After many years of trying to set personal goals in various ways and then failing to stick to them, I’m finally having some success. I can’t claim all the credit for this. To get from someone who has never been able to be consistent at anything, to someone who appears to be making the [...]
This weekend our daughter tumbled down some stairs, not a disaster but it was very dramatic. It wasn’t the first time and it certainly won’t be the last. She’s now sporting a nasty graze and a very blue lump on her head. It got me thinking about what that accident would make other parents think, and if I let myself be influenced by them what kind of a parent it might make me.
There’s an entire marketplace of products to help parents protect their children, from clips that eliminate sharp corners in your home to video cameras that watch them while they sleep. Some are more extreme than others, but all are sold to do essentially the same thing: make you feel less afraid. Here are just five of them that I found interesting for reasons explained below.
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1. The baby monitor I’m deliberately including this alongside some of the more extreme products out there. Some parents laugh at those who go out and buy the more extreme safety equipment, but everyone I know has one of these, so aren’t we all giving into our fear just a little bit, and by mocking the more extreme products aren’t we being just a little bit hypocritical? This is the one we have by the way and I love it, at some point I’ll post a review, in the meantime feel free to email me for my opinion. |
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2. Baby knee pads I can’t honestly know if these are useful or not. Certainly some of the baby suits we had came with padded knees and they made us feel better about her crawling on wooden floors. If you’re worried about sore knees maybe they’re worth considering. I wear padded knees when doing DIY so could they be a good thing for crawling babies too? |
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3. The child locator Who hasn’t worried about their kid being lost, stolen or missplaced by idiot grandparents? I don’t have one of these but it’s a real temptation every day. All that stops me is that if I buy one how far down the path of paranoia am I going? But if I don’t buy one and regret it, that would be the worst thing in the world. I’ll stop this train of thought right now because the credit card is coming out of the wallet . . . |
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4. The Thudguard This is a helmet for toddlers who are learning to walk. If my child had been wearing one she wouldn’t have the bruise right now, and of course the fall could have been much worse than it was. So maybe it’s a good thing? I’m not convinced though, I’m sure some parents have one and are greatful for it but I’m worried this is just a little bit too far for me. This seems to be best on the market though. Tell me if you think I am wrong. |
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5. Baby Wipe Warmer I have honestly never worried about those wipes being cold, but now that I know this exists I’ll be constantly concerned that the wipes are uncomfortable for her. A classic example of a fear I didn’t know I could have being influenced by a product that’s available. |
That’s it. Five products for sale that can make me feel instantly better as a parent. Just five products out of the hundreds available. Ultimatley you have to decide where to draw the line before paranoia based parenting and balanced healthy parenting. It’s totally up to you.
Tags: ecommerce, Parenting, products