Waze users report seeing new 'Baby on Board' notification

Waze users are getting a surprise pop-up that’s raising eyebrows across Reddit. The Google-owned navigation app has started showing a “Baby on Board?” notification, prompting drivers to set reminders so they don’t forget essential items or, more critically, their child in the vehicle.

The notification started appearing for users about four days ago, which kicked up a discussion thread on r/waze that’s attracted attention for all the right and wrong reasons.

One user shared their particularly unsettling experience: they had just discovered they were pregnant and, after doing some pregnancy-related Google searches, opened Waze the next day to find this baby reminder staring back at them. The timing for them felt too specific to be coincidence, leading to immediate privacy concerns.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Multiple users who aren’t pregnant, don’t have children, and haven’t been searching baby-related content are also seeing the pop-up. One commenter noted they’ve had a hysterectomy since 2018 and still received the prompt. Another joked about potentially being in for a surprise after seeing the notification, despite having no baby in their life.

So I wouldn’t read much into this pop-up. It’s most likely a coincidence, rather than Google creepily stalking your online habits just to throw up the pop-up on your screen. That said, at least one user mentioned that it popped up twice for them, so I see how it might get annoying if it keeps appearing.

I couldn’t find much information about this ‘Baby on Board’ pop-up in particular. However, digging through old news revealed that Waze actually launched a similar “child reminder” feature back in 2016. That version required manual activation and would trigger when navigation ended, serving as a safety net for frazzled parents who might be running on autopilot.

It seems this new ‘Baby on Board’ prompt is just popping up to remind people that the feature exists. Some users mentioned they actually want this feature and had enabled the old version when their kids were younger. For parents dealing with exhaustion and routine changes, a simple reminder could prevent the kind of tragedy that makes headlines every summer.

So if you’re a parent and see the pop-up, you might as well set a reminder. If not, you can simply tap the ‘No thanks’ button and continue using Waze as usual.