabies at a lower volume without causing any discomfort for your baby. 

The Science Behind It
A baby’s ears have smaller ear canals than an adult. Over time, repeated exposure to sounds above 85 decibels (dB) could negatively impact hearing. For reference, 80 dB is typical for an average alarm clock (remember those?). When your alarm clock was on your nightstand, around the same level as your ears and within arm’s reach, it was very loud. When you moved it across the room, it wasn’t blaring as loudly in your ear.

Similarly, the decibel level an inch from an infant sound machine may be different than that of the decibel level by the time it reaches your baby’s ears. So, both volume and distance from the machine affect the noise level, and you have the freedom to adjust the volume and distance and follow user instructions to use baby tech properly. That way, you keep your baby monitor hub at a comfortable distance and volume for a good noise level.  

A Comfortable Noise Level
A high-quality baby sleep machine has a cut-off decibel level to ensure it doesn’t reach a level that could impact hearing development. This means it shouldn’t go over 85 dB. That’s not the default sound level for the baby tech product, either; it’s just the maximum threshold. Keeping the volume between 20 and 50 dB can help create a comfortable sleep environment for your little one. 

Along with a sound machine on a hub, a baby monitor can also feature a baby cam and a smart sensor attached to an ankle band. These features allow you to track changes to heart rate, oxygen saturation, and external skin temperature (as well as the room temperature thanks to the hub). By monitoring any changes to your baby’s sleep patterns, you can make changes as needed, including the volume of white noise or lullabies and where you place the hub. 

Whether that’s a baby monitor that plays white noise and lullabies or a data-tracking sensor on an ankle band, you can use all the support you can get. Whenever you have a question about your child’s well-being, you can also reference the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and talk to your pediatrician. 

Technology is helpful to new parents with a young baby looking for support. Rest assured, baby tech, like a smart baby monitor developed by pediatricians and scientists, is tested repeatedly before its release. That said, these products may have features you want to learn more about, like a built-in sound machine that plays white noise and lullabies. If you have heard how sound impacts a baby’s development, additional information can help you decide what’s best for your baby’s environment.

Read more