Best smart tech for new parents

Beginning your journey into parenthood is an exciting time. Luckily for today's parents, there are more tech gadgets than ever that are geared towards helping you keep an eye on your newborn and making life just a little easier.

Asurion Experts provide tech solutions for our 300 million customers every day, and helping them to set up their smart home is no exception. Here's their guide to today's best smart home tech devices for moms and dads (and grandparents, too).

Smart bassinet to help soothe baby

One of the main things any new parent could use? An extra set of hands. The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet responds to baby's cries and helps to soothe them using a gentle rocking motion and built-in sound machine. With the accompanying app, you can monitor baby's sleep patterns on your smartphone and help to establish healthy sleep habits.

Smart sock for monitoring heartbeat

Achieve a little more peace of mind when leaving the baby in their crib to catch some zzz's while you catch up on things around the house (or on some much needed sleep for yourself) with the help of the Owlet Smart Sock. This wearable device simply wraps around your baby's foot while they're snoozing and monitors their heart rate, oxygen levels and how soundly they're sleeping. Included with the at home baby heart monitor is a base station which stays green as long as everything is okay, but will rapidly blink and make alert sounds if it detects irregular levels. You can also download the Owlet app to your phone to receive real-time notifications.

Smart sound machine for encouraging rest

When it comes to getting little ones to sleep, we know the more help, the better. That's where devices like the Hatch Baby Rest come in handy. A nightlight and a sound machine rolled into one, you can customize the nursery environment to encourage more restful sleep. The best part is you can do it all from an app on your phone, so you don't run the risk of waking the baby up when tiptoeing back into the room to change the settings. The Hatch Baby Rest also has a built-in Time-to-Rise indicator that's great for encouraging routines like bath and bedtime as your child grows.

Smart baby monitor that connects to your phone

If you're looking for the best baby monitor to help keep an extra set of eyes and ears on your infant at all times, you have many options to choose from. A popular choice is the Nanit Pro Camera. This smart monitor lets you watch over baby from anywhere, day or night, in full 1080p HD with their smartphone app. Other features include notifications to keep you updated on the temperature and humidity in the baby's room, and optional wearable breathing bands that sync with the camera to monitor baby's breathing. Plus, it has the added bonus of two-way audio so you can sing or speak to your little one to soothe them if they get a little fussy during naptime.

Smart lights and songs to help calm your little one

Getting babies to sleep soundly is no easy feat. Luckily, there are smart devices out there designed to help calm your little bundle of joy. For example, the Fisher-Price Smart Connect Deluxe Soother projects soothing lights and plays songs and sounds that encourage relaxation. Control everything from the lighting effects and music from anywhere, all from an app on your smart device.

Wearable baby thermometer to help with the sniffles

Dealing with baby's first cold is inevitable, and anyone who's ever tried to take the temperature of a wiggly baby knows that's not the most fun for anyone involved. Thankfully, new wearable baby thermometers like the Infanttech Smarttemp help your baby get undisturbed rest while allowing you to keep an eye on their temperature. Using Bluetooth, the wearable thermometer tracks your child's temperature right through an app on your smartphone. You can even set alerts that will notify you if there's a spike in their fever.

Smart plugs to turn any device into a smart one

Turn your most useful electronic devices into smart devices with the help of smart plugs. Control lamps, light switches, coffee pots for much needed caffeine fixes, and other tech all from your phone or tablet. Want to turn the humidifier on in your baby's room, but you don't want to risk waking them up? If it's plugged into the smart plug, you can turn it on and off all from your phone!