Having a baby can get really overwhelming, especially in the beginning. There are so many things to learn about and keep track of, all while keeping this tiny dependent human alive. Thankfully there are some handy apps that can help with all of that!
Growth Tracking/Health
There are SO MANY different options for a generic baby tracking app. A quick search in the app store will bring up multiple different ones that all basically offer the same thing. Here are some that I chose for their unique features.
-Huckleberry: This is a popular option for tracking everything you can think of when it comes to your baby. Huckleberry gives you the option of tracking feedings, diaper changes, nap schedules, medicine schedules, growth, temperature, etc. This is a good all-in-one tracking app.
-Baby Tracker: This app is also a tracking app, but a neat feature of it is the ability to see your baby's schedule as a whole. It takes the data you input and shows it to you in charts and graphs to give you the whole picture.
-Talli Baby: Here is yet another tracking app! This one can pair with your Alexa, making it easy to input data without taking your phone out. I also like that you can purchase their "one-touch tracker," which is a little box with buttons for you to press to input certain activities like a feeding or diaper change.
-Wonder Weeks: The Wonder Weeks is an app that predicts your baby's "leaps" based on their due date and keeps track of what new developmental milestones they've reached. A leap focuses on your baby's mental development rather than their physical development. You can expect your baby to have trouble sleeping or maybe even be fussier during leaps, so it's neat to expect what's coming and understand why.
-Nara Baby Tracker: Aside from the basic functions that most baby trackers offer, this app gives you the option to coordinate with other caregivers for when your baby goes to daycare or spends time with another parent or grandparent. You can also set reminders for naps.
-BabySparks-Development Activities and Milestones: This app is really neat for helping you learn about and monitor your baby's development. They offer different developmentally appropriate activities that you can do with your baby each day, as well as video demonstrations for them.
Sleep
-Napper: Baby Sleep & Parenting: Sometimes, having an all-in-one baby tracker can get very overwhelming. While this app offers some of the basic tracking options like feeding and diaper changes, its main focus seems to be on naps. You can get a sleep schedule made for your baby, learn about sleep for babies, and see your data displayed in a graph.
-Hatch: This app connects to the Hatch sound machine. This sound machine is great because you have the ability to change colors, brightness, sounds, and volume all from your phone. You can even set different programs with your favorite settings set to begin and end at a certain time.
-Decibel X- Pro Sound Meter: This app will let you know if your baby is around sound that is too loud for their little ears. Whether their sound machine is turned up too loud for them or if you're at a concert, this app will help you be aware of it all.
Pictures:
-Chatbooks: This is a quick and easy way to upload pictures from your phone and turn them into a photo album that gets mailed to you. They offer a "monthbook subscription" where you can select your photos and get a Chatbook mailed to you each month.
-Family Album: This app is a great way to upload and share pictures and videos with family, which can be especially helpful if you have family that lives far off. There is the option to turn your uploaded images into a physical book or single prints as well. It's also a handy way to save photos even if you don't have the intention of sharing them with anyone else.
-Baby Notebook: Baby Book App: This app sends you weekly reminders to help you document your baby's milestones and even writing prompts. It's also more customizable like a scrapbook would be. When you're done at the end of the year, you get a baby book mailed to you!
-The Short Years Baby Book: This app is very similar to Baby Notebook. They both give you writing prompts and reminders each week to upload pictures. The main difference is that The Short Years Baby Book sends you pages at the end to add to your own scrapbook instead of a physical book that's already put together and bound. This could be a great idea if you intend on adding to a single book for your child's life instead of having a book for each stage.
Eating:
-Solid Starts: We are doing Baby Led Weaning with Adalynn, which means we skipped the "baby food" and went straight into introducing "real food." This app has been incredible during our BLW journey. You can easily look up how to serve different foods to your baby based on their age. They also have a paid database full of courses to take every step of the way. The paid version also gives you the ability to track each food your baby has tried and record any reactions they might have had. I highly recommend downloading this if you're doing BLW like us!
-BLW Meals: How to Start Solids: This app is similar to Solid Starts. For anyone who eats out a lot or maybe doesn't like to cook, this app can give you ideas for healthy meals to prepare for your baby! The recipes and meal ideas are a paid add-on.
If you're looking for more helpful resources to support you through pregnancy, labor, and postpartum, grab my New Mom Checklist Bundle! This bundle has every organizational checklist you'll need to feel prepared for baby! Also, read my blog post Ways to Feel Prepared as a First-Time Mom.
Always, Jess
L E T ' S B E F R I E N D S!
