by Lori Cunningham

BLACK FRIDAY MONTH!  November marks the celebration of  Black Friday Month.  Every week we will be announcing another chance to win some fun tech giveaways!  Be sure to sign up for our e-mail newsletter so you don’t miss out!  Giveaways going on now:  Dabble   Kingston urDrive USB thumbdrives (very cool).

Ahhh, the days of pregnancy…I still remember them.  It was such an exciting time, I remember eagerly looking up each week of pregnancy in my What to Expect When You’re Expecting book, learning about the fascinating development my baby was going through.

I read that as the baby’s ears develop, at around 17 weeks of pregnancy, s/he can hear sounds outside the womb.   I would sing “Jesus Loves Me” to both of my in-utero babies, hoping that they would be very familiar with it after they were born.  Now, I don’t know if it was my singing (which isn’t so great) or the song, but I can remember some rough nights in a hotel where singing “Jesus Loves Me” calmed down my little baby girl when nothing else…pacifiers, bottles, favorite stuffed animal would work.   I still sing our favorite song to my nearly  six-year-old boy each night, he loves it.

I recently learned about a product for pregnant mothers that allows them use a personal sound system for their growing baby.  It’s called the Ritmo audio sound system and it is the best way to safely and effectively play customized music for your in-utero baby. 

Ritmo Pregnancy Sound System

I had the opportunity to talk with Ritmo’s founder, Oren Oz, via telephone.  Oz was a first-time father-t0-be  when his wife told him that she wanted to play music for her growing baby.  He scoured the marketplace and could not find such a product.  Being an engineer with a background in research and development, he set out to create the first product to effectively and safely play music for in-utero babies.  He learned about the importance music has on developing babies and kids in their early years of life.  Music is not just for entertainment but essential to developing young minds.  Today, Oz is the father of two kids and the CEO and founder of NUVO group.

More about Ritmo…

Ritmo Features

• Lightweight – Spandex belt provides gentle and effective support
• Washable – belt can be washed numerous times without loss of elasticity
• Handy – two pockets hold your mp3 player and the Ritmo controller securely
• Connectability – Using a free online service called Nuvo Connect, you can record messages for the baby even if miles away
• Technologically sound – so music is delivered straight to the womb, minimizing sound leakage (we all dislike leakage!)
• Simultaneous listening – both mom and baby can enjoy music at the same time
• Safe controlled environment – music is automatically adjusted to safe levels for baby listening, despite the volume the mom is listening to
• 4 Speakers – 4 speakers are optimally placed so no matter what side you’re baby is turned to, s/he will hear the music
• Connects to your media – use your own iPod, Smartphone, computer, and more to listen to whatever music you want to play.  Add Mozart, lullabies, John Meyer, Beatles, whatever you’d like!
• Rechargeable battery – the rechargeable battery lasts about 15 hours, which most likely means you won’t need to recharge it but every two weeks.  It has a fast charge too, it takes only 10 minutes to charge it 70%.

How It Works

1.  Place the Ritmo Pregnancy belt around your growing tummy.

2.  Connect your iPod, Smartphone, or MP3 player to the Nuvo Safe & Sound Controller via cable.

3.  Place both your music layer and the Safe & Sound controller in the pockets of the pregnancy belt.

4.  Select a song and start enjoying music together with your baby!

The Foundations of Ritmo

Ritmo was built on these foundations:

1.  Safety – the heart of the Ritmo system is the auditory controller.  The Safe and Sound system controller learns music from different devices then optimizes the music and sends it through Ritmo’s 4 speakers.

2.  Sound – babies are moving around in fluid.   To ensure a baby hears the music, an upper and lower speaker is placed on both sides of the belt.  This ensures baby will hear the music despite where s/he is located.

3.  Design and Comfort – Mom’s-to-be are busy.  She needs to be able to do whatever she needs to do – yoga, dishes, take care of older siblings – she needs to be mobile.  Ritmo uses a fantastic elastic that fits almost all sizes.

 

Other Uses

Besides the main benefit of helping to develop a baby’s mind through the use of music, here are some other innovative ways you can use the Ritmo sound system:

• record a military father-to-be’s voice from far away
• record grandparents’ or other relatives’ voices
• record sibling’s voices
• record your voice reading a favorite book you’d like the baby to hear

What About After the Baby is Born?

Music is crucial in the first 5 years of a person’s life.  Recognizing this, Nuvo has created a new product called Groovio which continues the influence of music up to the age of 5.  After you’re done using the Ritmo sound system, simply take the Sound and Safe controller and plug it into the Groovio system, which is a safe all enclosed portable sound system designed to for children at any age or stage.

Groovio can be attached to the stroller, crib, car, and more (attachment will be available for $10) to play great sounds for your baby.  Groovio can also be used alone as a toy.  There are no exposed wires.  Both your MP3 player and the Safe and Sound controller are locked inside the Groovio, protected from your young child.  The outside is kid-safe as well, designed for kids – materials, even antennas are safe for kids.  Kids want textile and visual stimulation – Groovio takes care of this.

What makes Groovio even more fun are the different personalities you can buy for Groovio.  There will be five available (like a lion, cat, pig, rabbit) at first, but there are 35 more in development.  Personalities will range from $15-$35 each.

How To Buy

The Ritmo Pregnancy Kit can be purchased directly through Nuvo for $179.oo.  Groovio can be purchased for $79.  However, if you already own the Ritmo Pregnancy Kit or buy one within the next few months, Nuvo is offering a great deal right now.  Because you already own the Safe and Sound controller, you can get a Groovio for only $9!  This is a limited time offer and only available through their ernsite.

Use coupon code: Groovio Promo when buying the Groovio.

Amazon.com sells the Ritmo Pregnancy Kit for $132.57 plus free shipping.  Because Groovio is a new product, it is not yet available on Amazon.com.  Sign up here to be notified of when Groovio will be available.

Win It!

Would you love to try out Ritmo for yourself or think it’s the perfect baby gift for a relative or friend?  Enter to win a Ritmo Pregnancy kit, valued at $179!

TO ENTER

• Fill out the form below.  One entry per person.
• Only USA addresses please.
• The contest ends November 30th, 12am PST.
• The winner will be chosen by random.org.
• Prize will be fulfilled through the mail.

GET EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN

• Get 1 extra entry for following Well Connected Mom on Facebook.
• Get 1 extra entry for following Nuvo Group on Facebook.
• Get 1 extra entry for following @wellconnectdmom on Twitter.
• Get 1 extra entry for tweeting on twitter, “I hope to win a Ritmo pregnancy sound system valued at $179  from @NuvoGroup and  @wellconnectdmom http://bit.ly/vsXcwF.”

Please fill out the form below to enter.