Sara Bailey, the creator of Thewidow.net, contributed the following article to our website. Her writing reflects a passion for family love, parenting, and values. The article below provides information on apps that can reduce stress out of first-time parenting.

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Being a first-time parent can be exhausting. You aren’t getting as much sleep as you’d like, and you stress about the health and wellness of your little one. While they can’t eliminate all your stress, the following apps can give you insight into your little one’s eating, sleeping, and development and give you extra peace of mind knowing your little one is healthy.

If you’re a first-time parent, you’re concerned about your baby reaching all their first milestones, like learning to sit up, roll over, crawl, walk, and start eating solid foods. With the Glow Baby app, you’ll be able to celebrate each of your baby’s first 101 milestones and track their growth and development. The app also lets you track their feeding schedule, diaper changes, and sleeping habits. The app displays all this information in easy-to-read charts so you can see at a glance how your baby is growing.

A spinoff from the famous book, The Wonder Weeks app is another milestone app that parents can use to monitor their baby’s growth. In addition to being able to keep track of your child’s development, the Wonder Weeks app also provides a variety of classical music and sounds to help baby relax. This handy app can also function as a baby monitor.

Is your baby having a fussy afternoon, and you just need a break? The Mommy Saver: High Contrast Baby Visual Stimulation will give you a breather with a variety of movements and shapes that crisscross the screen. It includes classical music, and soothing images that will distract your little one from the confusing world they’re still struggling to understand. You can choose from several interactive features depending on the age of your child, and instantly calm a fussy baby. This app is a lifesaver on those days you just need a break, but be sure you limit your use this app. Experts agree that overexposure to screens and technology isn’t good for your baby’s development.

If your baby has trouble sleeping, and you can’t get them to sleep without a half-hour of rocking, a great app to take the stress out of nap time is the Sleep Baby Sleep app. This white noise app is designed to help your fussy baby fall asleep easily and promotes the development of a healthy sleep routine. The white noise app allows you to choose between fan noises, the sound of a vacuum cleaner, or even womb sounds.

When you’re a first-time parent, your smartphone will be a lifesaver during late-night feedings, or when your little one has fallen asleep on your chest and you don’t want to wake them by getting up. You’ll use your phone to track nursing times, watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, and of course, connect with baby apps. You’ll need a smartphone that can handle these more dynamic apps, so if yours is older, look to upgrade. It’s not hard to find solid deals on newer models, and you can shop for prepaid cell plans that make it easy to put more of your money toward diapers or baby’s 529 plan.

Take the stress out of parenting, learn about the stages of development, keep photos of your baby’s important firsts, and track feeding and sleeping with these handy apps. Don’t forget to look into the phone plan that will let you do it all without worrying about overage charges, and use your phone freely no matter where you are.

Written by Sara Bailey