Our little girl is now three months old! Over the last few months I’ve downloaded, trialled and tested so many apps for tracking feeds and nappies, learning about Addie’s development and milestones and helping us with her sleep! Here are my favourite baby related apps which I use on a regular basis. Hopefully this list of baby apps for new parents will help you to save time trawling through the millions of apps out there!
Pregnancy
In pregnancy I used a few different apps to track our progress, how many weeks pregnant I was, the baby size and it’s corresponding fruit and also to read about what the expect at each stage of the pregnancy. I could never find one that I felt did absolutely everything so I used these three throughout my pregnancy: Pregnancy Tracker, Ovia Pregnancy & Pregnancy+.
Feeding & Nappies
I use Huckleberry, a free app to track our feeds and nappies. I trialled a bunch of tracking apps in the first week or so and Huckleberry was by far the easiest and most user friendly.
I tracked our nappy output for the first maybe eight weeks. We had a lot of issues with feeding and Addie gaining weight initially so it was really important we kept track of her nappies. I also would track her feeds, and at three months I continue to track her bottle feeds so I know how much she is getting each day. I’m sure at some point I will stop tracking it as I did with the nappies, but until I feel like we are 100% on the right track I think I feel better just tracking them, especially if the doctor or nurse wants to know how much she is having.
Sleep & Routine
At the recommendation of a few friends, we purchased the Little Ones Sleep Program/app when Addie was six weeks old.
I am very routine oriented and love being organised, and I know there is only so much you can do with a baby but I wanted a program that would teach me all I needed to know about baby sleep, the methods to implement and of course, a routine and times to follow as to when Addie should be awake and asleep etc.
I’m planning to write a full article about my experience with Little Ones, but I can say that it did all that I was hoping it would and more. I have just purchased their 3-12 month program and will be continuing to follow it and hoping that it keeps working for us! It’s a really gentle and flexible approach to sleep training and it is definitely paying off for us. I highly recommend!
I paid AUD $69.22 for the Newborn Sleep program (0-12 weeks) and AUD $76.21 for the Baby Sleep program (3-12 months). From memory they have a 10% off code within the app for your first purchase!
Development
I use two apps for Addie’s development. The first one is the Baby Sparks app. I bought it on sale for AUD $48.99 for 12 months. I like that it literally gives you multiple activities every day with videos and instructions as well as what milestones the activities help with. It has really helped me as in the early days I felt a bit lost as to what activities etc (if any) I should be doing with her!
The other app I use is The Wonder Weeks app. I paid AUD $5.99 for the app. I believe the it is based off a book and the app is a summary of the book. It basically gives you information about your babies leaps & developmental milestones etc.
I didn’t really notice leaps 1 & 2 as we were going through our struggles with feeding at the time, but I did really notice it come leap 3 when suddenly my perfect sleeping baby became unsettled, grumpy, fussy and started cat napping and all round being miserable (but not sick)! A quick look in the app and right on cue, she was due for leap 3. I’ve now set it up to send me notifications when we are coming up to leaps so I can keep in mind what is going on if she is a bit unsettled etc! The good thing is leaps pass and don’t last forever and they are good because it means your bub is developing as they should!
White Noise
There are literally hundreds of white noise machines and toys out there that are targeted at mums. We did buy a Riff Raff sleep toy which is great for playing a lullaby and sending Addie off to sleep, but the longest setting is only 40 minutes. At this stage I’ve found we basically need to play white noise the whole of her nap/overnight as I think it is one of the main things that helps her link her sleep cycles and resettle herself to sleep when she wakes.
If we are out for her nap, I’ll just pop a white noise track (from the Little Ones account) on my phone through Spotify but if we are at home then I put white noise videos on through the YouTube app. This one is my go to as it plays for 10 hours and the screen goes black whilst it plays which keeps the room nice and dark.
Support
Whilst not officially an app, I highly recommend any Australian pregnant ladies/mummas to be follow Mum’s Grapevine on Facebook.
They also set up a Facebook group every three months for Australian mums who are due within a certain time frame (e.g I am in the Summer 2020/2021 Baby Group). Facebook (and social media in general) can too often be a negative place and groups can get so bitchy but I’ve honestly never found a more supportive place on the internet before! It’s not just my group either as I have friends in other Mum’s Grapevine groups and they have had the same experience.
For example, my group has over 5000 women in it, all who were due between 1 December 2020 & 28 February 2021. There are loads of first time mums as well as plenty of mums with two, three, even seven other kids! People share their experiences (ups and downs), ask for advice (things we are literally all thinking) and all round just share in this crazy journey of pregnancy & becoming a mum! Many people choose to share their birthing experiences and babies with the group when they are born and a lot of people rely on the group for support. It feels like there is never a stupid question and I’ve never seen one horrible comment the whole time I’ve been in the group.
Aussie mums, it’s obviously free to join these groups and I can’t recommend it more highly! It’s by far the most supportive, informative place I’ve come across throughout my pregnancy and now into my journey as a parent.
These are the apps I have used over the last few months and continue to use on a daily basis. If I find any new ones that I love, I will of course update this article. Hopefully this list of baby apps will help as there is literally a million different apps out there to choose from!
