As a parent I understand that gadgets like the Milk Nanny will be forgotten – like the Diaper Genie and the no-pacifier rule – five months into the severe sleep-deprivation experiment that is parenthood. As a gadget freak, however, I do think it’s pretty cool.
It’s a simple device. The system holds an amount of formula and water. When you need formula you simply press a button and it squirts out, pre-warmed and ready to drink. You can control the system from your phone and even tell the device which formula you are using, allowing you to see nutritional information and quality on the fly. You can then see exactly when the wee one ate and how much, ensuring that parents to obsessively track their infants’ food intake like a Honda Civic owner obsessed with gas milage can do so with ease.
The device starts at $149 and will start shipping in May. While it is trivial to mix formula, doing it in a pre-dawn haze while a small human screams in your arms is not trivial. Therefore something like Milk Nanny is an interesting addition to the pantheon of baby gear so familiar to those who have friends who are headed to Doula XPress, Baby’s Organic Items R’ Us, and The Conflicting Information Bookstore For New Parents. I fully expect things like the Milk Nanny to hit registry lists over the next few years, right next to the wipes warmers (which are actually nice in the winter) and those little rubber giraffes.