Breast feeding app!

[MrsHende]

I used a great app to help me keep track of when, how long and which boob I'd fed from and now can't remember what it was called!

Does anyone use a good one they'd recommend?

Thanks!

[SoupDragon]

I used the "if you can't remember and can't tell then it doesn't matter" method :)

[Bunbaker]

An app for Breastfeeding!!! Blimey I have heard it all now!

Why do you need to know how long your baby took to feed? Surely the baby will stop when it has had enough. And why aren't you feeding from both sides?

[MrsHende]

I definitely got that way!

A new mum friend of mine is keen to use one so thought I'd see what you ladies say.

[CityDweller]

I've been using 'ibabylog'. It's pretty good, and free.

To answer unhelpful pp, in my case I'm not feeding from both sides to try to even out an oversupply on one side. And, anyway, my 3 wk old doesn't feed for long enough to take two sides yet. I found the app helpful to remind me which side I fed on last and to help me space out feeds, which gp recommended as baby was getting bad wind and spitting up a lot earlier this week.

[growyourown77]

We're finding baby connect fantastic, it's 2.99 but you can also keep track of nappies and sleeps etc. if your DH wants to get involved, he can download it and you can share the info. You can look at weekly progress/trends too. Useful for us as we're mix feeding to get weight up. HTH.

[TattyBoomBoom]

Really Bunbaker? I used an app at the beginning (just searched android play store for a free one) because the midwives suggested I record the length of each feed, and due to sleep deprivation it was easier to click "right hand side/left hand side" than rely on memory.

[Bunbaker]

Sorry. I didn't mean to sound so rude, but I find the idea of using modern technology to tell you how and when to breastfeed your baby rather surprising. How on earth did parents of older children manage before mobile phones?

My sister used to feed from one side at a time and she used to fasten a small safety pin on her bra on the side she had just fed from. DD fed from both sides, I used to change her nappy when it was wet or dirty, and she slept when she was ready.

I do understand the need to track these things when a baby is ill though.

I am also finding our over-reliance on modern technology rather frightening. I think it might just stop some people from thinking for themselves.

[JollyOrangeGiant]

I had the Baby ESP app for DS :)

[MrsHende]

Thanks ladies, some useful tips here, I'll pass them on.

I know what you mean bun, but, speaking for myself, I just wanted some form of control. However, as that was never going to happen with a newborn the next best thing was to at least have a record of what was happening...in the vein attempt to find a pattern to enable me to predict what might happen next!

I think it totally depends on your personality whether something like an app would be useful or not. I know that if hadn't used an app I would definitely have been writing everything down in a notepad anyway, I have a brain like a sieve at the best of times!

[Midori1999]

Tatty the thing is, it doesn't matter how long a baby feeds for as long as they are fed on demand and knowing how long a feed has been isn't really at all helpful either.

citydweller fair. Enough if you're block feeding or similar to reduce oversupply, but it's not really a case of feeding long enough to need the second breast, it's good practice to always offer the second breast unless (as there may be in your case) there is a reason not to. If the baby is thirsty rather than hungry, they may just want a short feed on each side. The advice from your GP is a bit strange too.

I can see why people may need to maintain some sense of control when breastfeeding, but how often the feeds are and how long they take doesn't really tell you very much at all, so it's not actually that useful, unless it just makes you feel better, in which case obviously just go ahead.

[EauRouge]

I just used to poke myself in the boobs to find out which one felt more full I can understand why some people like to have the control of an app- our society is very much about control, numbers, stats and averages and suddenly being told to use our instincts and go with the flow is the exact opposite of what many people are used to.

Breastfeeding works best if done on cue (spacing out feeds is terrible advice from your GP, CityDweller! You'd get more accurate info from a breastfeeding counsellor). So using an app is fine but remember to read the baby, not the figures. A guide is fine, a schedule can be damaging to BF, especially in the early days.

[FriendofDorothy]

I use the iBaby feed app. I tend to use it to remind me which side to use and how long he has fed for. I find it very useful.

[CityDweller]

The GP advised spacing out feeds as she was feeding every hour or so and we had a few instances of large quantities of projectile posset. He thought she might have been over-feeding and suggested trying to increase it to every 2hs at least. As it is, she's spacing out a bit without me really having to do anything.

I too find the app is partly about control - and also helps me plan if I actually want to leave the flat and get somewhere before she goes ballistic with hunger. Maybe others have better memories or aren't so affected by sleep deprivation, but unless I keep a note I'd never remember when the last feed was... (And I do love a stat )

[Bunbaker]

"I too find the app is partly about control - and also helps me plan if I actually want to leave the flat and get somewhere before she goes ballistic with hunger."

I was seriously sleep deprived so I feel your pain, but I didn't need an app to tell me when DD needed feeding. We are getting too over reliant on technology.

[stickybean]

I love using the app. I could totally manage without it but I don't want to. With my first I wrote every feed down in a book for MONTHS. So it's not an over reliance on technology for me, but certainly an example of trying to find order / organisation / control in a hectic time.
I could never remember what side to feed from.

The app makes me realise its been x hours since the last feed even when it feels like 5 mins.

The very best thing though is that it tells me how many hours I have spent in the day feeding. So when I look at the mess in my house, the unfolded laundry, the dirty dishes etc, I forgive myself because I have spent 5 hours feeding my newborn

[FriendofDorothy]

For me it wasn't about telling me when to feed my baby because I fed on demand.

[fluffymindy]

Fuck me people really will buy anything. Stupid

[chickenspots]

Wow how times change! 40 years ago my mother was told to feed 10 minutes each side. 5 years ago I was told to feed on demand which I am doing right now for my 3rd child. It would never even occur to me use an app for breastfeeding! I am of the 'have a quick squeeze' school of breastfeeding to see which side is full. I have only ever fed from one side at a time as I produce a lot of milk and they usually nod off or pull off so don't need the other side. I have fed 98th and 91th percentile babies and they have thrived on one boob at a time!

[SingSongMummy]

sticky very good point indeed. I used to write it down in a book every time too and found it reassuring -the midwife suggested it initially as DD1 was jaundiced and I just never stopped! I can't believe how rude some posters are being about something that is useful and comforting to some people!

[badguider]

Those who scoff at keeping notes. How do you answer MW questions about "how is he feeding?" Or "plenty of wet nappies?" Or "when did he last poo?"

Most people I know kept some notes. Doing it on an app is just the same.

[namechangea]

I am now feeding DD2 who's 6 months old. I fed DD1 for 22 months and never ever did the 2 sides and am still a fan of poke 'em and see which is full

Despite being an 'experienced' breastfeeder I have used those apps for a short time generally to help me wallow in my misery of having frequent feeders that sleep very little.

Use as many apps as you like, once upon a time people mocked the internet and e mails.

[CheeseAndMushroomToastie]

I squeeze both boobs and whichever one feels fuller is the one I feed from first

[noblegiraffe]

My boobs don't feel full and haven't done since about 3 weeks. Baby also only ever feeds on one side even if offered both. With my first I put a hair band on the wrist of the side I just fed on and wrote all the feeds down, but if there had been an app I'd have totally used it.

Second baby, I'm much more blasé and don't worry if I can't remember which side and stick a boob in it whenever she cries. Neither way is better I don't think, especially if you're a frazzled first time mum trying desperately to do things right.

[GiraffesAndButterflies]

Bloody hell some people are negative. If it's helpful what's the problem? Why make up worries about an 'over-reliance' on something that's just a simple tool?

I tried loads- ended up with TotalBaby, which has both a free and paid for version. I started using it to try and find a pattern in DD's sleeping. It's useful and interesting to be able to see that she's gradually going to sleep earlier and earlier each evening, and to have that presented to me in graph form. Yes that's unnecessary, but I'm a geek, a lazy geek, and a geek who gets bored while breastfeeding. Apparently some people feel the need to criticise technology just for the sake of it.