Is this really what it's come to? Introducing the 'smart diaper'

South Korean company Monit unveils diaper monitor at CES

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Put this on the list of "things no parent actually needs," right next to the wipe-warmer and infant shoes.

Seriously: Where will your 3-week-old daughter be walking?

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Anyway, get ready for this: A South Korean company called Monit has unveiled a "smart diaper," at this year's International Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES. In case you're unfamiliar, the event is a huge trade show held each January in Las Vegas, and it shows off the coolest new gadgets and technology -- for your home, your life; the works.

Monit has crafted a sensor about the size of a cookie that attaches to the outside of a baby's diaper. And it uses Bluetooth. (If only we knew, 20 years ago, what we'd be doing with Bluetooth technology). The sensor can detect whether there's a No. 1 or a No. 2 in the diaper and it alerts the caregiver through a cellphone alert.

Whatever happened to the smell test? Or the mentality, "If the diaper looks kind of fluffy, time for a change?"

"If it seems like it's been an appropriate amount of time, time for a change?"

Heck, sometimes, it's like, when you know, you know. Not to mention, most major diaper brands now provide a yellow line. When it turns blue, it's wet. (My mom is still reeling from that advancement in technology).

 

Getting back to this new diaper monitor itself, CNET reports that using the sensor and its companion app can help to reduce diaper rash and urinary tract infections, as in, if you track the patterns on your phone. Also, data from the sensor can be used to track how many diapers parents are using.

The Monit monitor launched in Korea and Japan at the end of 2018. The company is working to bring the technologt to Huggies in April, CNET said.

It's unclear what this might cost in the U.S. (or if anyone would actually buy it).

Playing devil's advocate for a second, perhaps this has some value. Maybe some parents are visually impaired, or your baby "goes" a lot in his sleep, and you don't want him lounging in the mess all night. We're still on team "we've survived this long as a species without a smart diaper, why now?" But we're willing to give this product the benefit of the doubt. At least for a minute.

What do you say?