Today is Father’s Day, which got us thinking about all the Dads we have at Sleeping Giant Media… We wondered how digital has helped them in their Dadhood, so read on to find out about their favourite digital Dad things!
Luke
- – Baby tracking app – this really helped me feel more a part of the initial phases of pregnancy where it tends to be the women seeing all the physical changes.
- – Baby feeding app – this made us sure we knew we were feeding our daughter Ella enough!
- – Baby tech – monitoring them when they sleep (so you can relax knowing they are still alive…) as it is super scary at first as you worry about them stopping breathing.
- – WiFi baby monitor – I am away quite a lot, and love having the ability to check in on my daughter.
- – FaceTime – I can call in for dinner or breakfast time while away.
Lee
- – My Ouvis WiFi enabled camera, which means I can check up on my son remotely any time. If I want to check on how he is at night or just take a sneaky look if I am missing him during the day, it gives me peace of mind and I can talk to him wherever I am.
- – For getting information, I love Netmums and Mumsnet. When you have those burning questions about your youngster and you’re panicking about anything from “what is that dry skin on their head?” to “what exactly do these instructions on the baby feed mean?”, there is always a thread on there with solid and reliable advice on what you should do.
- – My iPhone, with plenty of memory to take the thousands of photos on a daily basis. I also love Google Photos for this, as I have set up albums to share with family and friends (and with my son via his new email address so he has a history of him growing up as soon as he’s old enough to appreciate it).
- – Amazon Prime app is a godsend. When you run out of stuff you need for your little one and can’t mobilise them to go out and buy it, having it delivered the next day is so helpful.
Sean
– So I have used digital in so many ways. I’ve watched endless reviews of products on YouTube: buggies, high chairs, baby monitors, car seats, slings, cots, baby carriers and the list goes on.
- – My favourite app by a long way is The Wonder Weeks. It helps you to chart the cognitive development of your child. When you see thunder clouds on the chart it normally means your little one is going through a developmental leap and you are getting a lot less sleep as a result! Really good app and definitely recommend.
- – I use Amazon Prime quite frequently! The two-hour delivery window means you can be tapped up for emergency deliveries of things such as nappies.
- – I also used extensive online research to get a great deal on an Osprey backpack (my pride and joy as seen in the selfie). Think this might be a bit of a guy thing (if they can’t walk just chuck ’em in a backpack). He loves it and allows us to get out for some really nice walks!
Sam
- – Shoutout to Amazon for the £39 fire tablet with kid mode (no, I’m not going to trust my 2 year old with a £350 tablet).
- – Secondly, Amazon Parental Controls. This ensures that the tablet and fire TV are accessible to the kids between the hours of 05:30 and 08:00, and turn off automatically. This means that when they wake me up at ungodly hours, I don’t have to feel like a failed parent for throwing the tablet at them.
- – YouTube Kids is amazing; With the amount of dubious stuff out there on the internet, it’s nice to be able to relax with kids on the web, knowing they won’t stumble on some questionable content.
- Sagomini are the bomb. Their apps are well thought out, educational, and original. They have no point, other than to foster curiosity, and enable exploration. They have taught my kids the fine motor skills of how to utilise the natural interaction of a touchscreen first world.
- – Amazon and YouTube have taught my kids to use voice search. My eldest son Samson now says “pirates please” when he wants to watch videos of pirates. Alexa and Google both understand, and save the kids so much frustration in not being able to READ/SPELL/TYPE. Someone should send them to school…
Danny W
- – The best thing I find is that when you are a new parent and have so many unanswered questions, the internet helps you to learn things without experiencing other people’s direct suggestions. People’s viewpoints can be very heavily influenced by personal experience. If I ask the people I know about a home birth, the perception is that I’m a hippy or putting my unborn child at risk. Yet if I ask the internet, I get to see all the people that have good experiences with it, as well as the actual science behind it all.
- – Some apps that support learning like Makaton (baby signing) or mindfulness techniques are awesome! Essentially apps like these mean you don’t have to go out shopping, or you can watch on demand tv at 2.30am! Less parenting in context, but these support everything else so you can concentrate on being a good parent.
- – To mirror Sam’s final comment above, “Siri, show me Daddy Pig” is a regular occurrence.
Ant
- – FaceTime – you can really miss the little one when you are away from home, (especially as in our case as Lucy my wife is a full-time mum), so you can really feel like you are missing out. However, the occasional 5-minute FaceTime with Mum and baby is a really nice way to stay in touch. Lincoln (my son) is only 6 months old, but he already responds well to me over FaceTime.
Dan
- – Whatsapp would be my favoured app. Karlie my wife sends me daily photos and videos of what she and my daughter are up to, which is great as you do miss a lot whilst at work.
- – FaceTime is also great for my Mum and Dad to see and talk to Maisie.
Rob
- – As seen here, the Kids Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet is a godsend, especially if Dylan gets me up early (like 4.20am early!) so I give him his tablet to watch while I wait for my coffee to kick in.
- – Netflix and Sky have so many kids’ films and TV shows available, it’s crazy. To think when I was growing up with just had a handful of VHS tapes now you can literally watch anything you want.
- – I use search a lot just for any source of information, for things such as ‘healthy snacks’, ‘things to do for free in Folkestone’, ‘toys for a 4 year old’, or ‘what to do if your 4 year old won’t eat his food’. There are plenty of forums and bloggers that are going through it or sharing information.
Wishing you all a Happy Father’s Day!