Smart Baby Trackers Mostly Unnecessary

The rising trend among the parents to track and monitor the movements of their off-springs through advanced technological racking equipments and gadgets has been dubbed as waste of money. Now the doctors in US is looking forward to get the smart health trackers for babies to be regulated by a US body which overlooks the development and intricate working of other medical equipments. This might come as a surprise for a number of parents which actively indulge in monitoring their babies in sleep.

How smart baby trackers works? 

The smart baby trackers are made up of highly advanced monitors; are equipped with varied forms of sensors. These sensors are fitted to the baby’s clothing or nappies and it helps in measuring signs which includes the heart rate as well as breathing rhythm during the sleep. The data generated from the trackers are shared with the parents with a phone based app.

A team of doctors from Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia has opined that the baby tracking devices should be approved by The FDA. The major reason for this is attributed to the fact that one of the brands named Owlet sells its baby monitor for $250 and it proactively helps in tracking sleeping baby’s breathing and heart rate. This happens through the help of a sensor which has to be placed inside baby socks. Owlet has stated on its website it has submitted an application on FDA site for approval. But without proper authorization from FDA such devices shouldn’t be allowed to be sold to the general public as it can have adverse impact on the baby’s health.

The health risks of monitoring devices

A neonatologist named Dr Elizabeth Foglia has stated that keeping baby’s healthy shouldn’t be compromised with the use of unapproved health monitoring devices. It has been found that adopting the monitoring devices has not resulted in reducing the risks of the Sids (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Furthermore there are few classes of babies which shouldn’t be brought in close connection with the monitors unless it has been prescribed by the physician. Another problem which might arise from the continuous monitoring of the infant health is that it can results in raising false alarms with regular changes in the body. An infant body is going through rapid development which results in a number of physiological changes.

The risk of false alarms

An analyst at CSS Insight named Ben Wood has shed light on this trend by stating that new parents are seduced by the baby tracker manufacturers. Manufacturers are specifically targeting the young parents by carefully merchandising their gadgets as a tool of offering best start in life to the babies. The health services present in the country are already stretched and such products are only going to make things worse. These products can easily end up in raising the false alarms which will cause undue trouble for the parents and eventually lead to the healthcare facilities based on the futile alarms.