by Cree McCree
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Baby getting fidgety? Hand him Mommy’s iPhone and let him play with Baby Rattle Bab Bab or listen to the soothing sounds of White Noise Lite. A plethora of new mobile apps help consumers distract and amuse the kids.
- Some parents use souped-up phones to play learning games with their toddlers. Others buy precious time by letting them watch movie clips or flip through family photos in the checkout line.
- While babysitting apps can be useful, parents need to be wary of letting their phones turn into toys. “Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I wouldn’t use a $300 baby rattle,” says Sascha Seegan, lead mobile device analyst for PCMag (USA Today 5.21.09).
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- Parents are pros at the art of distraction, whether it’s jingling their car keys or sticking a binky in baby’s mouth. Add mobiles loaded with kiddie apps to their bag of tricks.
- Rattle apps get the job done, but babies are equally amused by the old-fashioned kind. We have a sneaking suspicion gearhead ‘rents get the most fun out of souped-up cells.
- Kiddie PDAs like LeapFrog Text & Learn serve a similar function without putting Dad’s Blackberry at risk.
RESOURCES
