There are only so many apps one can use regularly, and there are thousands of parenting apps to choose from. So how does a parent or guardian decide which parenting apps are worth installing and which aren’t?
Pediatrician Approved: Top Parenting App
Your pediatrician is a great place to start. The next time you head in for a newborn or well-child appointment, ask your pediatrician or the pediatric P.A. or N.P. which apps they recommend or find the most useful.
In the meantime, here are five of our favorite parenting apps. We’ve included one health-oriented app; the rest support full-spectrum aspects of parenting – from infancy to young adulthood.
1. Child Health Tracker
Created by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Child Health Tracker app maintains your child’s pertinent medical information, health provider contacts, insurance info, and more in one easy-access location. It also includes current information on vaccines and boosters. We feel this is one of the only health apps (outside of your pediatrician’s patient portal) you need.
Diagnostic-oriented apps are no comparison to a one-on-one phone call with one of our nurses, available by calling our office any time of the day or night. After our normal weekday and weekend office hours, PANW’s phone lines become a 24/7 nurse hotline where you receive personalized recommendations or advice about what to do next.
2. Baby Feeding Log
Are you a new parent? If so, you know that keeping track of feedings is far easier said than done when you’re completely sleep deprived or if other caregivers are in the mix to help out. The Baby Feeding Log is a simple way to tap when you’re feeding or just fed Baby.
If you’re breastfeeding, it helps to keep track of which breast they fed from to keep yourself comfortable and the Baby sufficiently fed. The app also helps parents and caregivers track the length of feedings, diaper changes, and sleep patterns. This information is helpful for you, but it also supplies excellent data to your pediatrician if any red flags arise and we want to know more about eating, hydration, and bowel habits.
3. Our Family Wizard
Are you part of a co-parenting family? If so, you’re going to love Our Family Wizard. It’s one of the original co-parenting apps but continues to be one of the most popular. Repeat studies prove children thrive and do best when separated or divorced parents rise above their issues and maintain an amicable co-parenting dynamic.
Children of parents who remain respectful and keep their business out of the children’s lives have less anxiety, perform better in school and in friendships, and have fewer mental health issues. Healthy communication is essential to that mission, and Our Family Wizard supports that goal by keeping all of the schedules in an open and transparent location. In addition to shared calendar information, the app also tracks messages, banking info, and more.
4. Artkive
What the heck is a parent to do with all of the art and miscellaneous projects that come down the pike week after week, season after season, and year after year? Why, we Artkive them, of course. There’s no way we can keep all the stuff kids bring home, and more than one kid means exponentially more to store. Fortunately, Artkive makes it easy to take pictures and store memories of projects that don’t make the Top 5 list at the end of each year.
Artkive allows parents and guardians to have one reasonably sized storage tote per child for the absolute best of the mementos. The rest are organized on Artkive. You can create individual folders for each child that stores photos of their work by date. If you want, you can even print Artkive books, posters, framed works, canvases, and other space-saving options to gift to family or store for your children when they’re all grown up.
5. Life360
Remember when you thought tracking apps were a bit invasive? Then your Baby grew into an adolescent and teenager – and then they started to drive. Yep! Time to install Life360. When you’re not spending time together as a family, Life360 helps you keep track of where everyone’s at.
In addition to location sharing, Life360 also includes a driving safety feature for parents of new drivers. The app tracks top speeds and driving habits and also provides crash detection, emergency dispatch, and roadside assistance. You’ll sleep better when your independent kiddos have the freedom they crave paired with healthy parenting boundaries.
Bonus Parenting Apps
These are some of the most essential apps for growing families. However, it’s not easy to put all of our favorites into a Top Five list. Others worth checking out depending on your family’s needs are:
• Modern Mama’s Club. Download this app, and you may recognize someone – our very own Dr. Whitney Casares! Through this app, she shares guided lessons through her signature teachings, and you’ll uncover interactive journeys each day—integrating tools and tips into your daily life, diminishing burnout, stress, and anxieties—all while raising resilient children.
• Talk Space. A simple way to speak with licensed mental health professionals about personal struggles, self-doubts, or any red flags you notice in your children’s mental/emotional well-being.
• Photomath. Nothing is more humbling than the inability to help a child with their homework. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Photomath allows parents to take pictures of the problem and receive steps on how to help kids solve it.
• Cozi Family Organizer. The name of the app says it all. The entire family has access to color-coded schedules, store lists, and other planning tools to keep in sync.
• Yummly. Not sure what to make for dinner with what you’ve got? Yummly does. The app also supports menu planning for picky eaters and recipes that break you out of the weekly dinner ruts.
PANW Is Here For The Questions Parenting Apps Don’t Answer
Have a question that requires a deeper answer than a parenting app provides? Contact Pediatric Associates of the Northwest online or by calling our office at 503-227-0671. Our lines provide 24/7 nurse advice over the phone after normal business hours.
