From a portable bottle warmer to an auto-rocking bassinet and even a robot dog, the best parenting inventions from Time's 2023 list sound incredibly useful.
Every year, Time releases a list of the “most groundbreaking inventions” across several different categories. This year, there were 200 items selected, as well as 50 special mentions. Here are the parenting inventions that made the list.
Bottom-Up Bodysuit by Tabeeze
Putting clothes on a wriggling, twisting and turning little one is never easy. That’s why Tabeeze designed a bodysuit that goes on feet first and clicks in around the shoulders.
“Everything was designed with the idea of ‘How can we make this more comfortable and easier for both parent and baby?’,” Tabeeze founder Carrie Shaltz Haslup shared when the product was first released.
Baby Bottle System Plus by Ember
Babies like warm milk, but getting it to the right temperature can be incredibly tricky when you're out and about.
So, Ember came up with a bottle warmer that is safe and can be used anywhere.
Their bottles magnetically attach to portable ‘pucks’ which evenly warm the milk. A thermos-like dome maintains the bottle's temperature for four hours, perfect when travelling with a little baby.
SensAlert by Doona
Leaving children unattended in a car is dangerous. Doona’s SensAlert aims to reduce that danger.
It can be attached to a child’s car seat to keep track of their movements. It connects to up to three people’s smartphones via Bluetooth and has three different levels of alert.
If you are unable to get to the child, it can send a GPS location to five emergency contacts.
Snoo Smart Sleeper by Happiest Baby
Babies are very particular sleepers. That’s why Dr Harvey Karp and his team at Happiest Baby invented the Snoo Smart Sleeper.
It’s a bassinet that automatically shushes and rocks the baby and secures them on their back, reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
“Babies are used to sleeping with a rhythm [in utero],” Karp told Time. “Why should we rip that away the instant they’re born?”
Magic Adventures Telescope by LeapFrog
Everyone likes looking up at the night sky and wondering what’s out there. If your wee one is really keen on the idea of exploring the cosmos, LeapFrog’s telescope for kids is the next best thing to becoming a real-life astronaut.
It’s designed for kids aged five and up and comes with a 110x-zoom camera so they can take photos of their space discoveries and show the rest of the family. It also comes with educational games so they can learn AND have fun.
Dog-E by WowWee
If your child is begging for a little pet, WowWee’s Dog-E could make for a good trial run. It’s an electronic dog that is “one in a million,” according to WowWee vice-president of marketing and operation Andrew Yanofsky.
They have their own eye shape and colour, their own personality and even their own preferences. It responds to petting, loves to play and even needs to be fed (not real food, just through a phone app).
Smartphone parental controls by Bark Technologies
We live in a super online world and it can be anxiety-inducing to let your kid explore the Internet while trying to keep them safe.
Bark Technologies has invented a phone and an app that allows parents to monitor texts, block apps and websites, set screen time limits, manage contacts, track location, pause internet usage and even be warned about concerning content.
Time evaluates a massive list of worldwide contenders on a number of key factors, including "originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact".
A lot of these parenting inventions score highly in those categories from where we're standing - now if only we had a truckload of cash to grab them all!
