Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa, has a wide variety of features. So many that many end up going unnoticed, even though they can be very useful and curious. It is clear that you cannot leave Alexa taking care of your child as if she were a real babysitter, but she can help you calm her down when she detects her crying with lullabies.
There are many speakers that include Alexa to help us with a multitude of tasks in our daily lives. Not only Amazon’s Echo devices have the famous voice assistant integrated, there are also other brands, such as Sonos or JBL. If you have one at home and want to use it for more than just listening to music, setting alarms, and turning the lights on and off, you might be interested in its babysitting mode.
When babies cry, they can do so for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes, they need you to change their diaper, they are hungry, or they want some company and affection. Alexa can’t help you with that. However, if she cries because she can’t fall asleep, it is possible that she can be of great help to you.
Some children get used to falling asleep to lullabies. However, fathers and mothers do not always have time to sit down and sing to them, or they are too out of tune to be encouraged to do so. Luckily, there is an Amazon assistant setting that not everyone knows about and that can sing a melody to help the baby fall asleep and stop crying.
How to get Alexa to become the perfect babysitter
Typically, Alexa only processes what you’re saying when you call her name (or when she thinks she hears it). However, if you give it permission to detect other sounds, it can be useful for much more than you imagine. One of the many functions that it hides is the possibility of detecting when a baby is crying.
To configure it, you just have to enter the Alexa app. With the session started and with the speaker with the assistant configured, enter the “More” section that appears in the lower right corner and select the “Routines” option and then click on the “+” icon.
Following the steps mentioned, you will access a section where you can configure a routine. Alexa will ask you to indicate a “when.” In this part, you must click on «Sound detection» > «Baby crying«. Next, you must choose what you want it to do when the assistant hears the cry. For example, you can go to “Music & Podcasts” and type in the name of a lullaby artist or one that plays an ambient sounds skill.
Other curious Alexa functions
In addition to detecting your child’s crying, Alexa can be used for much more. This famous assistant detects sounds other than words. Among them are the following:
- Appliance beeps: If your washing machine alerts you that your laundry cleaning program has finished, Alexa can send you a notification to your phone.
- Water sounds: The speaker can know when you are taking a shower or washing dishes and play your favorite music instantly without you needing to verbally ask it.
- Dog barking: If your dog barks when you’re working or out shopping, Alexa can calm him down by playing relaxing music.
- Snoring: the assistant detects this characteristic noise that some people make when sleeping and you can configure it to play white noise.
- Cough: If you forget to drink water too often, your cough may prompt Alexa to remind you to hydrate.
