The 6 Best Apps for New Parents, Ranked
Parenting has never been easier than today with the rise of technology. If you’re struggling between tracking your baby’s feeding, changing diapers and ensuring their cognitive development is being taken care of, you might need some additional help.
There are many apps on the market, both free and paid, to help you navigate parenthood. UK baby brand, Nuby, has ranked the best apps to put a little ease on you as a new mum or dad.
The best app for baby tracking: BabyTime
If you’re looking for the one app that tracks all your baby’s needs and helps you navigate parenthood with ease, then look no further because BabyTime has it all.
The all-in-one baby app helps you monitor everything from your baby’s feeding routine (feeding times, bottles, pumping) to sleep patterns, bath times, and even diaper changes. All the information is presented in an easy-to-understand customisable graph so you can establish your baby’s natural rhythm and improve their routines. You can also share this information with your babysitter.
The best app for cognitive development: Kinedu
Cognitive development is a vital part of your baby’s growth. Infants tend to explore the environment around them through their sensors, thus stimulating their early brain development.
To help you come up with a variety of activities that stimulate your baby’s cognitive development, the Kinedu app features over 2,000 expert-designed playtime ideas specifically tailored for your baby. You can join daily live and on-demand classes, reach certain milestones, and read progress charts and developmental insights, all while your baby is having fun on their playmat.
All the activities are designed by expert education specialists, gaining the recognition of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.
The best app for tracking feeding schedules: Baby Feed Timer
Feeding is a big priority when it comes to looking after your newborn. Amidst the numerous chores you need to complete, it can become quite daunting to remember your baby’s feeding times. In the first days, you need to breastfeed your baby every one to three hours, and that slowly progresses to two to four hours within the first weeks and months. This makes for eight to twelve feedings per 24 hours.
In order to keep track of that and not worry about missing a feeding time, the Baby Feed Timer app, recommended by NHS midwives, reminds you when you are due to feed next and on which side. It features an easy-to-use feeding timer, which is essential for those night feed times. You can log all the feeding information, including breastfeeds, bottles, sleep and diapers, to help you spot trends and synchronise your baby’s schedule. The Apple Watch allows you to quickly log everything to your device right there on the spot.
The best sleeping aid app – White Noise Baby
White noise machines and apps can help a baby fall asleep faster and block outside noise to aid their daytime naps, and some paediatrics recommend them. Nevertheless, it’s important to ensure they are set at the right noise level (around 50 decibels) because exceeding the limit can be damaging to your infant’s hearing and auditory development.
An app that ensures a baby’s sound and peaceful sleep is White Noise Baby, developed by TMSOFT. Alongside white noise, it features a range of ambient sounds to help your baby drift off to sleep, such as a car ride, a mother’s heartbeat, an air conditioner, and even classical music tracks by Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart.
You can play the sound for a set duration, and the baby monitor can automatically restart the sounds once it detects that the baby is crying as often as you want.
The best baby advice app: BabyCentre: My Pregnancy and Baby Today
As a new parent, you will have endless questions about your baby and will want to make sure you’re following the guidebook. The BabyCentre: My Pregnancy and Baby Today app features comprehensive information and insights from experts to support you through pregnancy and the first year of your baby.
Trusted by 300 million mums and dads across the world, the app will give you support and advice on everything you need whenever you need it, from sleep and feeding to health and developmental activities. Furthermore, the app lets you track your baby’s development with a personalised daily calendar, connect with fellow mums, and organise photos of your baby’s firsts and funny moments.
The best app for making mum friends – Peanut
Finally, for those mums who want to socialise with other parents or share advice with other women in the same boat, Peanut is the app for you.
Founded by Michelle Kennedy in 2017 when she had her first child, the app is designed to provide a safe space for women at all stages of womanhood to make a meaningful connection. The social networking app allows women to meet, join groups and find communities with similar interests, engage in interesting topics, and even listen to in-app live podcasts hosted by experts.
With these apps, you will be able to ace motherhood and possibly have a little breather for yourself. Because who doesn’t deserve some me-time?