A post from Manager Molly….
There are a lot of hard things about being a new parent and it’s all trial and error because every baby truly is different. I’m very mindful about technology when it comes to kids, so I’m careful about what I use.
But there were a few gems that made life easier on all three of us! There are tools available today that make me wonder how parents did it without these things for so many years? I would not have been a good pioneer mommy or cave-mamma.
Even if you’re not a parent or your babies are grown, these apps will make you have I need that immediately moments. Enjoy and pass these along!
- Tiny Beans
I’m not a huge *social media sharer. But, I still want to share pictures of Jack with my immediate family and friends. I also don’t want to drive said family and friends nuts with a bunch of pictures of our drooly newborn. Enter Tiny Beans. This app allows you to save and share pictures and videos on a timeline of your family’s life. The fam gets a daily email and they can choose how many pictures they want to see. Our aunties and grandmas live for this and it’s a great way to semi-privately share your little one. Bonus: You can keep track of special milestones and print photo books. - The Wonder Weeks
Did you know that babies are KA-RAY-ZEE? They are. And, as first parents, we didn’t know that part. Fortunately, we came across The Wonder Weeks app, which breaks a baby’s early development down into “leaps”. The Wonder Weeks gives you a helpful summary of what your baby is going through and ways you can help them during each stage. - Kinedu
Kinedu is a cool app that gives you a daily activity you can do with your wee one from the time they are born to the toddler years. Think simple things like sharing facial expressions and blowing bubbles…things that seem silly to us but are mind altering to a little baby. - Hairdryer App
Yes, babies are crazy (see above) and you never know what will work to appease the tiny human. We discovered that the sound of the hair dryer helped Jack to sleep. (White noise is super helpful because babes are used to sleeping to loud sounds of the womb.) Some kind stranger actually created a Hair Dryer app (downloaded thousands and thousands of times). Note: your kid might prefer the lawn mower app or the thunderstorm app, etc. - Libby
Libby is just the best app ever, kids or no kids. It just happened to save me in the first months of mommyhood. There is a lot of quiet sitting with baby in your arms napping and nursing. I could only watch so much TV (although Beth can tell you I watched pretty much every baking show plus two seasons of Riverdale…not my proudest moment). My brain fried, I went back to books. One cannot turn pages while holding a fat baby, so my tablet was my life savior. Libby allowed me to borrow any book from my local library! Magazines and audio books are available, too. From my favorite best-selling authors to new classics, like “Oh, Crap! Potty Training” Libby is a must-have for new moms and dads.
***Bonus App!
Have you heard of the Calm app that features relaxing meditations and soundtracks? Well, the makers of Calm have created an app for little ones called Moshi Twilight. My wee boy is not old enough to appreciate the super-cute sleep stories on the app, but I love them! They put me right to sleep after the (often lengthy) bedtime routine for the baby.
*Note:
As I mentioned above, I’m not a big Facebook person, but I hope new parents can be open to finding their tribe on social media. So many of us are far from family or juggling work with parenthood these days and the pressure is a thing. I was able to tap into several private parenting groups on Facebook that have been an enormous asset to me through this journey and I expect they will be for years to come. Look for the groups that share your values and allow them to be your community. It’s one of the very cool pluses of social media and I can tell you it has made me a better mom to see other parent’s honest accounts of their families.
