I am the fifth of six kids, which meant that the mentality of “helicopter parenting” or “ever-present parental fear and anxiety” wasn’t part of my own upbringing. However, I started babysitting when I was 12, have nannied, and also have 7 nieces and nephews, so I’ve seen a pretty decent spectrum of parenting styles and mentalities. While I’m not a parent, I have definitely crept into a baby’s room countless times to make sure they’re still breathing, and I’ve nearly had a heart attack when I thought they weren’t (I cannot even imagine what happens when you’re a mother). Though I like to think that I’ll be as naturally cool and collected as my mom, I seriously doubt that’s going to be the case, and I know I’ll be using Mimo whenever it is that I do become a mom.
As we’ve developed Mimo, we’ve worked to be as user-centered as possible; we’ve talked to hundreds of parents about their families, their demands, their monitors, their painpoints, and their likes/dislikes. As we’ve done this, our goal has been to create a product that is attuned to what parents actually want, that does not induce or fuel a parent’s already natural and ever-present stress, and which is as simple and reassuring as possible. We, and Mimo, are working to provide a smarter, more trustworthy peace of mind for parents, and thus far, we’ve had fantastic feedback from our test families about the best ways to do that.
Though we’ve gotten a positive response thus far, we recognize that Mimo isn’t for everyone. For example, two of my cousins (who are first-time parents) had a gut reaction of “huh…could be interesting, but I’m really just not that worried about my baby; I mean, I’m just…not”. And, there has been a few posts and commentary about whether smart, data-focused monitors are overkill. We can see how Mimo could be perceived that way, particularly if it worked in a way that increased anxiety for parents. However, that’s absolutely the opposite of what we’re trying to do, as we believe there is zero reason to make a parent question their baby’s ability to thrive or their own inherent skillset.
Additionally, we know that parents have a hectic, sleep-deprived life. Many of the new moms (and dads) we’ve talked to have spoken about waking up throughout the night and not being able to stop thinking about whether their baby was still breathing. Audio and video monitors don’t provide an adequate level of detail to qualm their fears, so most parents talk about getting up and actually placing their hand on their baby’s chest to confirm actual respiration. And, many new parents talked about their concern evolving from breathing to if their baby was rolling over to overheating and then to sleep training. Mimo can actually address all over these concerns, and we’re hoping to do it in the most restful way possible; we really want parents to have a product that will help them stay in bed and get a little extra sleep.
We know we’re not experts, though, so we are going to keep talking to parents as often as possible. We have at least two more round of product development to go through, and we’ll be testing features, UI/UX, and our industrial design every step of the way. Mimo may not be made by parents, but we are certainly making it FOR parents.
As always, if you have any thoughts, please don’t hesitate to contact Dulcie at [email protected]. We love any and all feedback!
