Baby Caravan’s picks for the BEST parenting and pregnancy apps
Parenthood hasn’t gotten any easier even with all of the modern luxuries we now enjoy. If anything, the demands placed on us have made life and raising children a lot more complicated and stressful. But what is great are the way that many of the modern luxuries support our journeys and adventures as parents in this hectic world. Parenting apps are one resource that we love here at Baby Caravan.
A handful of really useful apps have been developed to help with our self-care and mental health as parents with young children, while some take a ton of the stress out of caring for a young family in a crazy city like New York. From tracking your baby bump to the first birthday party, We have narrowed our list to our seven favorite.
Have you loved any of our top picks? Or did we miss your favorite app? Let us know in the comments.
Expectful
What we love: Expectful is a top-rated pregnancy app that has more options and resources than you will ever use. The concept is to be a comprehensive resource to support pregnant people to stay grounded during pregnancy and beyond. Different programs are available for fertility, pregnancy, loss, and motherhood.
Besides an enormous library of meditations, the app has a wealth of educational materials, courses, live classes, various events, and an active blog. Plus: appointments are available with lactation consultants, sleep coaches, nutritionists, bereavement coaches, and fertility coaches.
Mindful Mamas
What we love: Being a mom is an experience all its own and with ups and downs only other parents can understand. Mindful Mamas’ goal is to help mothers feel less alone by normalizing the motherhood experience. The programs available on the app include meditations, sleep, affirmations, courses, emotional support for various stages of motherhood, and more.
Some of our favorite resources include their “daily sip”: a five minute-a-day meditation for busy moms and their words of encouragement from moms around the world.
All-in-One Pregnancy App: BabyCenter
What we love: BabyCenter is an all-in-one pregnancy app. It not only tracks your baby’s growth, it provides resources and information on anything you never thought you’d wonder about as a parent. For instance, is it true that shaving or cutting you baby’s hair will help it to grow in thicker or stronger? Or, when can babies eat eggs?
This pregnancy tracker has it ALL. Just a few features include:
-Daily parenting guidance for baby’s first year
-Creating a video keepsake of pics of your growing belly
-Fetal development photos and videos
-A custom baby-name generator (SO much fun!)
The Wonder Weeks App
What we love: Wonder Weeks is a theory based on the research of Dr Hetty van de Rijt and Dr. Frans Plooij and outlined in their book by the same name. It suggests that babies make 10 predictable changes, or “leaps,” in the first 20 months of their life. The effort to prepare parents for each change is meant to help them enjoy watching their infant’s growth and also prepare them for what might come along with each leap. This is especially useful when the changes bring tears and crankiness.
The Wonder Weeks app is a fun way to track and engage in your baby’s growth. Some features include tools that help you learn:
-When your baby is taking a leap
-How to help your baby through the leap
-How your baby perceives the ‘new’ world
-How to make the most of this leap
Baby Connect
It takes a village! Today there is often a handful of people who care for an infant including parents, nannies, and grandparents. Keep everyone on the same page by logging and tracking important information through the Baby Connect app. The app allows caregivers to share daily information such as meals and sleep, location, new activities, mood, and more. And of course, your team can easily share photos with each other through the day.
Maple
Take group threads to the next level! There are a lot of moving parts to household management and the Maple app keeps them organized and in one place. A mini project management platform, it takes the crazy- making out of organizing the day-to-day tasks as well more involved occurrences such as family vacations and birthday parties.
Babylist
Creating a registry is a fun part of expecting. There aren’t too many times in our lives when we get to ask for exactly what we need for a new stage in life. Babylist helps parents make the most of the opportunity by allowing you to add anything you want from any store in one registry. PLUS - the app offers options to add non-physical gifts such as help around the house and help with family pets after the baby comes.
Babylist isn’t limited to your registry. If you’re not sure what to ask for check out their comprehensive guides section or their sample reigstries. They cover everything from the best baby lotion to ask for to the best toys for certain ages to babyproofing and so, so much more.
More resources for your pregnancy journey:
Majka: my FAVORITE lactation support for busy moms