Milk Nanny, a smartphone-controlled automatic formula dispenser, promises to reduce the pain of late-night feedings
Inventor Derrick Lee came up with the idea when his wife returned to work and some of the overnight feedings fell to him. Boiling water and mixing powder just right is no easy task, especially when you've been awakened by a screaming baby in the wee hours.
Milk Nanny works with your smartphone to mix the perfect bottle according to the formula manufacturer's instructions. Scan the bar code on the formula container with the app on your Android or iOS smartphone, and Milk Nanny will adjust the powder and water ratios appropriately. It will heat water to boiling, and then cool it to a proper serving temperature.
The team has also addressed one of the biggest issues with similar automatic formula makers on the market, such as the Baby Brezza Formula Pro. Some reviewers on Amazon complain that condensation from the heated water sometimes gets into the powder reservoir, causing clumps that clog the dispenser. This leads to thinly mixed bottles, which can leave the baby unsatisfied and even undernourished if you don't notice the problem.
Milk Nanny a has patent-pending anti-clumping technology in addition to an air-tight powder container. It also has a DUV (deep ultra violet) system to ensure the mixed formula stays as germ free as possible. The BPA-free components are all easily removable for cleaning.
The water and powder reservoirs hold enough to make 12 eight-ounce bottles, more than most babies should need to eat in a day, so a daily top off of each should be all you need to keep Milk Nanny ready. If either runs low, you'll get a warning via the app and the light on the one-touch start button on the machine.
Lee and his team at Wicoz have turned to Kickstarter to get the $100,000 they need to begin mass production. The campaign runs until February 27th, and they were a third of the way there at press time. They already have working prototypes and a completed app and just need funds to begin the tooling process. They're shooting for a delivery date of April 2015.