High-Tech Onesie Gives Baby Monitors A Makeover

BOSTON (CBS) -- From Fit Bit to Google Glass, wearable technology is becoming more and more common.

Now, a company from Boston is bringing the idea into the baby nursery. The traditional baby monitor just got a high-tech makeover.

Five-month-old Camden McGibbon is not the best sleeper, so his mom, Heather, is testing out Mimo. It's a onesie with a twist. Green stripes sewn into the fabric track Camden's breathing, and a little magnetized turtle captures sound, skin temperature and position.

"It tracks everything," Heather said. "It tracks all the movements – if he flips over to his belly, if he goes onto his left side, his right side."

Instead of a traditional bedside monitor at night, parents use their smartphones or tablets. It's all connected through Wi-Fi.

"We do think this could potentially replace the more traditional baby monitor," Mimo co-founder Dulcie Madden said.

Mimo, based in Boston, has a simple mission: "Our whole goal is to get parents more sleep."

And this isn't about just one night's sleep. Parents can input when their baby eats, takes medicine or what they wear to bed, all to try to find out what works best.

"Over time, we are able to actually run more algorithms to help you see what helps your baby sleep better," Madden said.

A Mimo starter kit goes for $200. It's compatible with newer iPhones, iPads and Android devices. And expect to see more high-tech monitors in baby stores soon, like the Owlet, Sproutling and, from a Somerville, Mass., start-up, Sensible Baby.

But technology can mean glitches. Heather says the app has been slow to load some days, delaying real-time information.

"When he's sleeping, the waves are smaller and really, really spread out."

When Mimo is up and running, Heather can get notifications sent to her iPad if Camden spikes a fever, rolls over or stops breathing.

Is this too much information, though?

"I don't think it's too much information because you can turn off notifications," Heather said.

Right now, the iPad only beeps if Camden stops breathing, and Heather is keeping a separate video monitor on, too.

"It definitely helps me be less stressed about my child."

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