5 great apps to make life easier for every new mother
“When you grow up and become a Mother, you’ll understand” – every mom ever.
Our mothers have been our pillars since day one, and even today, no matter the age, we call them up when we can’t find something, to ask them what we should do in a tricky situation or to just hear their voice. Somehow, they’ll always make us believe that they have the answers to all our problems, and never waver from being the embodiment of strength and resilience.
They say becoming a mother means being ready to sacrifice a good part of your professional life for the stealthy upbringing of your child, and keeping to that age-old mind set encouraged by years of conditioning, to-be mothers would often leave their hard-working jobs because they ‘chose raising a family’. They argued that they wanted to be around for all the ‘first times’ and be their babies’ first teacher on how to survive the world, while shielding them from the same. They would also be provided with the option of cushioning themselves among the support-system that comes from being a part of a ‘nuclear’ family structure, with the parents and the in-laws all but shifting in to help them in this delicate time.
This ‘nuclear’ family structure continues to persist only in theory because the truth is that nobody has the time to be up in one’s space constantly and push aside their everyday lives to help in the nurturing of another.
However, this ‘nuclear’ family structure continues to persist only in theory because the truth is that nobody has the time to be up in one’s space constantly and push aside their everyday lives to help in the nurturing of another. More than anything, young couples don’t tend to live in the same twenty-member household that our parents and grandparents were used to because it doesn’t cater to their current-day lifestyles. So in a situation like this, a new mother is faced with the eternal dilemma – should she give up her dreams and her career to centre her universe around her kid? And if she did, would she like herself in five or ten years?
The good news is that society has progressed and opened its arms to an entire array of ‘working mothers’. With the influx of the effervescent smart-phone and tech intrusion, life has become simpler for working mothers who now find it easier to be away from their little ones, because technology allows them to keep an eagle eye on them and making sure of their safety through it all. With the help of these tools, they can make sure that they are taking the best care of their baby, while working elsewhere. They can make sure that they don’t actually miss a baby’s firsts because it would have been recorded and etched into their minds, just like if they were actually there.
But being a new mother is no child’s play, and there are many mountains to leap over for your new-born baby. Although the recipe to being a good mother is something no book, movie or philosophy can define, we do offer you some help as you start out on this beautiful journey. To help make your tumultuous lives a bit easier, we offer you a list of five apps that all new moms should have on their phones that will have some of the answers, make sure you don’t miss a single special moment and reduce your phone-bill spent in making midnight calls to your paediatrician!
Total Baby
Available on both iOS and Android
For all you first-time mothers, this app can help you keep track of every aspect of your newborn’s care, including feedings, required hours of sleep, bath times, immunisations, doctor visits and more. It works as a four-way process. First, it records all aspects of your child’s care through smart interfacing. Second, it offers features like a built-in summary, timeline and 15 interactive charts to know your child’s daily routine and schedule. The third step involves automatic back-up of data to the cloud and syncs between your devices. Lastly, it invites and connects other family members to ‘track’ and know your child’s activities.
NuuNest
Available on both iOS and Android
A new way of maintaining baby records, it provides all the relevant information regarding new-born babies, even offering links to various studies and books to assure credibility to their facts. It allows you to record things like your baby’s weight, the number of breastfeeding sessions for the day and also what breast you end the session with, so that you always know which one to start with. It is also categorised conveniently into main section-heads and branches, so you know what to click on for tips and advice in moments of crisis.
Sprout Baby
Available on iOS
This app is the perfect tracker and planner in every sense. It offers a Feeding Tracker, Pumping Tracker, Diaper Change Tracker, Sleep Tracker, M.D. Visit Planner, Growth Tracker and an Immunisation and Medication Tracker. The best part is that the user is allowed to have profiles for more than one child, which is great for new mothers with one or more other children. It also allows you to track milestones and memories with short texts, which can later be transformed into an e-book for your family to have forever!
Wonder Weeks
Available on iOS and Android
This app is based on over 35 years of research and describes every sort of mental, developmental and physical milestone that your baby will go through in the first couple of months, backing it up with daily reminders and easy language.
DayOne
Available on iOS
DayOne literally helps you make memories since Day One of your baby entering this world. Photo-driven and easy to use, it allows you to add captions, longer journal entries, tags and keywords to all your pictures – recording the journey of your little one growing up every day. It lets you export all your entries into a PDF and printing books for casing together all your different memories. It has an outstanding voice recognition feature which helps you dictate entries while nursing, giving even Siri a run for her money.
Technology has come a long way, hasn’t it? Have you used any apps that made your motherhood easier? What did you think of them? Do let us know in the comments below.