We live in a world where there’s an app for everything! I’m pretty sure you’d find an app just to track your baby’s poop, if you really wanted to keep an in-depth record of it.
This does however work to our advantage because at the same time it allows us to have a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips if we ever feel uncertain or just want regular updates and to keep learning. So this week I’ll be sharing the top 5 baby apps that I used during and after pregnancy that I found most helpful. They are in no specific order and I would suggest have a look at all of them just to help you
#1 Baby Centre
4.7* Rating
Cannot recommend this one enough!!! I know a friend who prefers the Pregnancy+ app but honestly this one just gave me so much information and support and was just everything I needed to feel ready. There are so many features on this app.
This is one you can use while you are trying to conceive, during pregnancy and once your baby is born. While conceiving the app helps you track your ovulation and has a due date calculator. I didn’t personally use those features but it’s a nice extra if you are trying for a baby.
During pregnancy it allows you to store your Bump Pictures all together. There is a quick “is it safe” search feature that allows you to search about certain exercise, food and even sex related questions. There is a kick tracker feature if you want to keep tabs on what time of day your baby is very active, and a birth preferences sections which teaches you a bit more about what may happen in the delivery room. My favourite features in this app is the fact that you can search and save your Baby names in the app, adding your own and their meanings too. And also there are free Birth Class videos for you and your partner to watch together! These are all 2-5 minute inserts to teach you the basics. The contraction timer was also super helpful when I went into labour, particularly for the first 6 hours while I was at home.
To be honest I haven’t used the app much since Tayo was born, but the Baby section has a memories feature where you can store pictures, a growth tracker, sleep guide and feeding guide. I decided to go with separate apps for Sleep and Food though (keep reading).
In this app you also get daily updates and interesting articles to read that are suited specifically to where you are at in your pregnancy or how old your child is. Genuinely interesting stuff that you would otherwise be googling at some point. This app makes it super easy to learn in a stress free way.
One of their best features by far is the Birth Club. Once you have inserted your due date you can choose to become part of a group of women online that are due in the same month as you. For example, I am part of the November 2020 birth club. Here you can post questions, share milestones or just vent and get instant support and advice from moms all over the world who are most likely going through the same thing! Swollen eyelids, separation anxiety, night wakings and period queries are a few of the things that are at the top of my November 2020 birth club feed.
To say this app was a life saver while I was pregnant is an understatement. The only downside is that it is an American & UK based app so the shopping links can make you somewhat bummed if you are stuck in Africa.
#2 Baby Tracker - Newborn Log
4.6* Rating
This app was recommended to me by a friend that had twins, premies at 28 weeks, and then another beautiful little girl a few years later. She is pretty organised just like me (aka OCD mom vibes) so I figured she probably definitely has enough experience to know what she’s talking about. Anyways this app was amazing for my foggy new mom brain.
Below is a screenshot of Tayo's app from January 2020, showing his sleep, feeds & nappy/diaper patterns. (Don't be too amazed by the long stretches of sleep you see, I was probably just too lazy to log the wake up & back to sleep moments. Just because it says he slept for 5 hours, doesn't mean I did...)
Some cool features:
Track and time your baby’s feeds wether you choose to breastfeed or bottle feed.
Specify which side your baby drank on and for how long when breastfeeding. This helps SO MUCH when you are trying to juggle everything in the beginning.
Log nappies to make sure your newborn is has healthy bowl movements
Log sleep to keep track of wake windows.
Record your pumping sessions
You can even log in medicine, vaccinations and doctors visits!
The best feature by far though - this app can be shared on multiple devices. We had it on my phone, daddy Tayo’s phone and the iPad that we used for lullabies and white noise. So if I wasn’t there, I could still check when Tayo was feeding, sleeping, pooping, etc. It’s the small things when you’re a mom…
Honestly there are going to be times that you don’t know which boob you last used to feed your baby, whether you’re supposed to be changing them or what day of the week it is. You may only use this app for the first 6 months or you may feel like using it for 18 months. Though I will say, good luck trying to get your partner to remember to log in the details…
#3 The Wonder Weeks
4.8* Rating
An app that I was told about by our CFT Therapist (See linked post if you don’t know what I’m talking about). In a nutshell it updates you, reminds you and educates you when your baby/child is going through a developmental leap. The first one starts at around 4.5 weeks old. I am not even lying when I say that every single time I get the reminder on my calendar it’s like an “ah-ha” moment. Like, ‘oh thats why my offspring has been acting like someone else’s child since yesterday’…
You can see from the screenshots that it not only tells you details like how long to expect the fussiness to last but also goes into great detail about what your child will be experiencing. The app also tells you how to help them through it and what the important things are as a parent to focus on & encourage your childs development.
An interesting thing to note, this app calculates the developmental leaps according to your babies original birth due date. So because Tayo was born 1 day before 39 weeks, he was actually 3.5 weeks when he started his first leap. I do notice that he usually starts the leaps at least 3 days before the app predicts, but of course every baby will be different and an app is a robot at the end of the day so it won’t be spot on every time.
It’s great if you like that extra information. It explains so well how the world adapts for your baby as he/she grows and gives you an interesting perspective as a parent to understand what your baby may be feeling while growing.
There also a few other extras and bits and bobs which I never really delved into, so it's a good idea to download it and just play around a bit.
#4 Solid Starts
5.0* Rating
Such a cool and convenient app to have! I used it a lot more when we introduced finger food to Tayo around 6 months. Actually I started following the Solid Starts Instagram page and then saw they actually had an app. You can search over 200 foods in their database and it gives you information about what age to introduce it, a recipe to try, how to offer that food at 6/9/12/18 months and any allergens that you may need to look out for. It’s really quite cool.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE that although this is an app that encourages and focuses on BLW (baby led weaning) you absolutely don’t have to be solely focused on that method with your LO to use the app. It’s great to just have a quick reference when it comes to food ideas.
Again, it is an American app so you have to use their names for certain fruits and vegetables when searching things like Aubergine (Eggplant). I searched "bread" below as an example. You'll see that you can even log in every time you try that specific food. That just seems like a bit of a mission for me personally...
Its really great for inspiration on different ways to serve the food though. Once they start eating you can often feel like you don’t know what to feed them next. Especially in the phase between sorting solids and having quite a restrictive diet and eventually starting to eat “normal” food.
So mammas, get this app! Thank me later…
#5 Baby Weaning and Recipes
5* Rating
Not one I used personally because Kind of winged it with Tayo’s purees for the most part. But this seems to be highly rated and recommended on the app store. Plus after downloading it I found it has a huge variety of recipes for purees and food options from 6 months upwards.
Some cool features:
190 recipes that are all pretty easy
Shopping list feature to add ingredients from your recipe
Meal plans to suit your baby
No hidden charges, you get access to everything!
If you don’t feel comfortable in your own knowledge of puree’s then why not use this for a little extra help and inspiration.
These are obviously MY top 5 must have (free) apps. I know quite a few women who use them and I really think they add an ease to life when you learn to use them in a way that works for you! If there's another app that really worked for you that isn't listen here please let us know below!!!
More momsplaining next week…
Important note: I am not a qualified doctor, nor am I a professional in any of the topics discussed on this blog. The topics above are purely opinions based on my own real life experiences.
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