I feel like I should just go ahead and put this out there. I am painfully aware that I live in two extremes. Sometimes from the outside, I look like I have my life together and I know this because people having been telling me as much my whole life (Which is not meant to be braggy. It comes from my control freak tendencies, never asking for help and stressing myself out to the point of breakdown which is really not cute at all). I wear cute clothes, try to be thoughtful of others, and our house is generally tidy, that’s one extreme. The rest of the time it’s painfully obvious I haven’t washed my hair in three days and I run into door frames all day because my brain just can not compute. Add in my newly formed#mombrain (which we should get some sort of medical wavier for because it’s REAL) and I’m surprised we function day-to-day over here sometimes.
I probably don’t need to explain here that I get organizational help from my phone. Like…duh. But I thought I would share the apps that have helped me keep certain parts of life together over the last 8.5 months. I tried dozens of apps when I first had Camden and these are the ones that stuck around!
1. The Wonder Weeks
If you listen to anything I say in this post listen to me say this – if you are not tracking your child’s developmental leaps you need to start! Not only are they fascinating, they really help you understand why your baby is extra fussy/clingy at certain points. More than once I was beginning to get worried that Camden was sick or I was not making enough milk, then I checked this app and realized he was in a leap! Explaining WW could be a whole post in itself so I’m going to leave it there for today but this app is essential if you start tracking them. You put in your baby’s due date and it gives you a chart of the exact times they will be in a developmental leap plus info on what they are learning and how you can help!
2. Infant Zoo
Infant zoo is an app for babies that uses colors they can see (red/black/white) to make animal shapes and sounds. While I certainly don’t think it’s a good idea to shove a screen in a baby’s face all the time, I don’t think it’s a big deal every once in a while for just a few minutes out of desperation. Like the times you sit in the waiting room at your doctor’s office for 50 minutes for your scheduled appointment and have run out of all your other tricks.
3. Owlet
I talked about our love for the Owlet monitor in this post and in all honesty, their app can be pretty glichy but I still love it. You open it and it tells you your baby’s heart rate and pulse ox. level right on your phone. That peace of mind to me is worth a million dollars. (Not that it costs a million dollars, but they are expensive).
4. Baby Sleep Site
This one is a more recent discovery. Let me start by saying if you need baby sleep advice, I am not the person you should be contacting. Our son has always been a good sleeper at night but it is no thanks to me and I mean that. We were having a really hard time with naps when I found the Baby Sleep Site. The site is a great resource but I love the app for just one of it’s features – the schedule generator. You put in your baby’s age and the time they woke up and it gives you an approximate sleep schedule for the day. It explains how much sleep they need at each age and tells you how *most* babies take their naps. Maybe it seems silly but it has really helped me!
5. Glow Baby
I don’t use this one any more but for the first few months I used it all day every day! I used it mainly for breastfeeding (it times you and keeps track of which side you used and how long it’s been between feedings) but I also used it to track his diapers. It seems strange at first, but your doctor will ask you a million questions about your baby’s bowel movements (color, texture, amount, frequency) and how many pee diapers they have for the first couple of months. I liked having one app to track both of those things in the same place.
6. Kindle
There is only so much going on on social media at 12, 2, and 4 AM so you will need something else to do. I use our library to download books on to my Kindle so they are F-R-E-E. Watching Netflix or whatever woke me up too much and it was harder for me to get back to sleep.
7. White Noise (not pictured)
I actually use an Apple Music “song” on repeat for white noise but I know there are apps for it too! At first, Camden was completely un-phased with sleeping out and about in super noisy places but once he got a little more aware of his surroundings, it became much harder to keep him asleep. White noise not only drowns out other sounds but we use one at home when he sleeps so it helps create that same environment and really helps him stay asleep longer.
I’m sure there a bunch more that I have no idea about. Fellow moms, leave a comment letting us know your faves!
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Linking up with Annie, Natalie, and Amanda.
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