Do the Techno Baby Balance

Finding a balance with technology in this new age of baby can be challenging. We’re here to help.

For generations, the fundamentals of parenting probably haven’t changed too much. In fact, in recent years, there seems to be momentum toward returning to those simpler times we’ve heard about from our grandparents. At the same time, we love all the options we have now. These options may make things more difficult and warrant more decision-making, but at least we get to choose what we want!

It’s a balancing act, right? The need for simplicity, while wanting to still enjoy life’s perks. In most recent years, a lot of these tempting “perks” have to do with technology. We love our screens: cell phones, television, and computers.

Now that you’re a parent, your relationship with technology might feel a little more complicated. You keep hearing about the need to be a present parent, reduce screen time, and raise your little ones the Montessori way. Before you give in and break up with all your tech gadgets in the name of good parenting, consider making some of the minor adjustments below to help bring more balance to your techno/baby life.

Social Media

To post or not to post? That is the question. It’s possible that, prior to becoming a parent, you had an account on one or more social media platform.

Maybe the old you posted daily photos and tweeted without pause — the open book type of person. Sharing your social media accounts with someone was as normal as exchanging business cards.

It’s also possible that you could have been the relationships person, who was intentional about the people you allowed to see your feed and took advantage of privacy settings to ensure your life was only public to your friends and family. You still shared your daily adventures and highlighted life’s milestones, just not to the whole world.

Could it be that you are neither of these? That, while you do have a social media account or two, you’re likely to retweet an interesting article or post a picture of your meal at a hip restaurant over sharing intimate details of your life on the web.

Regardless of which “type” you used to fit into, once you become a parent, you will inevitably feel some sort of conflict, externally or internally, regarding what you share with others about your newest family member. You may be feeling pressure from family and friends who don’t live nearby. They want to see your precious littles, who seem to grow and change each minute. Updates are much needed and appreciated, and it can get overwhelming remembering to keep so many people in the loop individually.

There’s also the likelihood that you are struggling to contain your excitement too. MY BABY IS SOO CUTE. I HAVE TO SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD! Am I right? It is so hard to keep all these proud parent moments to yourself, especially when there’s a sure-fire way you can share that gets all sorts of love and comments and attention.

But, there’s something that’s nagging a few of you. We are in uncharted territory. We cannot seek advice from our parents, who never had to worry about what it might be like to have a digital catalogue of images throughout your life out there for the public to see. We don’t know the long-term ramifications of what that may do to our children. We don’t even know if we’re making a big deal out of nothing. This could very well be the new normal.

Maybe, you’re just not ready to go there yet. Maybe you don’t want to become “that mom” and post all the hundreds of photos you want to because it’s too hard to choose. Maybe the recent Facebook drama about our private information being compromised makes you even more wary. Maybe you wish there was another option.

There is. Or, rather, there are. If you’re uneasy about the limitations of social media but still want to publically share your new family’s precious moments with your loved ones near and far, the tech world has thought of you. That’s right. There are multiple apps and websites out there with just what you’re looking for.

Search “baby photo sharing” on your App Store and you’ll see that there are many to choose from: Notabli, 23snaps, Family Album Mitene and Tinybeans, just to name a few. These apps are free and allow you to upload all the photographs and videos you could possibly want. They may have some different features that set them apart, but ultimately, they all work the same way. You invite people to have access to your “album” and they are able to download, like, and comment on them, just like on social media. Another great feature of these apps is that they offer album printing, so you can regularly make photo books using your favorite photographs with ease. If you’re worried about your family members that do not use apps, you are in luck. All of the apps mentioned above have websites that people can use to access your albums the same way they would on a phone app.

Photography

Cell phones make it so easy to snap away throughout the day. We usually have our phones on us at all times, They are lightweight, they don’t require an extra cord to share the photos with others, and the quality of the shots improves with each new phone upgrade. Also, filters!

Still, once you get around to printing your first set of cell phone photographs, you’ll find that you’ve been disappointingly made aware of a big drawback to using this device for preserving your memories. The photo quality, even on the latest and greatest of phones, doesn’t translate to the standard 4×6 print, let alone enlargements.

There’s a reason for this: digital screens such as phones, cameras and computer screens can display up to 17 million colors! A printer can only produce between 2,000 and 4,000. This explains why you can visibly see a difference between what a picture looks like on your phone and a printed copy.

Before you go and shed some tears scrolling through your thousands of milestones and toothless grins you captured with new parent naïveté, consider a proactive approach moving forward. By all means continue using your cell phone for easy, on-the-go, and in the moment photos that can’t afford to wait. But in addition to that, plan one day each week to spend part of the day snapping photos of your little one(s) with your digital camera. Don’t have one? There is a wide array of cameras available now for any budget, but still are higher quality than your phone camera. Take some advice from Pink and don’t forget to have people take pictures sometime so you can be in the photos as well! Otherwise, you’ll have to explain to your confused children years from now why you aren’t in any of their baby photos with them, but you swear you were there!

Even though we’ve offered a solution for you moving forward, that still doesn’t solve the problem of all the photos you have that have been deemed “not worthy.” Never fear, there are things you can do to help convert the color discrepancies that exist between cell photos and printers.  

Photo printing companies like Artifact Uprising have come up with ways to help convert your photographs from screen to print in a way that is the most simplified and high quality possible. The solution lies in making sure your images are in the sRGB color profile. Here’s a how-to guide for converting your images before sending them to print: Changing the Color Profile.

Another option is avoiding glossy prints! Matte prints do not call attention to the color discrepancies as loudly as gloss can. Matte prints also give your photographs a more authentic, old-timey feel that can help your memories feel timeless when looking through them for years to come.

Screen Time

A few years back, you probably heard that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended NO screens for children under two. This suggestion was probably easier said than done when you consider that meant that playing with Snapchat filters with your baby and streaming Netflix to stay sane when alone with one or more children under two all day both fell into that restricted category.

It’s quite possible that we’re being too extreme about screen time after all. The AAP stepped back from that suggested ban back in 2016, but in some ways, the “damage” was already done. We’ve heard the founders and CEOs of some of tech’s biggest entities such as Apple and Facebook admit that they restrict their own children from internet and phone usage. We surely know the parent or two who laments ever letting their child use their cell phone to play a game. Hell, maybe we are that parent. Maybe you side-eyed the family that has their children obediently watching a movie on an iPad while at a restaurant – then, maybe you wondered if that too would be you one day. The #parentguilt is real and maybe it’s all because of this now outdated No Screen Under Two guideline.

Whatever the cause, we’re navigating uncharted territory when it comes to the effects screens and technology in general have on child behavior and development. We are so used to seeking answers that maybe we’ve forgotten that, like almost every part of parenting, there is no one, true “right” way. Instead, maybe the best way to approach the decisions you will inevitably have to make regarding cell phones, Internet, television, video games, movies and more is by using the common sense and what-works-for-our-family approaches. In essence, do what makes the most sense and feels most comfortable for your family.

The running thread throughout this article is balance and screen time should be no different. Being completely prohibitory could backfire and be difficult to live up to. More and more these days, we need to check our phones regularly for work. It allows us the flexibility to sit with our kids while they play in the living room while responding to work emails. This is not necessarily a bad thing. When faced with the option to stay late in the office or come home and do that, most parents would emphatically choose to utilize their hand-held device. At the same time, an awareness of the impressions we are giving our children is important too. This is why many child experts are recommending mindful parenting practices like #DeviceFreeDinner to set a standard for quality time as a family.

Ultimately, trust your gut and be willing to adjust as technology, your parenting style and your children evolve. That said, if you’re the person who still likes to read up on all the opinions and advice there is out there, consider sites like CommonSenseMedia.org as more of a reference guide than How-To Manual.