Best Family Apps
Recommendations from our team!
In this blog post, we asked the BAHS team to share their top recommendations for family and caregiving apps. Our team of 30+ women based around the world, many of whom are mothers and/or former nannies, shared their favorite apps for making family life and caregiving more streamlined.
Huckleberry
Huckleberry was by far the most recommended app among our team. The baby tracker and sleep guidance tool is designed for parents of newborns up to five-year-olds. Katie Montalbano, BAHS Chief Operations Officer and mother of two, said “Huckleberry is chef’s kiss” and Alanna Verde, Talent Acquisition Specialist and new mother, shared that Huckleberry was a “lifesaver” for her. We recommend this app particularly for new parents to help them track baby’s habits, including sleep, feeding, diaper changes, and growth. It also uses AI and data analysis to predict ideal nap and bedtime schedules.
Family Album
Katie Montalbano raved about this app sharing, “I love it. It’s an app where you post pictures of the kids, and anyone you invite can access them. Personally, I have all our family members, my two best friends, and an aunt who asked to be added. I post every picture I take of my kids there. We don’t like posting the kids a ton on social media, so this gives access to just the people we know and trust. Family Album also saves me from sending pictures to multiple text chats every time there’s a big thing, like a holiday or back-to-school. People can log in whenever they want to catch up on the day-to-day of the kids’ lives and download their own favorite pictures, but if they only want to check in once a month, that’s fine too. I also like using it as one main place to look back at pictures of the kids when they were babies. They love looking back too!”
Wonder Weeks
Several BAHS recruiters recommended Wonder Weeks, an app designed to help parents understand and track their baby’s developmental milestones. Based on the idea that babies go through predictable periods of cognitive and developmental change, the app provides information about what parents may notice during different stages, along with suggestions for activities that support development. It can be particularly helpful for new parents who want a better understanding of why their baby’s sleep, mood, or behavior might be changing as they reach new milestones.
BabySparks
Several members of our recruiting team recommended BabySparks, an app focused on early childhood development. It provides age-appropriate activities designed to support babies’ and young children’s cognitive, language, motor, social and emotional development. Parents and caregivers can use the app to find simple activities to incorporate into everyday routines, while also tracking developmental progress. We particularly like it as a resource for parents and nannies looking for easy, engaging ways to support a child’s development without adding another complicated schedule to the day.
SolidStarts
Solid Starts was another popular recommendation from our team, particularly for parents navigating the transition to solid foods. The app and accompanying resources provide guidance on introducing foods to babies, including information about preparation, serving sizes and age-appropriate ways to offer different foods. It also offers guidance around allergens and choking hazards, making it a useful reference for parents and caregivers who want to feel more confident when introducing new foods. For families working with a nanny, it can also be a helpful resource for ensuring everyone is following the same approach to introducing and serving food.
Seesaw
Recommended by both Zoey Ingarfield and Emma Hopkinson, Seesaw is a digital learning platform that helps teachers, students and families stay connected. Schools can use the platform to share classroom activities, updates, photos and learning materials, giving parents and caregivers a window into a child’s day and progress at school. For families with school-age children, Seesaw can make it easier for parents, nannies and other caregivers to stay informed about assignments, activities and classroom communications, even when parents are traveling or have demanding schedules.
Family Wall
Kara Cervone highly recommends this family organizer; she shared that the app is “great for keeping the family calendar, grocery lists, inventory lists, meal plans, recipes” all in one place.
Skylight
“It’s a really sleek app and calendar, and it has a picture screensaver, so it sits on my kitchen counter and acts like a virtual frame with a slideshow going constantly. The kids love seeing old pictures pop up and saying “hey, remember that?!” or “how old was I there?!”
When you click in, everyone has access to the family calendar, which helps keep my husband and me aligned. There’s also a shopping list split by store, so we both have access on the device and on the app on our phones. We also have access to the weekly menu with the corresponding recipes, so either of us can pull it up and start cooking or prepping.
Finally, we love using Skylight as my six-year-old’s chore chart. She loves running up and marking off a chore she’s completed that day, aiming for the “celebration” it shows once all her chores are done. Then she checks in on her potential rewards. Each chore earns a set number of stars, and we’ve set a number of stars to equal a certain reward. She loves it, and it’s definitely helped with getting more chores done!”- Katie Montalbano, BAHS Chief Operations Officer
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