Skip to Content

Great iPhone applications for parents

by Dave Caolo Nov 14th 2008 at 12:00PM

Our sister site ParentDish has posted an article on their favorite iPhone/iPod touch applications for parents. As an iPhone-toting dad, I've used mine to keep the little nippers busy with cute applications, but Sarah James has found even better options, including

  1. Baby Monitor Did you forget to bring Jr.'s monitor to Grandma's house? Put your iPhone next to his crib and launch Baby Monitor. When he starts to wail like a banshee, Baby Monitor calls a pre-determined number, like Grandma's landline. Baby Monitor costs $0.99US.
  2. Baby Tracker: Diapers I remember the days of The Diaper Pail* and anxious trips to the pediatrician's office. If that's still a part of your experience, check out Baby Tracker: Diapers. It lets you note the consistency, color and contents of Jr.'s waste. Giggle if you like, but I see exactly how this could offer peace of mind. Baby Tracker: Diapers costs $0.99US.

There are more, of course, so check out the full article. In the meantime, here are a few suggestions from this old dad:

  1. iChalky When my 3-year-old is out of patience, I hand over iChalky. Jiggle the phone and drag your finger to flip little Chalky all over the screen. The preschool set loves it. iChalky costs $0.99US.
  2. Jirbo Match My 5-year-old likes matching games, and Jirbo Match is challengeing enough to engage her. Jirbo Match costs $1.99US
  3. iTalk Think of something while you've got your hands full? Just launch iTalk and record that thought. Later, you can sync recordings with the desktop companion, iTalk Sync. iTalk is free.

While we're on the topic, I've got a request for the iPhone and iPod touch. The problem with letting the kids use them is that they sometimes navigate away from the application or video and get into other stuff (plus that whole "throwing and dropping" thing). Recently, my daughter deleted some photos I hadn't exported to my Mac.

That's hardly the end of the world, but it would be nice to put the phone in "Kid mode" and prevent them from navigating away from a video or application.


*Only today do I realize the insanity of having what amounted to a miniature cesspool in my bedroom.



View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

Software

Our sister site ParentDish has posted an article on their favorite iPhone/iPod touch applications for parents. As an iPhone-toting dad,...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

30 Comments

Filter by:
Sam Shaw

I developed the "Name That Baby" iPhone application just recently. It's a fun app that suggests baby names.


Sam
http://www.dreamworldsol.com

January 21 2009 at 6:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nick


seems like a similar app. Cheaper

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=298002496&mt=8

January 16 2009 at 10:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3pm studios

I agree that iPhone interface is great for little ones. Our son played on our phone so much that we recently developed an iPhone app aimed at 3-5 yr olds. Our little boy Henry loves playing we thought that other children would also enjoy the mix and match game. The app is called Henry and Hailey's preschool pals available on the iTunes app store.

www.3pmstudios.com

December 01 2008 at 11:48 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to 3pm studios's comment
3pm studios

The iTunes app link for Henry and Hailey's preschool pals is http://tinyurl.com/6pet2f

It's a great mix and match game. The art work is amazing.

December 01 2008 at 11:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Babyphone for iPhone

Hey just have a look at this new review for this app.

You will enjoy this app a lot.

The main screen of Babyphone shows the current status, the microphone sensitivity and the threshold for triggering the alarm.

If the Microphone's display reaches or exceeds the set threshold, the previously defined phone number will be called. After completion of the call and the expiration of the delay Babyphone will reactivate itself again.

In the settings you can enter the number to call. In addition, there is a sleeping interval with an adjustable delay in minutes, after which Babyphone will reactivate itself again.

http://mail-point.de/iPhone

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=293317774&mt=8

November 18 2008 at 11:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Babyphone for iPhone

Hey this is nice thing you share with us.
This is one new app i like to share just look at this app this is also related with iPhone.

The main screen of Babyphone shows the current status, the microphone sensitivity and the threshold for triggering the alarm.

If the Microphone's display reaches or exceeds the set threshold, the previously defined phone number will be called. After completion of the call and the expiration of the delay Babyphone will reactivate itself again.

In the settings you can enter the number to call. In addition, there is a sleeping interval with an adjustable delay in minutes, after which Babyphone will reactivate itself again.


http://mail-point.de/iPhone

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=293317774&mt=8

November 18 2008 at 11:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
basscadet

Leave a GSM device next to a baby for monitoring????

Why not put the baby inside a microwave then?

Has no one informed parents how sensitive children are to all those emissions? And I'm not talking about new age "bad vibes" and "negative auras", this thing is really bad for developing organisms. A GSM transmitter/receiver next to your baby for some hours per day is somehow a cool app that helps? And all those parents giving GSMs to their children (iPhone or other brands), are they forgetting what that could do in long term? People please please please give it a second thought and keep them away especially from young children...

November 16 2008 at 10:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matt

I'm ready for an app called something like "Daddy, it's broken" that blanks the screen after 5 minutes. Once my kids get ahold of my iPhone, I never get it back.

November 15 2008 at 8:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alan Oppenheimer

Please don't forget our KidBook Envi app: http://we-envision.com/kidbookenvi

November 14 2008 at 7:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Carlitos

Putting an iPhone next to a crib?....
I love my iPhone and so do my 2 daughters, when I let them play with it I put it on "airplane mode", in other words I turn it into an iPod.
The amount of electro-magnetic radiation that the iPhone emits is so strong that it's dangeorus to a young child, specially a new born, because their brains contain more water than a grown up child.

Electro magnetic radiation is meassured in "milligauss". Between 0-3 is considered safe exposure. Anything above 3 starts causing damage to one's inmmune system. Putting your child on risk to develop different types of illneses and in the worst case scenario... cancer.

Here are some readings for the iPhone, done with an EMF reader:
(iPhone is using Edge or 3G)

iPhone on but in sleep mode: 0-2 milligauss
iPhone awake: 0-8 milligauss
iPhone during a phone call: 50-100 milligauss!!

Same tests using iPhone connected with WiFi: 0 milligauss.

Just something to keep in mind...

November 14 2008 at 6:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

Try TrixieTracker: www.trixietracker.com It tracks diapers, sleeping, bottles, breastfeeding, medicine, pumping, etc. It's about $4 a month. They also offer just diaper tracking for free. I use it to track our daughter's stats with their analysis tools. Pretty geeky and amazingly addicting. Plus, they have a iPhone/iPod Touch optimized interface, too.

November 14 2008 at 5:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.