I remember, when my first son was born, keeping track of numerous daily events in an old notebook – how many wet and poopy diapers did he have? What times? How long since the last feeding – and what side did he last nurse on? How long has he been asleep again? Thank god for my trusty little notebook, because a new mother’s memory is not something to brag about. And after awhile I grew to loathe that notebook – there must be a better way.

When a good friend of mine got an Itzbeen Baby Care Timer at her baby shower I was pea green with envy (and probably also covered in pea green stains from my son). It was one of those “ah ha” moments. I knew there was something better. I’ve been coveting that little timer ever since, so I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to try one for myself – even better I have months to fiddle with this clever little timer before our next child (due in July) arrives. Here are some of the things I love about the Itzbeen Timer:

• The range of uses: This timer has four timers and a clock. You can simultaneously keep track of the last diaper change, feeding, sleep schedule (how long baby has been asleep or since they’ve last slept), and one more additional event of your choice.
• Each timer can be used either as a “stop watch” mode where the timer will simply count up from when you press the button until you’ve reset it OR as an “alarm” which you can set to go off in 30 minute intervals.
• It also has a toggle switch that you can move to remind yourself which side you last nursed on – so clever and super easy to use!
• This gadget comes both with an option back light so you can read all the important info being tracked at night AND a flashlight which has a more direct light for finding something (staring at your cute sleeping baby?) but is less brilliant than the back light, and thus less intrusive to said sleeping baby.
• You can also turn the volume of the timer on and off – so as not to accidentally disrupt your little ones sleeping.
• You can “lock” the timer so that you won’t accidentally reset a timer on yourself – super handy for sleep deprived users!
• One last feature that I love (although I’ll confess I disliked it until learning the reason why) is the location of the battery compartment. When you need to insert batteries (or replace old ones – which you’ll be warned of by the “low battery indicator” right on the screen), you need to press the little clip on the back that you’d use to clip the timer to your pocket, etc. The clip is right over the battery compartment and the battery compartment cannot open unless you press the clip. While a bit of a hassle, this means that if you drop your timer (because let’s face it, sleep deprivation leads to clumsiness) the batteries wont’ fall out on you! You won’t have to go through the hassle of picking up the batteries, resetting the timer, or anything. And it’s much easier than dealing with a screw driver to unscrew the battery door, which is likely what they would have used otherwise. Genius!

I’m in love with my new Itzbeen timer and highly recommend it to any new parents (or smarter, savvier second, third, etc. time around parents)!

Want to buy one for yourself or some lucky parents you know? You can use the following discount code to get 10% off your purchase at the Itzbeen website: mommas2009