The Amazing Mamaroo – Infant Seat You Control with Your Phone

A few weeks before my little girl was born my wonderful co-workers splurged for me and got me a Mamaroo Bouncer. My coworkers had talked to me about it, saying that this was his go-to gift for new babies. I admittedly sort of rolled my eyes when he first told me about it, but after a few weeks of seeing it in action I'm convinced

Outwardly it looks like a standard infant seat and bouncer. The difference is that this device was made for the 21st century. Instead of having to push it yourself, you fire up an app on your iPhone or Android device and control it to gently move in one of six ways-gently flowing like a car ride, up and down like a kangaroo, side to side like a tree swing, gently rocking like your arms, and undulating like floating on the ocean.

Okay, I know what most of you are thinking. How lazy can you be? And isn't this a little impersonal, wouldn't it be better for baby if you can rock her in your arms? And so I thought until one night when baby first started to exhibit colicky symptoms. No amount of rocking or singing seemed to help.

Then I sat her up in the Mamaroo. Without even starting the motion she was out cold in a few minutes. There was something about the angle of the seat (which you can position to anywhere from lying down to sitting up) that helped her calm down; I'm guessing she hadn't digested all her formula so sitting up was helping her. The seat with the infant insert made her feel snug, secure and warm. I'd been given the advice of sitting the baby up in her car seat for instances where she's got the hiccups, gas, or reflux (or all three), but I found her car seat to be way too confining. Moving her to the Mamaroo was like giving her an upgrade from coach to business class.

As a newborn she didn't really "get" the whole motion thing. She'd either be oblivious to it or act confused. But as she grows older I see that she's starting to respond to it.

As with any baby accessory, this one doesn't take the place of spending time with your baby and doing all you can to calm her down. But it's a nice tool to have in your arsenal in those wee hours of the morning when your arms start to give out. The unit also plays white noise (heartbeat, ocean, fan, rain) which I think I find more soothing for myself than baby does. And you can also connect a cell phone or MP3 player to rock with the music.

One thing I didn't realize until recently was that 4moms, the company that makes the Mamaroo, also does a ton of work with families in need, non-profits, and hospitals.

They donate units to NICU and pediatric units of hospitals to help nurses calm their most fussy new arrivals. If you've witnessed a hospital nursery, you'll notice that one fussy baby can start a chain reaction (sort of like one fussy adult can). They also donate units to qualified organizations running silent auctions and from time to time they'll post on their blog about some of the organizations they help support.

This is the sort of product I love highlighting on this blog-one from an innovative company whose employees have passion for their product and for helping others.

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