Mom’s Choice Awards is excited to announce another post in our interview series where we chat with the inventors, designers, publishers, and others behind some of our favorite family-friendly products.

Hello, Mom’s Choice readers! Thank you for joining us for another installment of our ongoing interview series! For this interview, we were able to catch up with Francesco Copeta, who is the Sales Director at the Moms Choice Award-winning company, babybeep USA! babybeep® is the anti-abandonment smart pad that tens of thousands of Italian and Israeli families have already adopted to avoid unintentionally forgetting the children in the car. A premium product in the market of anti- abandonment devices: 100% Made in Italy, made with breathable, hypoallergenic, and antibacterial fabrics and padding, does not change the normal seat of the child because it is ultra-thin. babybeep® detects the presence of the child resting on the seat and warns you when the battery is running out using smart technology. babybeep® is connected with your smartphone but guarantees your serenity and that of those you love even when you forget your smartphone at home! Keep reading to find out more about Francesco and his award-winning company, babybeep USA!

MCA: Hi Francesco, thank you so much for joining us for this interview, and congratulations on your Mom’s Choice Award! Can we first start the interview by finding out a little bit about yourself?

The Mom’s Choice Award-winning products, babybeep smart pads!

Francesco: My name is Francesco Copeta, Sales Director at babybeep USA. I was born and raised in Italy and 8 years ago I decided, with my wife, to move to the US to essentially challenge ourselves….well it looks like it’s working out. There have been great experiences along our way settling into this country! My wife and I never “burned” our bridges with Italy and we always thought that it would be great to bring some of our Italian heritage here that would be different from pasta. She got pregnant back in July 2021 which is the time I met the babybeep Italian team that was looking to expand their operation in the US. Because we absolutely loved their mission, we decided together to represent babybeep in the United States. I guess my experience in the US running a different business that was still related to safety, my network, and of course, my being Italian made us the perfect fit for babybeep USA!

MCA: Congratulations on becoming a new father! I think it’s safe to say that as a new father, you greatly appreciate child safety products such as the babybeep® smart pad. Can you tell us more about this smart pad?

Francesco: Babybeep was created with the intention of preventing children from being forgotten in cars. Yes, you heard that right. Unfortunately, every year children die because they were left behind in the car. In the US, according to noheatstroke.org, on average 38 kids die every year, one of the worst statistics of any country in the world. As parents-to-be, my wife and I decided to work on the mission to make Americans aware that this is a huge problem and that there are ways to prevent this tragedy from happening.

MCA: That’s a mission Mom’s Choice can definitely get behind! What are some of the features that customers can expect to find when using the babybeep® smart pad?

Francesco: Back in 2018, Italy looked into this problem and decided that it was going to make mandatory the use of aftermarket devices that would help parents not to forget their children in cars. After one year, right before the pandemic, it became law, every single car seat in the Country must have a device that reminds parents that their child is still in the car. Vito Dagostino, inventor, and CEO of Baby Beep Italy, initially took it on as a personal mission. In fact, his first prototype goes back to 2013, since then the technology has developed and Baby Beep finally became a product in 2019. The sensor inside the smart pad is one of the perks of this product along with many others. The sensor does not work by weight but instead by detecting the body mass of a human being, which means it has a very accurate response and fewer false alarms. The sensor is then connected, through Bluetooth technology, to the Baby Beep app, which is built-in so that the smart pad works even without your phone. In fact, a built-in buzzer will start making beeps should the guardian forget their phone at home, have the phone off, or the app closed. In the event of a child being left in the car, the guardian’s phone will start getting notifications every 10 seconds for 2 minutes reminding them that the child is still in the car. If no actions are taken after two minutes, all the emergency contacts will receive a text message making them aware that the child was left in the car with a link to the geolocation of where the child is.

MCA: Can you share with us some of the current car seat & booster seat safety statistics for the United States and Italy?

Francesco: Unfortunately we don’t have any statistics in the USA, but we are happy to confirm that, in Italy, since the use of this product has been mandated, 0 children have died and we are so proud to finally share some good statistics.

MCA: That is certainly an amazing statistic to have! What do you think is the main obstacle for babybeep coming to the United States? 

Francesco: The main issue is that 99.99% of Americans don’t even know about this product and that’s why we are working on the brand and mission awareness so that parents know that this is something that they can easily buy in the USA. What we really feel is an issue, is that parents would feel “embarrassed” if they bought this product or even “offended” if someone was going to gift it. What I always try to tell everyone is that parents of the 910 children that died in 1998, would feel proud to have such a product that would have kept their loved ones safe.

MCA: What is next for babybeep?

Francesco: What we are working on and what we will work on is to partner with car seat manufacturers sharing our know-how, our technology, and expanding their product range with an add-on that is related to what they do every day, saving lives. Finally, we would like to see a law Implemented here in the US, the good news is that in the last infrastructure bill, this problem was mentioned and there are studies in the process that might have positive outcomes to push even more.

MCA: That is all very exciting, please keep us posted! 

You can learn more about Francesco Copeta and his award-winning product, babybeep, by visiting his MCA Shop pages.