Sproutling, a family technology company, is currently developing a baby monitor that detects a baby's heart rate, mood, and environment so parents don't have to periodically check up on the child.

The baby activity tracker from Sproutling is an anklet with sensors that monitor the baby's mood, temperature, heart rate, whether he or she is sleeping and if the baby has rolled over onto its stomach. It is intended to be worn during naps and at night.

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Monitoring a baby's sleep position is essential as babies younger than seven months old should not sleep in a prone position. An accelerometer built into the tracker tells parents their baby has slipped into a prone position.

A baby that sleeps on its stomach increases its chances of having SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

The tracker, which is designed for infants up to two years old, comes free with a wireless charging base and mobile app.

The program links to the tracker through the Internet and lets parents use it even if they leave the house. The app gives a simple visual description of the baby's status, without complex metrics and any numbers.

"Parents aren't doctors; they don't have any sort of understanding of what all that stuff means," said co-founder Chris Bruce.

The baby tracker displays a pulsating dot that shows heart rate and a straightforward indicator for the baby's status such as "asleep" or "awake."

The base of the charger has two purposes. It acts as a wireless charger when the band is placed on top of the device.

It also has sensors that check the infant's environment, including light level, noise level and temperature. The data can deduce if the baby is comfortable or not and even notify parents if there is too much noise or the room is too bright.

"We're really trying to eliminate that helicopter parenting. ... If you have a baby, a lot of your free time is actually when they're asleep," said Bruce.

Because the base and anklet are taking note of numerous elements, the device gives parents a reasonable view of the status of the baby.

The Sproutling baby tracker will be sold at US$299 when released but is currently offered at US$249 for those who pre-order. 

Tagsbaby, Sleeping, App, Smatphone, bluetooth, Biometrics