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The original was posted on /r/homeassistant by /u/Working-Inflation-61 on 2024-09-25 05:55:49+00:00.

When we were expecting our second child, I started looking for ways to improve our lives using Home Assistant. I turned to Reddit and found a bunch of helpful suggestions.

Now, a few years later, I thought I’d share what I found helpful and what wasn’t, in order of usefulness.

Smart Light Control

I installed a small smart button on the side of the bed where my partner sleeps.

Single press

Turns on a soft light above the nappy-changing station. This was perfect when we needed just a little light to change/feed the baby without waking the other partner.

Double press

Turns the light on at full brightness, which was handy when we needed more light.

Hold

My partner had some post-birth complications that left her bed-bound for a while. Holding the button sent a ping to my phone and smartwatch, triggered a message on the smart speaker, and flashed the house lights once. This way, if she needed something or had her hands full, she could get help without typing out a text. Handy for when there was a poo-splosion or the like.

This setup was used many times a day and was incredibly helpful despite its simplicity. Wife loved it as instead of a bed side light it alot softer.

TV Control

With a newborn and a typical 3-year-old who loved watching TV, we made a simple remote for her using a 4-gang Zigbee switch from Ikea. We used stickers of Bluey, Moana, Elsa, and Encanto so she could easily pick a show. This saved us from navigating menus or fumbling with a regular remote to select a show.

Snoo Integration

We had a smart Snoo bassinet that could report the baby’s “status” through a Home Assistant integration. It would notify us if he was thrashing or starting to cry. At night, we linked it to a smart plug to turn on a bottle warmer, so we had warmed water ready faster.

We also connected it to our smartphones and the downstairs lights. We had a lamp that would turn yellow when the baby started stirring and red when he was really upset, which helped us avoid constantly checking the baby monitor.

Additionally, we tracked his sleep patterns using a tablet POS kisok to graph how much and when he was sleeping (and by proxy, how much sleep the parent on duty was getting). We bought the Snoo heavily discounted and sold it for almost the same amount when we were done. Highly recommend!

“On Air” Light

I was working from home full-time while all this was going on. Using the HA app on my laptop, I set up a system that changed the hallway light based on the status of my microphone and camera. This way, my partner knew whether I was on a call or video conference. It worked well for both her and our 3-year-old.

Temperature Management

Although our baby monitors had temperature alerts, they weren’t exposed to Home Assistant. So, using a simple Zigbee temperature monitor, I kept track of the baby’s room temperature. I also used a Broadlink IR blaster to control the air conditioner.

Hope this helps any sleep deprived or soon be sleep deprived folks out there. If anyone has any questions or other parenting HA suggestions I would love to hear em.