£35 from JoJo Maman Bebe

Stick it in your baby’s ear without any fear

Tell yourself that this futuristic thermometer will look cool in your baby’s nursery and will take his temperature in style.

Tell your wife that this hi-tech infrared thermometer will ensure the minimum of distress when used on your precious child.

After several ill-fated attempts to use our strip thermometer on Henry’s little forehead we simply had to find something more effective. The Brother Max 3-in-1 Digital Thermometer fit the bill perfectly – it is a smooth looking device that can take temperatures quickly via ear or forehead, whilst also being usable as a room thermometer. It comes with a neat stand for your nursery so that it is always on hand when you need it, and it also has a close-fitting hard-plastic case that is ideal for travel.

Wriggling is no longer niggling

Having used the Brother Max over a few months I can confirm that it is quick and effective even against the most unwilling and wriggly of targets. Henry doesn’t mind the little tip pressing gently against his forehead and he is similarly unfazed by having it shoved in his ear. Key to this is the fact that it only takes 2 or 3 seconds for the reading to be taken, signified by a nice little beep. The resulting temperature is then displayed in big, bold digits on the bright display.

Flip it ‘n clip it

Once you have taken the temperature you can fold the tip back down and close the protective cover over it, which switches the device into its room temperature mode. There is even an orientation sensor in the device that flips the digits when you turn it upside down to clip into the stand – very simple, yet very effective.

Almost super, but not up the pooper

I have just two criticisms of the Brother Max thermometer. Firstly, the manual has a complex table of ‘normal’ temperature readings for different age groups. This is all very good, but it would be far more useful to have this printed on the device itself or even have the device tell you if your child’s temperature is in the normal range. My final gripe is that there is no rectal temperature option. How am I supposed to test how ill Henry really is when he’s trying to avoid going to school in 5 years’ time?

Dadgets.info says that the Brother Max thermometer is quick and painless for both father and child. And it also looks pretty damn cool.

Grin like a child at the clear and bright display, the lightning quick reading and the smart travel case.

Cry like a baby at the lack of ‘normal’ temperature confirmation and the absence of a rectal option.

Dadgets.info rating: 9 out of 10

£49 from Playtray.co.uk

Defy those stuck-up Stokke evangelists!

Tell yourself that you’re saving yourself from the agony of having to redecorate your dining room. You’re also stickin’ it to the man.

Tell your wife that buying the Playtray is cheaper than buying a new shagpile.

You’re the worst parent in the world if you allow your child to eat from a tray attached to a highchair. Or at least, that’s what Stokke will make you believe if you read their preachy web site:

“children who eat dinner with their families are exposed to a greatly reduced risk of developing social problems in later life”

“a highchair that enables your child to sit with you at the table…provides your child with a secure platform for growth and development.”

Back on planet earth . . .

No question, Stokke do produce a really attractive highchair that is very flexible and adaptable throughout your child’s youth. But they refuse to provide an attachable tray, which is just not practical in the real world until your child is more mature in his eating habits. Therefore you’ll need an attachable tray. Therefore you’ll need the Playtray.

Thick and girthy

The Playtray is a see-through plastic tray that attaches simply and securely by hooking over the back of the Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair. It is impressively thick (around 1 cm) which makes it feel extremely sturdy. Furthermore, it has a very thick lip that is 2 cm deep and looks like it would hold a gallon of drool and milk if it had to. All surfaces are rounded and smooth which means safety for your baby and easy cleaning for you. The Playtray comes with a crotch strap, but is also fully compatible with the Stokke Baby Set and harness that provide a bit more security for your child.

Henry eats a fish finger

The Playtray has truly been a revelation since we bought it. We’ve had the courage to give Henry a whole new world of messy finger-foods that we wouldn’t have let him near if he were sat at our dining table. The Playtray is plenty large enough for Henry to enjoy squishing his food around, in and amongst the odd bit that makes it to his mouth. Henry also likes to bash the tray and I can report that it stays rock solid under all kinds of pressure.

Despite its solidity, the Playtray is still very quick and easy to remove for cleaning. After Henry’s mealtime we usually remove the tray before wiping it down, and you could clean it in the sink or even the dishwasher if you had one large enough. Simplicity itself.

Dadgets.info says that if you own a Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair, then you really must own a Playtray for weaning your baby. It’s difficult to see how any design could improve on the Playtray.

Grin like a child at the thick, smooth plastic, and the smile on your baby’s face as he smears peanut butter on his head.

Cry like a baby at the expense of a lump of plastic, and the fact that Stokke might send the boys round if they find out that you’re defying their ethos.

Dadgets.info rating: 8 out of 10

£1,549 from Taga stockists

The perfect child-carrying machine?

Tell yourself that this bike/pushchair is stylish and functional, and it will attract attention from the Yummiest of Mummies when you strut its funky stuff around town.

Tell your wife that Taga will bring you closer to your child and allow you to explore together in style.

I might have just found Holland’s most exciting export since Ruud Gullit. Taga is a pushchair that converts into a bike with child seat. While based in the Netherlands, Taga’s UK office has kindly loaned Henry and me a demo bike that we have been rigorously test-riding – to much admiration from all who have witnessed our travels.

Taga, you’re it

Taga is an adult plus child tricycle (with 2 wheels at the front) or a 3-wheeler pushchair (with 2 wheels at the rear). It is sold with a child seat as standard that will accommodate children between approximately 6 months and 6 years of age. Coming later this year will be all sorts of clever add-ons that will allow Taga to take car seats for newborns, and even to carry two children at once. Taga is designed to be cycled into town and then pushed around the shops, and all without having to disturb your child.

Quick switch

First things first: just exactly how does Taga convert between a pushchair and a bike? Allow Henry and me to demonstrate in this short video:

So you can see that the conversion takes literally seconds, and switching back to pushchair mode is similarly swift. All parts of the process are simple and intuitive, while the mechanisms on the Taga seem like they would stand up to frequent conversions. The Taga also disassembles into a smaller format that could fit into a car boot for transportation.

Sturdy birdy

It seems that quality parts are the signature of Taga. The frame is sturdy and robust, while all moving parts give the impression that they are built to last. This quality comes at a price, however, with Taga being over twice as heavy as a conventional pushchair and around 50% heavier than a standard bike with child seat. You won’t notice the added weight while cycling around town, but during a walk your biceps will soon begin to notice the extra flab.

Good times

In bike mode, Taga is immensely fun to ride. The front wheels steer on a pivot system that makes for sharp turns that might catch you out at first, but soon become natural. You ride nice and high as does your child, making frequent interaction a fun part of the ride (“Look Henry, a dog!”, “Look Henry, a birdie!” “Look Henry, a Yummy Mummy!”). The 3 gears are sufficient for moderate speed and slight inclines although no more than that, but for a gentle cycle on the level they are just fine. The chain mechanism is nicely shielded so there’ll be no oil on your trousers, and there are both front and rear brakes for ultimate safety. The front brake lever also has a pushbutton locking mechanism that acts as the handbrake/footbrake.

Bad times

Sadly, it is when you convert Taga into a pushchair that you begin to see where serious compromises have been made in its design. The biggest problem is that the single front wheel does not swivel, which makes Taga incredibly difficult to manoeuvre around town. Even when walking down a long, relatively straight path, you constantly have to make minute adjustments in direction that require tilting Taga back on its two rear wheels before you can swivel it around. This would be annoying enough with a light pushchair, but considering Taga’s girth the inconvenience becomes very tiring indeed. Of course, the front wheel can’t swivel because it holds the gears and chain mechanism for the bike mode, but there must surely be an innovative solution to make it work.

Help, I’m stuck

The second major issue with pushchair mode is that the single front wheel does not roll backwards. When you’re shopping with a pushchair there are countless occasions when you need to reverse, and without a swivelling front wheel this is even more important. During a shopping trip with Taga there were so many times when I had to drag that front wheel backwards, or tilt back onto its rear wheels, in order to extricate Henry and I from a tight spot. Again, the added weight makes this doubly frustrating.

No, honestly, I’m really stuck

The final nail in the coffin of Taga’s pushchair mode is its sheer size. The wheelbase is 71 cm compared with our usual (Jané Slalom Pro) 3 wheeler’s 61 cm. You would be amazed at how many shop doors we had to scrape and how many shop aisles we simply couldn’t fit through. The extra 10 cm clearly makes all the difference, as we have never had such trouble with our Jané. To make matters worse, the sticky-out handlebar configuration actually makes the handlebar span even greater at 74 cm. So the times when our wheels just made it through the door, our handlebars started grinding awkwardly against glass and hinges.

There are other smaller issues, such as the very wide handlebar stance making my arms ache when pushing, the gear shifter making for an awkward grip on the left handlebar, and the plastic end-covers popping off the handlebars and wheels whenever they get the merest sniff of a narrow door. In fact, the only positive things I can say are that it has a generously sized storage bin underneath and the supplied sun hood is stylish and effective (although it rubs on your knees in bike mode). But overall, it is the sheer lack of manoeuvrability that unfortunately makes Taga distinctly unpleasant to use as a pushchair.

How much?

Retailing at £1,549 (Taga stockists) the Taga is a high-end product, no-doubt, but can the average parent justify such expense? Well, if the Taga replaced a posh 3-wheeler pushchair (worth, let’s say, £500) and a decent bike with child seat (let’s say another £500), then you’re still spending considerably more with the Taga. But does the neat integration of two devices into one justify the high price tag?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. I would recommend Taga as a standalone bike as it is really superb in that format – smooth, stable, and providing close interaction with your child. But the pushchair functionality is so woeful that you would seek to avoid it unless you absolutely had to. This means you’d still need to buy a decent pushchair as well as owning the Taga.

I really do think that Taga is a fun, fresh and innovative product. With an overhaul of the pushchair design, perhaps Taga version 2 might be able to win my wallet as well as my heart.

Dadgets.info says that the Taga makes a pretty cool bike for you and your child. However, the pushchair mode is best forgotten, and the price is far too steep for the bike functionality alone.

Grin like a child at the high cycling position and the looks of admiration from passers-by.

Cry like a baby when you get stuck in pushchair mode at the rear of Poundland with no means of escape from an angry mob of pensioners.

Dadgets.info rating: 6 out of 10

£14.99
from Amazon.co.uk

The ultimate chill-out room for father and child

Tell yourself that this is a man shelter to protect you and your family from the sun in the best possible style.

Tell your wife that for £15 you can’t go wrong.

There are two problems with taking your kids to the beach – sunburn and…

Avoid such unpleasantries by taking the Coleman Sundome Beach Shelter with you. Not only will it shield you and your children from the sun’s harmful rays, but it will also provide a pretty sizeable ground sheet so your little man can romp around without his little man getting covered in sand.

As ever with my Dadgets, I did plenty of research on beach tents and even though there were much more expensive possibilities out there, I stuck with this cheap, effective and manly model from Coleman.

Pain-free erection

While some of the pricier models are pop-up, the Coleman actually requires a little construction like any ordinary tent. Now I must admit that I’ve only been camping once in my life, and it was only made tolerable by a large bottle of Good Times whisky and the lack of a bowel movement, but even to my inexperienced hands the assembly of the Sundome was completely pain-free. All of the poles snapped quickly into place and then slid effortlessly through the guides on the tent itself. It took a little bit of brute force to bend the poles into their final position, (locked by little rubber holders), but the whole process took only a few minutes.

Moderate wind

Once constructed, the tent has that sizeable groundsheet as well as a zip-up window at the back if you want to let the breeze through. The groundsheet can also zip up to provide a fully sealed tent for a quick clothes change, or perhaps to hide your valuables when you head down to the sea. The Sundome can be anchored to grass by the supplied tent pegs using the two attached guide ropes and other fixing points. There are also a few sand bags scattered around so, for use at the beach, you can quickly slide in some sand to provide stability against moderate winds without having to use any pegs.

Nice package

The tent is really well proportioned and can easily seat two adults and a couple of small children. When folded down, however, the whole package falls down to a very reasonable size that packs away neatly into the supplied carry bag that will barely take any space in your car boot. It is also light enough to carry around if necessary.  In a stroke of pure genius the carry bag also has the assembly instructions sewn inside it.

Overall, the Coleman Sundome Beach Shelter looks the part, does the business, and should be as essential as slip, slop, slap this summer.

Dadgets.info says that the Coleman Sundome Beach Shelter is cracking value and a must-have item for a long hot summer.

Grin like a child at the Sundome’s manly attractiveness, its spacious dimensions and its amazing price.

Cry like a baby at the fact that it isn’t self-erecting.

Dadgets.info rating: 9 out of 10

$23.95 CAD from Pida

A necklace? For heterosexual fathers?

Tell yourself that you’re a modern father who is fully in touch with his sexuality. You also enjoy cuddles with your baby, and the Daddy HeartString Baby’s Companion might just be able to stop your child from chewing your face.

Tell your wife that just because you are wearing a necklace it does not mean that she can start buying you pink shirts.

The HeartString Baby’s Companion (HBC) is essentially a lump of plastic on a necklace for your baby to touch, chew and yank on while they are breastfeeding or cuddling you. I have limited lactation powers but I do enjoy a good cuddle with Henry, so I offered to give the ‘Daddy’ version a go.

Reassuringly, the lump of plastic is made of well-researched ‘safe’ materials. The HeartString web site impressively proclaims that the material is made to ASTM, CPSIA, MSDS and FDA standards. Well, thank F*CK for that. The necklace is also pretty special – it’s a non-toxic organic cotton lanyard that has a special safety-release connector to stop your little pride and joy from inadvertently garrotting you. The whole package comes with a nice little cotton bag to keep it safe and clean.

I feel so used

The standard HBC, for parents with breasts, comes in a heart shape with many pastel shades to choose from. For the special ‘Daddy’ version it comes in a black and white disc. I do feel a little stereotyped here – just because it’s black I’m supposed to be impressed? When you’re trying to get blokes to wear a necklace you really need to work a little harder than this. I’d suggest bundling the HBC with a Taser and some pepper spray to help you deal with the inevitable teasing.

Chew on this, son

So regardless of any philosophical debate on necklaces and manhood, how does the HBC actually work in practice? Well, at 9 months old Henry is increasingly difficult to keep still, and so I’ve been trying the HBC as a device to stop him from leaping from my arms whenever I hold him for more than 30 seconds. In that role it has performed pretty well, and it usually keeps his attention for a couple of minutes. He stares at it while passing between his hands and he also enjoys chewing it with his solitary tooth. The plastic seems to hold up fairly well against this treatment, although Henry’s tooth does leave permanent indentations on the surface.

I have also put the HBC to good use when changing Henry into his pyjamas at night. When I lay him on his back and begin to undress him, he instinctively tries to roll over and begin crawling unless I can come up with a good distraction. Having the HBC dangling from my neck while I’m leaning over does seem to do the trick more often than not, although in this case any old necklace would probably do the trick.

Diamonds are for babies

So what is the downside of the HBC? Well, as well as the fundamental problem of guys wearing necklaces, there is also a strong possibility that regular HBC use will result in your child developing quite a necklace-chewing habit. Diamonds, pearls, emeralds – they could all become fair game, and your sweet little baby could soon be tasting the odd carat or two.

Dadgets.info says that if you can bear to wear a necklace, then you might find some good uses for the HeartString Baby’s Companion. If only the manufactures could spend some time making it more manly (rather than just making it black) then it could develop into an essential Daddy Dadget.

Grin like a child when your baby cuddles you for longer because he has something nearby to grab on and chew, other than your ear.

Cry like a baby at the fact that you are actually wearing a necklace. And the fact that your baby will destroy all other necklaces from this day forward.

Dadgets.info rating: 6 out of 10

£154.99 from CMaC

Can a security camera babysit?

Tell yourself that this is far superior to any video baby monitor currently on the market. You’ll be able to show off live video of your sleeping baby on your iPhone from anywhere in the world, and who knows what kinky applications you’ll think up when you can finally afford that Swedish au pair.

Tell your wife that this essential device will allow you to keep a tearful eye on your little baby whenever you are kept away from home on business. Buying the Y-Cam Knight would be a testament to your fatherly love.

Why would you want a simple video baby monitor that can only display images on a tiny little screen and only within a 10-metre range of your nursery? What you really want is one that can publish live video and audio on the Internet so you can check on your baby from your laptop down at the local pub.

Of course, I am joking. You should never, EVER take a risk with something so precious. Many a laptop has come to a sticky end after a pint of beer has been spilt on it. Luckily, the video stream from the Y-Cam Knight can also be viewed from your mobile phone – problem solved!

The perfect choice for voyeurs

The Y-Cam Knight is a wireless ‘IP camera’ or ‘network camera’ – basically a webcam that connects wirelessly to your home network rather than to a computer. The benefit is that you can have the camera on 24 hours a day without requiring a power hungry PC to be plugged in to the other end. The downside is that you do need a wireless home network for it to be of any use. For use as a baby monitor you also really need a laptop and/or a mobile phone with a web browser to make the solution workable.

Inside the camera is essentially a mini computer that can send the video and audio out through your network and even over the Internet. While such cameras are usually designed for security and voyeur fetish pornography applications, they also turn out to be cracking video baby monitors.

I bought my Y-Cam Knight from the good people over at CMaC who delivered it promptly and provided a very friendly service. I have been using the Y-Cam Knight for a solid 2 months now, and I can honestly say that my wife and I could not imagine life without it.

Plug-in, upgrade, configure, nibble a Rusk

You need to set up the camera by connecting it by Ethernet cable directly to your home network router. You can then connect to the camera from a web browser on your computer (using the IP address that your router has assigned the camera), from where you can use the web interface to configure its wireless connection. At this point I would also strongly recommend downloading the latest firmware from Y-Cam’s web site and installing it on the camera – the firmware that my camera shipped with was full of bugs and caused a world of trouble by never picking up any wireless networks. With the fresh firmware installed and the wireless configuration sorted, you can unplug the network cable and move the camera to your preferred location. As soon as you power it up, it will connect wirelessly to your network and away you go!

Y-Cam loves PC, tolerates Mac

Connecting with Internet Explorer on a PC will give the streaming video together with audio. You then have options to alter the microphone volume, digitally zoom the image, save snapshots or video files, and adjust the resolution. Connecting with any browser (e.g. Safari or Firefox) on an Apple Mac will simply show you the live video stream without any sound and without any fancy options. Shame on Y-Cam! However, there is an option to get audio on the Mac too – I’ll discuss this later.

The Knight eats carrots

The camera also includes a bank of infrared LEDs that light up the scene beautifully at night without frightening your child with a bright torch (although the LEDs do dimly glow red). This gives really clear images Henry rubbing his eyes and wriggling about while he tries desperately not to fall asleep.

The only downside of the camera’s infrared sensitivity is that it does distort colours somewhat during the day, such as turning blacks to purple. However, this shouldn’t give you too many problems and during night use the image is black and white anyway.

More versatile than a spork

The camera has a host of configuration options in the settings menu. There are many advanced settings that are aimed at security applications (e.g. e-mailing or FTPing an image when motion is detected), although you might be able to find some innovative uses for them in a baby monitoring situation. More useful are the 3 separate video streams that you can configure (for resolution, bandwidth etc.) and access individually through a web browser or through a Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) connection. RTSP basically opens up a video player like QuickTime to handle the video streaming and it is by using this QuickTime stream that Mac users can actually access the audio portion of the connection too.

iPhone iShmone

Unfortunately the iPhone is not compatible with RTSP and so can only be used to watch the streaming video (without sound) through its Safari browser. This works pretty well, although it does seem to slow down the iPhone even when you are out of Safari, unless you close down the browser window that is connected to your camera.

The other problem with viewing through the iPhone is that you have to enter your username and password on a regular basis before you can see the stream. Furthermore, constant viewing through Safari, with the iPhone’s auto-lock turned off, drains the battery quicker than shoving your tongue into the charger socket. Y-Cam really needs to produce a dedicated iPhone app to solve all of these problems and make it far more usable.

Share the joy

Viewing on your home network is as simple as typing in the camera’s IP address in your web browser, but what about accessing the camera over the Internet? To do this you’ll need to setup a free dynamic DNS account (such as with DynDNS.com) and adjust a few settings on the camera. Once this is done you’ll have a web address that you can use from anywhere in the world to access your camera (with a user name and password). I’ve tried this from around the UK and the results are impressive – I obtained a very clear image with about 2 frames per second (compared to 30 frames per second on my home network). The great idea here is that you can give access to Grandmas, Grandads, Aunties and Uncles – allowing everyone to see your little bundle of joy as he creates an expanding puddle of drool on the bed sheets.

Not just the dadgetry

I’ve talked a lot about the technology, but I also feel that I must mention the mount that comes with the camera. You need this mount to stand the camera on a flat surface or secure it on a wall or ceiling, but sadly it is poorly designed. I have it on the edge of Henry’s cot but the design prevents it from being angled downwards enough to actually see the bottom of the bed. The only way I could achieve this was by attaching the camera upside down on the mount, which then gave enough room for the camera to angle down far enough. Fortunately there is an option in the camera settings that allows you to flip the image back to the right way up, but a better-designed mount would have been far easier.

Dadgets.info says that if you’re in the market for a video baby monitor, and you already have a wireless home network and a laptop or iPhone, then I strongly recommend considering the Y-Cam Knight. It provides great video, both day and night, and is far more versatile than any standard video baby monitor available today.

Grin like a child at the superb night vision images, the hugely customisable video stream, and the endless applications when your baby monitoring days are finally over.

Cry like a baby at the poorly designed mount, the limited Mac support, and the lack of a dedicated iPhone app.

Dadgets.info rating: 9 out of 10

Testicle-sized speaker is the mutt’s nuts

(£15.99 from Amazon.co.uk)

Tell yourself that this is the best-looking portable speaker out there.  It would be great to whip out at the pub and connect to your iPhone to impress your mates.  It would also be pretty useful to connect to your laptop to boost the sound of music/movies/pornos while you’re away on business.

Tell your wife that this futuristic Dadget will bring a smile to little Johnny’s face whenever you use it to play his nursery rhymes from your iPod when you’re out and about.

This incredible portable speaker is quite a feat of engineering.  Its rounded shell is merely the size of an adult human’s testicle, and yet it gives sound that you would expect from a Blue Whale’s nut sack.

Coming in black or red, the X-MI X-Mini Capsule Speaker is really unlike any other speaker you will have ever seen before.  It arrives as a 5 cm diameter sphere, but with a smooth twist around its midriff it expands a few centimetres in the middle to give a concertina chamber for all of that loud sound goodness to bounce around in.  A simple power switch allows you to change between two different volume levels and the off setting, while an LED glows green whenever the unit is powered up.

Included in the box is a neat little retractable cable with a mini-USB connector on one side (to plug into the speaker itself) and a USB and 3.5 mm audio connector at the other end to connect to your audio device.  Sound is only transferred through the audio cable, with the USB connector being used solely as a power source to charge up the speaker’s internal battery (one charge being reportedly good for over 5 hours of playback).

Another nicety in the box is a black velvety bag with ‘Audio Equipment Pouch’ printed on it together with a rather obvious inventory list of what you should put in the bag.  Imagine my embarrassment when I tried to stuff a bunch of bananas in there just before reading ‘Fits 1 Capsule Speaker’.

So that’s the kit, now how does it perform?  I’ve tested the X-Mini on my iPhone and my laptop and I have to say that the sound quality is very impressive indeed considering its size and price.  Sure, you’re not going to be getting rid of your home speaker system and the sound cannot rival that of an expensive iPod dock.  But this is a portable speaker designed to be compact and easy to move around, and taking all that into account it performs remarkably well.

Pushing the volume of my Macbook Pro up to its maximum does reveal distortion when using the X-Mini at its lowest volume setting, but notching it up to its higher setting and throttling back the laptop volume improves matters no end.  Music remains clear while the achievable volume without distortion is certainly high enough to fill any room with pleasing sound.

Are there any down sides?  Well yes, there are a few.  With a one-speaker setup you naturally only get mono-sound, although a stereo version is available for a few extra pounds.  The power switch also feels a little loose, although I am pleased to say that it is still performing well at the moment.  Finally, while the provided pouch is very handy to keep the speaker and cable together, the drawstring doesn’t stay tight which means that stuff keeps dropping out of it if you’re not careful. 

Dadgets.info says that, all in all, this is a great value buy and one of the sexiest, most unusual speakers that you are likely to find.  The sound is good enough to fill most rooms with bedtime stories or grunge-funk, while the neat retractable cable means that the whole setup is unfussy and clean.  If you’re looking for a tiny speaker then you can’t go wrong, but if you want something a bit more powerful then you might want to try the two-speaker stereo version to give yourself a fine set of bollocks.

Grin like a child at the tiny size, great looks and powerful sound.

Cry like a baby at the dodgy power switch and the cheap ‘audio equipment pouch’.

Dadgets.info rating: 8 out of 10