Build a baby tracker app: feeds, sleeps and nappies logged one-handed, kept on your phone
In the first weeks with a newborn, the questions are small and constant: when was the last feed, which side, how long did they sleep, how many wet nappies today? A baby tracker app answers them at a glance, provided it can be used with one hand, in the dark, half asleep. Anticode can build one that keeps everything privately on your phone, with no account and no data leaving it. It records; it doesn't advise.
What to log, and how quickly
The test of a baby tracker is how many taps a feed takes at 3am. Aim for one tap to start and one to stop. Everything else is optional detail you can add later, or never.
- Breastfeed
- A start and stop timer for left and right, with the app remembering which side came last and suggesting the other. A switch-sides button that keeps one timer running.
- Bottle
- Amount in millilitres or ounces, and whether it was expressed milk or formula.
- Sleep
- Start and wake with one tap each. A running timer on the home screen while the baby sleeps.
- Nappy
- Wet, dirty or both, as three large buttons. Some parents add a colour note in the early days if their midwife or health visitor has asked them to watch for it.
- Other
- Medicine given and when, weight from appointments, and a short free note.
A home screen for tired eyes
- Since last feed in large type at the top ("2h 10m ago, left side"), because that's the question asked most often.
- Big targets for the four common actions, reachable with a thumb, with an undo for the inevitable mis-tap.
- A dark night mode with dim, warm colours, so checking the time doesn't wake you fully. Ask for it to switch on a schedule.
- Today's totals: feeds, total sleep, wet and dirty nappies.
- A timeline of the last 24 hours as coloured blocks, which shows patterns better than a list.
Weekly charts of sleep and feeds are reassuring for some parents and a source of worry for others. Make them a separate screen you choose to open.
Describe it to Anticode
"A baby tracker app for a newborn, used one-handed at night. Home screen: time since last feed and which side, a sleep timer if asleep, and four big buttons: breastfeed, bottle, sleep, nappy. Breastfeed has left and right timers and remembers the last side. Bottle asks for an amount in ml. Nappy is wet, dirty or both. Today's totals and a 24-hour timeline of coloured blocks. Night mode with dim warm colours from 9pm to 7am. Undo the last entry. History by day, and export everything as a CSV file I can show at an appointment. Everything saved in this browser."
When it's published, install it on your phone's home screen from the browser so it opens like an app. Installed sites come with an offline fallback, but check how it behaves in flight mode on your own phone before the baby arrives, and test what happens when the screen locks mid-timer: a timer that records the start time, rather than counting in the background, survives that.
Private by design, and what that costs
Anticode's apps run with no network, so nothing you log is sent anywhere: there's no account, no server and no analytics on what you record. That's a real advantage for something as personal as a baby's health. It also has consequences you should know before the night feeds start:
- No sharing between parents. Each phone keeps its own log. If two of you do feeds, either share one device for logging or accept two separate records.
- No backup in the cloud. Losing the phone or clearing the browser's site data loses the log. Export a CSV every week or so.
- No alerts or reminders. The app can't send notifications when the app is closed.
- No medical guidance. It doesn't tell you whether a pattern is normal or worrying. Ask for no such advice in the app and, if something concerns you, contact your midwife, health visitor, GP or the relevant health service.
If sharing between carers matters more than privacy, a dedicated baby tracker with accounts is the better choice. For a simpler log of anything else, see the habit tracker or mood tracker pages, and for the announcement, a birth announcement website.
Questions people ask
Is this baby tracker app safe for my baby's data?
The log stays in the browser on your phone and isn't sent anywhere. The flip side is that you need to export it yourself as a backup.
Can my partner see the same log?
Not on their own phone. Logs aren't shared between devices, so use one phone for logging or keep two records.
Will it tell me if my baby is feeding enough?
No. It records what you enter. Ask your midwife, health visitor or doctor about feeding and growth.
Does it work at night without waking me up?
Ask for a dim night mode on a schedule and big buttons, and try it in a dark room before you need it.