When my oldest son was born in 2012, I was given a sheet of paper and a pen in the hospital to log his feedings. Who knew that just a decade later parents would be able to record the same stats for their babies with just the push of a button?

Cubtale is a palm-sized care tracking device that can be used to log your baby’s feedings, diaper changes, sleep cycle, medication schedule, and more. A potential lifesaver for overwhelmed new parents, each “Cub” can be placed on a changing table, on the fridge, or even worn by breastfeeding moms to record ounces fed, duration of feeds, number of diaper changes, and other important information. The info is then sent via WiFi from the tracking button to an app on your phone, smart watch, or voice assistant.

Preorders for Cubtale begin Jan. 18 with an anticipated delivery date of Feb. 1.

If your elementary-school aged kiddo is already begging for a smartphone, but you’re not ready to pull that lever quite yet (I totally get it!) the Moochies smartphone watch looks like a fun compromise. The durable, waterproof watch is totally kid-friendly and uses a SIM card to enable messaging and video calling between your child, yourself, and a list of callers that you set up.

There’s no internet browser or social media apps, so your kids can’t aimlessly scroll like they would on a smart phone. The watch also includes GPS tracking so that you know where your kids are and can even set up a “safe zone” to receive an alert on a paired app when your child goes out of the designated area.

The Toniebox interactive speaker was one of the best parenting products at CES 2021, and its audio storytelling platform introduced a fun new addition for 2022. The Tonie Blocks Invention and Innovation Set offers STEM-themed stories narrated by famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson for kids to listen to on the screen-free device.

The blocks pair with the Toniebox to play audio tracks about the history of the printing press, how electricity works, the science of flight, and the wonders of the internet. The total run-time for all four tracks is 28 minutes, so it’s a really cool learning tool that you can use to keep your kiddo entertained while you work, cook, clean, or just chill for nearly a half-hour.

For any parent who has accidentally let the bathtub overfill while they’re busy chasing a toddler down for bathtub or picked a water temperature that was several degrees too cold for their (now) fussy baby, the new smart drain system from Kohler looks like a life-saver. The PerfectFill Smart Drain system allows you to automatically fill your bathtub to your ideal depth and temperature using a connected app or voice-enabled command.

At $2,700 for the base model, the PerfectFill system is pricey, plus you’ll need a Kohler smart bath and spout to make the kit work properly. But can you just imagine how relaxing it would be to have a tub of water drawn to the exact perfect temperature for you in your post-bedtime haze? What a dream. You can place an order for the system starting October 2022.

One sure sign that we’re living in the future is the fact that there now exists a baby monitor powered by artificial intelligence. That’s right, the Amaryllo’s iBabi Smart uses AI technology and advanced biometrics to detect your baby’s cries, babbles, movement, and more.

The camera can rotate a full 360 degrees to track your baby’s positioning and provide a live video feed that’s fully encrypted so that you can safely share videos with family and friends. You can also speak to your baby through the monitor using two-way communication. Using a connected app, the monitor produces a daily report that logs your baby’s behavior and development. It can also alert you if your baby’s face is covered by a blanket.

If you’re looking for an alternative to wearable baby monitoring devices (like the Owlet Dream Sock) that can detect your baby’s movements while they snooze, the Babysense Cloud mattress looks like an innovative new choice. It has the ability to sense micro-movements like your baby’s breathing to assess their sleep patterns and send the data to a connected smartphone app. It can also sense temperature and send alerts via WiFi.

Though a price point has yet to be announced, the mattress is intended to last through toddlerhood, so it could be a valuable investment for parents. Visit the Babysense website to receive updates on pre-ordering information.

Coding toys are such a fun way for kids to learn a useful skill, but as I’ve seen with my own kids, sometimes these toys get too complicated in a hurry. Unveiled at CES 2022, the LoCoMoGo looks like a decidedly uncomplicated coding toy that can grow with kids from ages 4 to 12.

The LoCoMoGo is a toy train that follows electrical tape paths designed by your child instead of traditional wooden, plastic, or metal tracks. To level-up their coding skills in a hands-on way, kids can add different colors of tape and multiple train cars to respond to the different colors in various ways with lights, sound, speed, and more. Eventually, they can graduate to a connected app with new challenges and rewards as they learn more complex coding.

The LoCoMoGo train set is now available for pre-order on Indiegogo, retailing for $113 with an expected ship date of June 2022.

The smart feeding system from Nfant is one thing I really wish I had back when I was breastfeeding my youngest. I never could tell if he was getting enough because he always seemed ravenous long after I felt totally empty and would still guzzle several ounces from a bottle after a feed.

Basically, the Thrive Feeding System relies on analytics to provide parents with measurements about how much your baby consumes while breast or bottle feeding using sensors on silicone breast pads and control-flow bottle nipples. (This actually sounds super handy if you’re combo-feeding like I once was.) So, instead of weighing your baby before and after feedings, measuring formula, and the like, you can just peek at the connected app on your smartphone to see how much your baby ate. So smart.

The Nfant Thrive Feeding bottle system is set to be released in early spring 2022, with the breast sensor version available during the second half of the year, each retailing for approximately $250.

Another innovative baby feeding solution introduced at CES 2022 is the Keddle by BisbeeBaby, a portable, battery-powered warmer that’s perfect for on-the-go feeding. With 11 temperature settings, in about 2 minutes you can have an evenly warmed bag of breastmilk or batch of formula ready for your baby to drink. Just pour the warmed milk straight from the Keddle into a bottle. You can also use it to warm up your own drinks like coffee, tea, or hot cocoa (up to 145 degrees) when you’re out and about.

You can preorder a Keddle with a travel case and travel cleaning kit included on the BisbeeBaby website for $125 with an expected shipping date of March 2022.

Parents of teens and tweens, meet your new BFF. One of the toughest thing to do with older kids is to set boundaries around their smartphone use, but the POZZZ offers a pretty simple solution. Basically, when your child puts their phone in this fabric case and zips it closed, a smart sensor connects the pouch to an app on your phone. You can pre-set the amount of time you want the phone to be put away and get notified if the phone is removed before time is up.

The POZZZ app also keeps track of how well your child keeps up with the restrictions on their phone usage and issues rewards when they follow the parent-suggested timelines. It looks like a really cool way to encourage your kids to stay off of screens and self-regulate their use.