Coast Innovations Itzbeen Baby Care Timer Reviews

• There are not a lot of items you need on Day 1, but you need this

  
  By A3SIFPKLMOY07N on 2007-05-17
  When I suggested to my wife that we needed this item on our baby registry, she thought I was just feeding my gadget habit, baby-style. Having been a night nurse for newborn twins and triplets for years, she thought she would never need this item. Well, this item arrived on the second day after we got home from the hospital - and my wife wishes that she had it on the first.
  
  You see, one of the skills that really suffers with sleep deprivation is math. If you can even mentally keep track of the times or write them down, doing the "hours" math on when our baby last fed, when she had her diaper changed, etc. is really not as easy as it sounds when you've had no more than about 45 minutes of continuous sleep for four days. So this does it for you - four timers with little icons and a left/right slider for breastfeeding (which is also a tough thing to remember, but something you really don't want to forget). It is exceedingly simple - press the icon button and it restarts the timer - perfect for the sleep-deprived mind.
  
  As for the suggestions by some reviewers that this timer needs additional features, such as feeding totals and quantity subtotals, I disagree. I think that additional features would likely take away from the simplicity of the device - making it more complicated to operate on limited brainpower and thus less likely to be used. Those with more complex needs might consider a PDA with a spreadsheet or specially designed program.
  
  It's not often I get to hear that I was right and my wife was wrong (we're usually on the same page). This was one of those times.
  
  

• Must have - they should issue these in hospitals when you give birth

  
  By A1F9XRFS72W4QK on 2007-04-07
  This timer system is beyond helpful - it becomes your BRAIN when you have a newborn, as the hours, feedings and diaper changes become a total blur during this amazing yet totally sleep deprived time of your life. While it would be nice to have a few more features like total ounces drank, whether the diaper was a wet one or a doodie, and tracking of daily totals for everything - that'd be more of a infantcare PDA, and is a bit beyond the scope of this little device. All it aims to be is a timer that will keep track of the key stats in your baby's life, consequently making your life way easier. I wake up in middle of the night and the baby is grunting, for example. I click the backlight button and see that in fact the baby has only been asleep for an hour, and had a diaper and bottle right before that. Then I just go back to sleep. On the other hand, he beguns grunting and making noises and I see the Itzbeen says it's been 2 hours 30 minutes since his last bottle or diaper, and I know it's time to get up and feed him.
  
  It's also great for team caregiving, as my husband can hand me the Itzbeen after doing his morning shift, and I automatically know when the last change and bottle were. We use the wildcard button to track bottle expirations too.
  
  Thumbs up for the developers of this cool gadget - I hope to see an "Itzbeen II" w/ some advanced features in time for my next baby - although keeping it simple does help keep it easy and quick to use, especially in the fog of a 1am, 3am, and 5am feeding schedule! (my son never got the memo that full term babies are only supposed to eat every 3 or 4 hours :)
  
  

• Helpful gadget

  
  By A2MF3JG950N41J on 2007-03-19
  Having twins we always had to write down everything, or we wouldn't remember whom we feed, when we feed them, or any details. We used to keep a chart, but then I received the Itzbeen as a gift. It is so much faster to press a button then to write everything down. When we go out I just toss it in my purse and when the babies start crying I can just pull out the itzbeen look at the timers and figure out if it is time to eat or they are just being fussy. If the boys do eat or require a diaper change, I can record it easily. no more carrying around a clipboard!
  I didn't give it 5 stars because it would be even better if it could track how many oz of formula the babies eat and if it could total the number of hours the baby slept.
  But still it is a nice tool for forgetful people. I'm buying a 2nd one, so I have one for each of my twins.
  
  

• Decent product but not as useful as I hoped

  
  By A2PYWKHTJ7N3X9 on 2007-09-13
  I reaqlly bought this more for my wife but neither of us found that we used it much after a few days. Seemed like a nice idea at the time. The up side is that it seems pretty well made and is reasonably easy to use.
  
  

• excellent item for those new parents

  
  By A241KK2QNLD6PX on 2007-05-14
  i would have to say this is an essential item for brand new parents. no more trying to remember when the last time baby did whatever. also the little night light on it is very useful for peeking in on baby when they are sleeping.
  
  a must have!
  
  
• Great Gadget For This New Mom
  By A3E2PYMY8KIEDV on 2007-07-05
  The Itzbeen Baby Care Timer is a revolutionary product for those of us bleary-eyed, exhausted new parents. This timer allows you to track how long it has been since the last diaper change, feeding or nap. This is important for me since time seems to blur between feedings. I'm always thinking, "didn't I just feed you 30 minutes ago?" Well not with this little device.
  
  My only quibble is that the sleep button is not as helpful since there is no way to pause the sleep timer when the baby wakes up. This means that during the day, it looks like the baby has been sleeping for 15 hours. What would have been more helpful would have been to be able to pause the timer upon waking and then to restart the timer at the next nap.
  
  However, that notwithstanding, what a big help this Itzbeen has been.
  
  
• Great Idea
  By AIGDACVIT1PTI on 2007-08-29
  This is exactly the thing my wife and I were looking for to keep track of how long its been since she's fed the baby etc..
  
  My only 2 complaints are:
  1. You can only set the alarm timers in 30 minute increments. I.e if I wanted to set an alarm timer for 20 minutes I couldn't do so.
  2. The minimum time for an alarm is 1 hour. I.e. if I wanted to set a alarm timer for 30 minutes I couldn't do so.
  
  
• Most useless gadget ever.
  By AC0DL3UAHYRSY on 2007-10-09
  This is the most rediculous invention ever. Who needs a timer to care for their baby? Here's a clue: feed them when they're hungry, change them when they're soiled, and let them sleep when they're tired. No gadget needed. Serioulsy, who needs an alarm to care for your child? It seems easier to just gt a puppy.
  
  
• Dumd de dum DUMB
  By A2127GW8E2NR50 on 2007-11-02
  Seriously? This product is real. Wow. I think that if you would follow the cues of your baby them why on earth would you need this....
  
  
• My lifeblood in the beginning.
  By A39NYF00CMJ1K5 on 2007-12-01
  When I got this item as a shower gift last year, I couldn't wait to use it. Once my son was born, you had to pry this thing out of my cold dead hands. It went everywhere with us and if we happened to forget it, we were lost.
  
  Perhaps, like some people, they think it's silly. It's a gadget this is true, but when you're a new parent and you are flying by the seat of your pants, in a haze of sleep deprivation, this is a great tool to help you remember the basics. We slept with it, we dragged it around the house with us like a security blanket. We flew cross country when my son was five weeks, and this thing was an absolute godsend. Do math? With a newborn? Haha!
  
  True, it's a short lived need. Once your baby gets on a schedule, you won't really need to rely on it so much. By about 2.5 months, we were able to put it away. But in the time we did use it, we USED it. I see people selling these used on ebay, saying that they got it and ended up forgetting about it, which is sad.
  
  I will echo the other people here in that I would have liked a feature that allowed you to record the amount they last ate.
  
  Bottom line, it's great for new parents, and even a seasoned second time parent. I'm sure wrangling a toddler and a newborn, can't be easy.
  
  
• I don't know how I would have managed without it
  By A2YNTESKBNJMBD on 2007-12-17
  How did mothers raise babies without an Itzbeen timer? I am totally glued to mine 24-7. When the baby's crying and I can't figure out why, the first thing I look at is the timer. How long has it been since she ate? How long has she been sleeping for? When did I change her diaper last? A perfect baby shower gift imo.
  
  
• Was defective/broken upon receipt BUT great customer service
  By A2Y3CC95T33QWS on 2008-04-01
  My timer was defective in that LED screen for the top function (the diaper change button) was not complete...meaning you could not discern the digits (was it an 8 or 0?). Otherwise, the other functions worked and I was able to see how much time elapsed. Overall, though I stopped using the timer fairly quickly for a few reasons.
  
  1. I had a newborn and when she was yelling/screaming crying for her bottle or permanently attached to my breast...I just forgot to press that button to start the timer over.
  
  2. For some reason, I envisioned a product that would not only keep time between feedings, diaper changes, etc. but would also keep track of the sleep time during the day, etc. or the number of diaper changes & feedings per day. BUT it only tells how much time has elapsed from the your last feeding, changing etc. Maybe I am asking too much, but I don't see what differentiates this product from a multi-use timer. It's essentially several times on one device. Overall, it is a good but for all the raving reviews I just expected more.
  
  I came back and edited this review because I wanted to add that they company has fabulous customer service. I emailed the company to inquire about getting a replacement for the timer. The president of the company emailed me back promptly on a Sunday asking for my address. He did not ask me to send back the defective timer and must have shipped the replacement priority or overnight because I received the replacment in no time.
  
  
• Great if you are not ASLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  By A3IOORX0YHGNAC on 2008-04-22
  Hi I bought this product and it is great if you are not asleep as long as you are awake you can here it but if you have a newborn and you need to wake up to feed them this will not help at all it is not loud enough and you will miss feeding your baby. Other than that it is a great product to keep you on tract.
  
  
• A MUST for all new parents!
  By A3KX5O16R4VKGT on 2007-06-10
  I am by far a "gagdet" man and my wife was very skeptical about this new toy I had. I made the mistake by not ordering BEFORE our son was born. We got it about six days after his birth. Ever since then, my wife depends on this. She is breastfeeding and between diaper changes, lack of sleep and feedings...we totally lose track of when the last change was or when he was fed. It's truly a must for all new parents and a great gift for expecting parents. I am thinking eventually we will outgrow this but for now, it is as important as diapers and wipes to us! Mike (new dad!)
  
  
• Sleep deprived parents rejoice!
  By A2CSLGEY3O6XU1 on 2007-10-24
  I ordered this item because of other reviews that I read and I'm glad to find out it works just as great as they said! It's a GREAT idea, and when my son was first born it was a great way to keep track of how often he ate/slept, etc. I use it now to travel back and forth to my son's babysitters so when I pick him up I don't have to ask "was he just changed? when did he eat last?"
  
  The nice thing is that it has a button lock on the side so you don't accidentally push a button and change the time. It also has two different lighting settings... one that is a constant nightlight, and another light that lights up the buttons if it's night and you don't want to turn on the light to see which button to push.
  
  In the future I plan to use it before Dr appts so I can keep track of how often he's eating, or using it to keep track of when he needs to get medication. (There's a 'miscellaneous' button you can use to time what ever you want.) The timers can count up from a previous time, or count down to a time that you want an alarm to go off too. It has a setting where you can turn off all noise too if you're worried about waking up the baby by accident. REAL easy to use! Directions are extremely clear.
  
  
• Handy for a short time
  By A2PT426AZVOK9T on 2007-11-27
  I bought this when my second child was born and I was trying to keep track of feedings, medication times (I was recovering from a c-section) and diaper changes. It was useful for the first couple weeks, but after that I really didn't need it anymore. I don't think it was worth it in hindsight. Once I was done with my pain meds it was really useless.
  
  
• Invaluable for the first 2 weeks
  By A35FXKHMPB83X2 on 2007-12-04
  I got this product before our baby was born as a way to help my husband be involved with the care of our newborn--I figured that keeping track of things like diapering and feeding schedules would help him feel more integral to the life of the new baby since I would be breastfeeding and doing the lion's share of the feeding work. But it turned out to be more than just a good idea to have when my labor and delivery took 3 days in the hospital and produced one beautiful but tired infant. Our daughter took a couple of weeks to come out of her daze (3 days of being squeezed by contractions would stun anyone!), and in the meantime we had to wake her for feedings, which we juggled with a pumping schedule to help my milk supply come in and build up. This turned out to be an invaluable gadget during those first chaotic weeks. As a bonus, since it arrived two weeks before we delivered, we also used it to time my contractions at home.
  
  Pros:
  -The four seperate timers are great. We managed to track our daughter's feedings, my breast pumping, her sleep cycles, and other miscellaneous events all at once. The option of being able to set an alarm (silent with flashing light or beeping with flashing light) for each of the timers was an extra bonus.
  -The nightlight feature is fantastic. Even now when we're not using the timers that often I use the nightlight several times a night to check on our daughter without turning the lights on or disturbing my sleeping husband. When we were using the timers the seperate backlight feature was also critical since we could check the display without making it too bright.
  -It's small and fits in the palm of your hand or clips onto your clothing. So it goes everywhere and I even slip it into the diaper bag when we're going out of town or even just headed out and about and I need to keep track of something.
  -It did accomplish what I wanted it to: my husband was able to be very involved with our daughter's life in the first few weeks. Plus it helped me out that he could keep track of things that needed to be done when I was completely zoned out and sleep deprived.
  
  Cons:
  -There really aren't any. Some people complain that it should have more features, like keeping track of wet/dirty diapers or other feeding details. But that's really only something that you do for a short time, and adding features like that would detract from the simplicity of the device.
  
  This is a great product. It had it's heaviest use in the first few weeks of my daughter's life, but we continue to use it and find ways to make it useful for all of us.
  
  
• Very Handy Gadget
  By A3E05PGM6U91E2 on 2008-03-24
  Looked superfluous when I first saw it. However to a sleep deprived family of a new baby, it is so handy. Nothing can be easier than pressing the button to let mom know you helped out and changed a diaper while someone else is catching a snooze. The gadget is well designed. The side indicator for nursing is very handy for mom. And having the time at the very bottom is great too. The extra timer is great for things like medications. The backlight option is another great feature. I can't say enough about it.
  
  
• Kinda wack...
  By AES2SDTWO764V on 2008-03-25
  Okay... when you first bring your baby home, the hospital breastfeeding consultants have you writing down everything. The tiime between diaper changes, wet and dirty, breastfeeding, then you may want to know how long the baby is sleeping, so this contraption seems cool. The internal light (blue) broke after a month, and by time the baby is a month old... these times are irrelevant. I still use the night light though.
  
  
• It remembers so you don't have to
  By A1D3DVU4NJMVDU on 2007-04-10
  I bought this when my daughter was 2 weeks old and it is simple to use and extremely helpful for sleep deprived mothers. With the touch of one button, I can keep track of how long it has been since I fed my baby. I don't use the sleep or diaper timers but this is worth it for the feeding timer alone. The first unit I was sent was defective and I received terrific customer service when I contacted the company. I am rating with 4 stars instead of 5 only because I'd like to be able to keep track of the daily total feedings as well. Maybe a future model.
  
  
• an essential
  By A3VKM76IKZB9JY on 2007-05-14
  This is a seemingly simple but absolutely essential and useful gadget for us! Itzbeen has lessened the stress of remembering -- and that is vital if you're taking care of a baby.
  
  Itzbeen is highly recommended. Every new or veteran parent should at least try it. If you don't like it, don't return it to Amazon, "gift" it instead to other parents. They'd appreciate it.
  
  
• Must have for new moms
  By A2GNEAZGOGIFE7 on 2007-05-19
  I had been looking for a product that would help me keep track of feedings for my newborn. As a new mother I had a hard time remembering when I last fed or changed his diaper without writing them down. This product made it quite easy. The four different timers can be set a 30 minute alarm intervals up to a 24 hr period, which I used to remind me of an upcoming feeding. The clock and nightlight made it very convenient to use during nightime feedings. I recommend this product for those who like to keep track of their baby care intervals.
  
  
• Wish I had this from Day one!
  By A1ZMG5UUE1J4G5 on 2007-07-23
  I got this gadget when my son was two months old, and I wish I got it the day he was born. Sleep deprived parents (especially first-timers) know what it's like to forget all kinds of things, but this helpful little electronic device makes life so much easier with a newborn. This is my new favorite gift to give at baby showers! Buy this. You won't regret it!
  
  
• Lifesaver for a new breastfeeding mom.
  By A3BN660HZA8OFM on 2007-10-08
  I just had my first child and found this item to be a lifesaver for the first few weeks. The doctor gave me specific instructions to wake my infant up every 3 hours to eat and instead of having to be glued to the clock or constantly reseting an alarm, I set this once to go off after three hours. Then I just hit the button at the start of each feeding and it resets the count. The audible alarm is great for nighttime or you can turn it off during the day and just get a visual red flashing light. I still use it at night to remind myself how long she's been sleeping when I'm too groggy to remember. The night light is also great to quickly check the time in the middle of the night without waking your significant other. This really helped me relax about our schedule while still following doctors orders...I highly recommend it! To be honest, I didn't use any of the other buttons, just the feeding timer, but it was still well worth the money.
  
  
• Very simple but amazingly useful gadget
  By A2CU3LKEQQ4VT5 on 2008-06-06
  This device is a clock and a series of 4 timers. All of the timers are the same except for the icon on the corresponding button. A press of the button resets the timer, which then starts to count upward in hours and minutes.
  
  So how could this possibly be useful? As new parents, bewildered and tired, we're trying to get baby onto a schedule of eat time, wake time, and sleep time. This gadget has helped by telling us how long "it's been" since the last event.
  
  I change or check the diaper, I press the corresponding button. Then I'll know when I last checked it. My wife feeds her, she presses the button. Not only does she know how long she's been feeding but we know when to expect to feed again (and therefore how long we have to take a nap).
  
  The last timer is a bonus timer. My wife's been using it to tell her when she last took Motrin for her post-partum aches and pains. We haven't found much use for the night light. The "left/right" reminder is also useful but we sometimes forget to flip it.
  
  At less than $25 this gadget has been enormously useful in the first 10 days of our daughter's life.
  
  
• Broken Item times 2
  By A44NBA8J8FD6H on 2008-07-17
  I bought this item thinking that it would be a great idea except that when I received it in the mail the screen was malfunctioning. So I took the item and returned it for a replacement only to have the same problem again. So back to Amazon, this time for a refund.
  
  
• Great even during pregnancy
  By A18SS5H2PD5FZ2 on 2008-08-20
  The first unit I arrived was having a problem with the display but I prompty returned the item and was shipped new one. The customer service at Itzbeen was fantastic. My new unit works great. I am still pregnant and have been using the timer to keep track of contractions! It works great.
  
  
• Can they really put out an item with such poor manufacturing???
  By A1ZWR862I14FR1 on 2008-08-21
  I figured that I'd give this thing a try even though there seem to be a number of reviews that warn about the poor quality. Of course, I thought "tha'ts not going to happen to me". well, I was wrong x2- seems to be tha magic number here! 1st one I got, I put fresh batteries in and the screen was illegible, then completely faded out. the light never worked, nor did any of the buttons. I was disappointed so I rushed out to the baby mega store to purchase another. I had a devious plan to just put the broken one in the packaging from the superstore and return it to avoid having to ship it back, but much to my dismay, the one I purchased at the baby store fared only slightly better than the 1st! This time the buttons worked and the light worked, but the screen was still illegible- like half of the numbers were invisible. So, all in all, I should have listened to all of those other reviewers who had gone before me. I say skip this piece of junk and avoid the hassle. This company should not be allowed to put out a product with such a high failure rate!
  
  
• Best tool for breastfeeding
  By A1I8BH0XCQYKT2 on 2007-05-26
  This timer has been a lifesaver. During the first few weeks of breastfeeding it was essential for that every 2 hours feeding schedule. Especially when you are sleep deprived and crazy. Also, my daughter has GERD and wants to eat constantly- so it has been so helpful in making sure that her feedings are spaced enough so she doesn't over eat. My husband loves it because he can tell when she is hungry and not just cranky. I don't use the sleep or diaper timer. But I do use the other timer for her medication.
  
  I have recommended this item to all of my friends and family and am buying 2 more as shower gifts. My only complaint is that it doesn't keep track of how many of each item. This would be a great addition to the next generation of itzbeen- that is why I only rated it a four.
  
  
• Great Idea
  By A2IY53P8ORHQ9G on 2007-06-27
  This is great for the new parent that can't remember anything.
  I was always forgetful so in trying to keep track of our newborns eating/pooping and sleeping schedule this item was a life saver.
  I am going to buy one for every new mom I know. I can see the potential use for parents that must hand their child off to child care and such.
  
  

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