Must-Have Tech for New Parents
By: Esther
From tracking sleep to helping my baby get more sleep, these six products helped make my life a bit easier amidst the hazy fog of caring for a newborn.
1. Baby Tracker Newborn Log
When you first have your baby, the hospital gives you a few printouts of paper to keep track of how often your baby is eating and how many wet and dirty diapers they’re going through. But writing all these details down on paper gets old, fast. I downloaded the Baby Tracker app on my phone, which was a way more convenient way to keep track of everything and refer back to it as needed during visits with lactation consultants and doctors.
2. Hatch Rest Sound Machine
With a rambunctious toddler around and a very vocal dog, a sound machine is a necessity in our home when our baby is sleeping. The Hatch Rest is a bluetooth-enabled sound machine and night light that can be controlled from your phone. It has 11 different sounds to choose from and a number of different colors for the night light, from a soothing orange to bright white, making it easy to see what you’re doing during the middle of the night feedings and diaper changes.
3. Huckleberry App
With my first little one, I didn’t attempt to follow any kind of schedule. I was lucky he was a great sleeper, and I just went with the flow from day-to-day. With my second baby, I wanted to follow more of a routine during the day, and the Huckleberry app has been a lifesaver. You simply track when your baby sleeps, and Huckleberry recommends the optimal time for your baby’s next nap based on their age and developmentally-appropriate wake windows. Huckleberry also offers an upgraded plan that pairs pediatric sleep experts with AI to create a custom sleep plan with your family in mind. You can also track the baby’s feedings, diaper changes, and more in the app.
4. Greater Goods Smart Baby Scale
When my little one wasn’t gaining weight as quickly as expected, I purchased the Greater Goods Smart Baby scale to keep track of her weight gain at home. The cool thing about this scale is it’s Bluetooth-enabled. When you have the Smart Baby app open while using the scale, it automatically enters your baby’s weight and even tracks their percentile for you.
5. Peanut Social Networking App
I first heard about Peanut a few years ago, as an app to help moms make new friends, and came across it again when celebrity Jenna Dewan shared an Instagram post about how it helped her find support while breastfeeding her second baby. I downloaded the app and joined a few of the breastfeeding and mom community groups, and found the discussions to be really helpful in those first few weeks.