CBS’s Saturday Early Show, pointed to a bunch of must have baby gadget. Heather Maclean, a kids expert visited the show and makes a test with the panel of moms. She once founded Little Laureate, a media company featuring educational items for kids and wrote “The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide: From Pacifiers to Potties…Why, When, and What to Buy for Pregnancy Through Preschool.”
And here are what she suggests for parents of baby and toddlers:

Video Monitor
Your own mom says it’s too expensive and unnecessary. You’ve got other concerns, and it’s pricey, so you leave it off your registry. Reconsider!
Everyone knows audio monitors are an essential, but they can cause, rather than relieve panic by broadcasting all those rustles and whimpers.
Video monitors even have night vision! They enable you to peek in on your sleeping baby without a squeaky door giving you away; they enable you to determine that the crying you hear is due to tantrum and not injury and, with the magic of mute, they can actually help you get a better night’s sleep while still monitoring your baby. Well, well worth the price. Especially considering their future uses: front door home monitoring systems, nanny cams, even a way to spy on pre-teens.

Follow Me Fred

Launched at Toy Fair 2008 last week, Follow Me Fred is a self-rolling little puppy used to encourage babies to crawl. He barks, pants, and plays music. He’s bright and colorful (and only $19.95).

Baby Care Timer

It’s ironic that, at the very time new parents are given a tiny newborn to care for, they’re the most sleep-deprived they’ve ever been. The new parent-invented ItzBeen Baby Care Timer is the answer to our “We’re so tired, we’re hallucinating” prayers.
Those first few weeks, we might not remember our name, but we can now easily tell you when our baby was fed last, on which breast, and how long “itzbeen” since their last diaper change.
The ItzBeen timer is really four timers in-one, with a clock, alarm, and even a handy nightlight. You can carry just one or up to five, filling them with powdered formula or infant cereal, snacks, feeding accessories, even pacifiers.

Soft, But Waterproof Blanket

Everyone knows about the need for dozens of baby blankets. And waterproof, outdoor play mats are essential for springtime outings. But it took the genius of a mom to combine the two and give us a blanket that’s soft and snuggly on one sidem, but completely water-repellant on the other.

Travel Snack/Formula Keeper
Why moms still travel with full cans of formula in their diaper bag is beyond me. Perhaps because the alternatives are lacking. Individual-serve packages are very expensive, and the traditional round formula containers only hold three servings, and leak.

Shopping Cart Cover
An oft-neglected purchase, as soon as baby can sit up, this is a MUST HAVE. Shopping carts are veritable germ breeding grounds, and most babies don’t just touch the handle in front of them, they suck it clean (well, not clean…!). In the past, only really bulky, garish options were available, but shopping cart covers have evolved and now fold compactly for easy travel and include dozens of gorgeous patterns and fabrics, from Hawaiian prints to “minky.”

Travel High Chair
When you leave the house with baby (which these days, is quite often!), you can’t always count on a clean or safe high chair. Many restaurant chairs have broken straps and are rarely cleaned. I leave nothing to chance and bring my travel high chair with me everywhere: to restaurants, Grandma’s, friends’ houses, etc. Most travel high chairs can be used from the time a baby can sit up right through the booster years.

Tags: baby gadgets