Smarter Parenting: Three Smart Home Essentials for New Moms

This post is the third in our Smarter Parenting series, created by Stephanie Hinderks. Stephanie is a mother of two, and a senior product manager at Alarm.com.

Neither of my kids were good sleepers as infants, which meant I didn't sleep well either. I probably spent months of my life trying to coax them to sleep – swaddling them, rocking them, walking the house, singing, just waiting for the right moment to lay them down and tiptoe away.

Sometimes, just as I would finally get them to sleep, some noise would startle them awake and instead of getting a precious nap of my own, I'd have to start the process all over again! Looking back, I wish I'd had some of the technical fixes that are available for new moms today.

The following three items alone—each of which I now own as part of my smarter home security system powered by Alarm.com—would have averted several unnecessary wake-ups and made my life as a new mom so much easier—and less sleep deprived.

1: A smarter, silent doorbell

I used to enjoy having visitors when I was on maternity leave. But not at naptime. That was thanks to the doorbell. When you've just spent a half hour getting your baby to sleep, and they're suddenly awoken by a loud "ding dong" from the front door… well, you feel like crying yourself.

Today, my video doorbell would take care of that problem.

It has an awesome "silent" mode that alerts you by smartphone rather than with a chime at the door. When my smartphone buzzes, I can open my Alarm.com app, see exactly who's there, and hold a voice conversation with them. If it's an uninvited caller, I can stay put.

2: A smarter front door lock

The other piece of door hardware I wish I'd had is a smart lock, which allows you to create unique user codes for guests so they can unlock the door without a key.

Smart locks allow you to create unique user codes for guests, so they can unlock the door without a key. This would have been great to have while my mom was staying with us for several weeks. I could have created a code for her to unlock our front door that would work on the day of her arrival and expire on the day she left. You can create unique codes for your friends and family and you'll always know who is accessing your house.

There's no need for them to even ring the doorbell, which is great if they arrive when you're rocking your baby to sleep—or even getting a quick nap in yourself.

3: A smarter thermostat

Newborns can't regulate their temperature yet. When they get too hot or cold, they can't sleep.

At least once a night when my kids were babies, I had to creep into their room with a flashlight to check whether it was too hot or too cold in their room. I'd use the flashlight to read a fancy digital thermometer I'd bought. In retrospect, it wasn't that fancy—it wasn't even backlit, hence the flashlight. Sometimes, I'd wake up the baby just by checking!

If only I'd had an Alarm.com remote temperature sensor in the baby's room. It's a tiny device that connects wirelessly to my Alarm.com smart thermostat downstairs, allowing it to keep any specific room in the house a comfortable temperature. Using the mobile app, you just choose the perfect sleeping temperature for the baby's room, and the smart thermostat will maintain that temperature for as long as you want. No more tiptoeing in to check—and risking an accidental wake-up.

Would you and your family benefit from smarter home security powered by Alarm.com? Click here to discover more.

A version of this post originally appeared at babycenter.com.