Breastfeeding can be one of the most confusing things for new mothers, not so much the actual act of feeding, but more so keeping track of it and making sure that you’re not overfeeding or moving on too quickly. This is where Breastfeeding Baby Feed Timer comes in, it’s an Android app that makes it simple and easy to track the amount of feeds from either your left or right breast as well as the time per feed. This makes it easy to keep track of things, and over time it gives users lots of statistics to look through to make sure they’re not moving on too early and get an idea for how long on average you end up feeding your little one. Homescreen widgets make it super-simple to start a timer whenever you need to and there’s support for tracking pumping as well. There’s support for bottle feeding as well here and with the Pro version mothers can track more than one baby and have individual stats for both. Speaking of the Pro version, friends and family can help each other out with the invite system (more on that further down).
As with other Android apps, users just need to download Breastfeeding Baby Feed Timer from the Play Store and then open it up to get started.
This is the first and main screen, mothers will most likely end up spending most of their time here, and it’s a good-looking interface, thankfully. As you can see, there are buttons for either left or right breasts as well as one for the bottle. Just tap one of them to start a timer, and a feed will start to be timed.
On Android, the timer will keep on going as you feed, so you can go and check the news, listen to some music or whatever else while also getting a timer update in your notification tray.
This is a neat feature, but it would be nice if the notification also did seconds instead of just minutes. This complements the included homescreen widgets that make it super-simple to start a timer whenever and wherever you are without even launching the app itself.
Once you hit the stop button, your feeds can be seen from this main page, and they’re all easily-understood as well, making it easy to see how long a feed was and when it was, too.
From the slide-out menu, mothers can ask some more advanced options, such as the ability to add a baby and so on.
Being able to add more than one baby is a great feature, especially for those with twins or more.
This allows mothers to keep track of babies that can be very different in their feeding needs, despite being twins. The Pro version of the app is a little costly, but mothers can be savvy and invite their friends to get a 90% discount on their version of the app, while their friends and family themselves will get 25% off.
Over time, Breastfeeding Baby Feed Timer becomes a very helpful tool for mothers to keep track of their babies’ feeding times, and as you can see in the screenshot below it’s all well documented. The app tracks pump feeds as well, so it covers all the bases where breast feeding is concerned.
There’s a built-in FAQ for the app, and the developers themselves have put together a neat overview of why something like this can be useful.
Breastfeeding Baby Feed Timer is obviously something that I wouldn’t need to use, but I can see the value in such an app. Just as I use a fitness tracker and app to track my sleep and how much time I spend walking or at the gym, this can help mothers build up invaluable data on their feeding patterns. Particularly useful for mothers that might suffer from mastitis or need to monitor their baby’s intake, having all the timings and such can prevent problems from rearing their ugly head. Bottle support here is nice as well, and allows for the amount of milk to be put in and having to choose either left or right can perhaps reduce the strain on one breast. Mothers can edit a feed to show that it’s a pump and the homescreen widget can make it super-simple to start a timer whenever they want.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Breastfeeding Baby Feed Timer is a speedy little app and it doesn’t take long at all to get going to make it easy to time a feed whenever or wherever you might be.
- Theme (4/5) – Some mothers might not like the overall look here, but it is lighthearted in its approach and far from offensive.
- Features (4/5) – This ticks all of the right boxes that a mother would be looking for in an app like this, and the ability to choose either left or right will appeal to a lot of mothers. So too, will the ability to log a mixed feed using the bottle feature and the homescreen widgets really speed things up.
- Overall (4/5) – With the majority of features that mothers will have come to expect from apps like these, Breastfeeding Baby Feed Timer makes good use of Android’s features, and the ability to share a discount with other mothers and family is a great idea.
Pros
- Homescreen widget speeds up the process, and helps make breastfeeding blend in to everyday life a little bit more.
- Doesn’t require and special knowledge or anything like that, just launch, tap and time.
- Discount for other mothers is a nice touch, as mothers do tend to stick together and share experiences.
- Bottle feature is a great addition for mothers that might travel a lot or who are resting after pumping or so on.
Cons
- Notification timer only shows minutes gone by.
- Might be considered a little pricey for some mothers, but the discount definitely helps.
With homescreen widgets included as well, the list of features found in Breastfeeding Baby Feed Timer just keeps on growing, and it’s a nice and easy app to use no matter where a mother might be. Whether it’s pumping, breastfeeding or bottle feeding this app does it all and it does so with ease of use to match. Convenient and helpful, this is worth trying out.