4 Useful Apps For Modern Parents

4 great apps for busy parents that make the lives of parents (and especially working mothers) easier!

By Melanie Lobo

In today’s technology driven world, you have apps for just about anything. Any wonder then that you have parenting apps to help see you through those anxious moments when you first become a parent?

Apps for parents with babies and toddlers

You no longer have to rely on pen and paper to keep track of your baby’s milestones or feeds or even his/her growth. Simply download any of the apps mentioned below and you will see why many Indian moms consider these the best apps for parents.

Baby Connect: Record several aspects of your baby’s life

Key features include:

– Track feeding – whether by nursing, solid food or bottle feed.
– Track your visits to the doctor; store information about any sickness, weight, head size, height, vaccines given till date and medicines as well.
– Displays your baby’s activities in a growth chart.
– Timer to track feeding sessions, baby’s moods, activities and even naps.
– Displays data on a graphical Timeline view to identify trends.
– Compatible with: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
– Price: $4.99

This is probably one of the most comprehensive apps that are available today. Apart from the key features mentioned above, you can set reminder alarms for the next feed or for the next dose of medicine. This app is also useful as your spouse and other family members who look after the baby can update the app. All you need to do is to set up a notification and you will be informed about what is happening.

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Alisha Mehta*, 34, a Marketing professional in Gurgaon and mother to 10 month old Zivanka, says she has used some parenting apps but, “Baby Connect is the one that helped me the most. I was tracking her sleep/feed/diaper changes and Baby Connect could show the pattern on one screen, I knew exactly (most times) when she would sleep/eat etc. This helped me ensure that she slept through the night post her 1st month onwards.”

WebMD Baby: Information on your baby’s wellness and health

The best feature of WebMD Baby is the medical information you get from it. Once you download this app you can go through several articles and videos to keep abreast of the changes ahead. Highlights of this app include:

– A Growth Tracker that lets you enter details of your baby’s head circumference, weight and height after every visit to the paediatrician. The child growth calculator will enable you to check your child’s growth percentile.
– Diaper Tracker lets you keep note of the number of diaper changes in a day and whether the diaper was dirty, wet or both. Email the entry or simply view the changes in the calendar.
– Baby Book to record all special events and milestones. You can even add videos or photos and share the journey on email or on Facebook.
– Price: Free
– Compatible with: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

Consider this app as a free medical resource for just about anything that is baby related. Milestones, weekly guides and tools for weight/height measurements all help you organize yourself more efficiently.

WebMD Baby will provide you information according to your baby’s age. There are different categories for you to browse through and there’s one there for Dad as well. Parenting tips, advice on illnesses and emergencies is just a tap away on this app. Sudipta Ghosh, 31, a Mumbai based lawyer used this app extensively for Ira, her 6 month old daughter. She finds it, “Very comprehensive as there is extra information on this app.“

Milkmaid App: A boon for breastfeeding working mothers

Working mothers may find this app helpful as it keeps track of the amount of breast milk they have expressed. Many Indian moms have to wean their babies before they return to work. This app may just make them want to think again about doing that. This app will:

– Record sessions when milk has been expressed.
– Keep an inventory of where the fresh or frozen milk is kept – in your house, your in-laws house etc.
– Price: $2.99
– Compatible with: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. The app is optimized for iPhone 5.

You can record the number of bottles used by you or whoever is looking after your child if you are not around. The app also keeps track of the date the milk was pumped, so that you can use the oldest milk first. It allows you to set an expiration date and track the expiration time for each location the milk is stored in.

Apps for parents with older children

There are also parenting apps available for parents who have older children.

Cozi Family Organizer: A time management app

Working mothers will benefit the most from this app as it helps them simplify life. It is meant for Indian mothers who need assistance in organizing their busy lives. Some of the key features of this app include:

– To do lists – what could make life simpler than a to do list? Track and manage things that need to be done. It gives you the option of making a shared list so that each family member can access it.
– Family calendar: This shared calendar can be colour coded for each member in the family. Set up event reminders that can be sent by text.
– Compatible with: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
– Price: Free

You can also make notes of family occasions, pictures and specific memories in the Family Journal. Store your grocery lists on this app and access them easily to ensure you do not forget anything. Plan your meals, add ingredients to your shopping list and store recipes as well on this app.

Go ahead and try one of these apps today. Or if you have used other apps that you think other Indian moms would benefit from, why not share them in the comments below?

*Name changed to protect identity.
*Photo credit: Lel4nd (Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License.)

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