I know every mother eventually develops her own tips and tricks for parenting: little things that work just for her and her baby. She might pass that advice on to you, and it may or may not apply to your situation. Though I’ve only been on the job for 10 weeks, I have a trade secret that will definitely work for you too.

The Diaper Check

It’s the best $12 I’ve ever spent.

When I was still pregnant, a Kickstarter project got some attention on Yahoo Tech. Thanks to that, a friend shared it on my Facebook feed. After seeing the project, I chose to back it at the $12 level. The perk was receiving one of the Diaper Checks when they were completed. And the estimated time for delivery was just after I was estimated to deliver as well. Perfect.

I threw my coins into the virtual hat and forgot about it. A few weeks after Gibson arrived, so did the Diaper Check thanks to the project going well over its requested $500 and garnering over $12,000. This unassuming piece of plastic looks similar to a flash drive. But when you pull the cap off, you will see a wetness sensor instead of the USB port you might have expected. It weighs practically nothing, can be attached to a key chain and the battery will last between five and ten years.

Being a mother to Gibson is like trying to put together a puzzle that is constantly changing. He’s crying…but why? Is he hungry, tired, overstimulated, grumpy, teething or wet? Some moms say they can tell the problem just by her baby’s cry. I do not make this claim as the greenhorn I am. So, thanks to the Diaper Check, when Gibs is upset, I can rule out at least one thing- wet diapers. And I don’t even have to undress him to find out.

After I backed the Kickstarter, but before I had Gibson, I wondered if I’d wasted money on backing a project that wouldn’t register a wet diaper through the waterproof lining of my cloth diapers. Thankfully it’s totally not an issue. The Diaper Check can register wetness through a couple layers of denim!

I think the time this came in handy the most was at a church while attending the christening of a friend’s baby. Gibson was starting to stir in his carrier. All was quiet in the chapel. I didn’t want to be that parent with the crying baby even though I know it’s a part of parenting life. So I whipped out the Diaper Check while they prayed over the bread and was able to discretely check his diaper without undressing or jostling him. And he wasn’t wet. So with some swaying and shushing, he fell back asleep, and I knew I wasn’t ignoring his needs.

I’ve also had luck with it out and about. I was shopping at a mall and knew there was a restroom with diaper changing facilities nearby. Gibs wasn’t upset in the slightest, but it would be nice to know if he had a wet diaper before we left the mall and got in the car where it’s much harder to change him. So I popped my little Diaper Check out and did a quick button press. He was wet, and I was able to change him before he even knew he was wet. Smiling babies who fall asleep on the car ride home FTW!

WIN A DIAPER CHECK!

So I want to pass on a little bit of sunshine to you by giving away one of these Diaper Checks! Comment below to enter. You can just tell me how cool you think the Diaper Check is. Or tell me I’m silly for liking it so much. I’ll use a random number generator to choose a commenter to win. So easy! I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, June 3, 2014. Best of luck!

If you don’t like those odds, you can buy a Diaper Check for yourself by clicking here.  I promise that your $12 (and $5 for shipping) will be well spent.

FULL DISCLOSURE: If you choose to purchase a Diaper Check through any of the links I’ve provided, I will receive a small amount of compensation. Because I love my Diaper Check, I’ve joined its Sales Force program. However, I did purchase the prize with my own funds.