What Baby Wants
Computer software program helps parents and caregivers make sense of
infants' needs
Joanne Good, Calgary Herald, April 17, 2006

To better understand the needs of her premature baby, Kim Appelt turned to
a parenting guide.

Through the author's tips, the Kelowna, B.C. mom learned the best thing a
parent can do is stop, listen and write notes on an infant's fussing,
feeding and bodily functions to try to solve problems such as crying jags
and colic.

Armed with endless scraps of notes, the former pharmaceutical rep and
health education grad could see a pattern building, although she hated
note-taking.

"Still, with a six-weeks premature baby, the notes were extremely
important, because these babies don't latch on like other babies (when
breastfeeding) and they might drink and fall right asleep because it's
exhausting for them," says Appelt.

As Tracy Hogg, author of Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm,
Connect and Communicate with Your Baby (Ballantine Books, revised 2005) --
promised, it didn't take long for the new mom to determine the baby's
natural rhythm and tag the problems of her daughter's fretfulness.

"Aspen was crying right after she ate, and I realized by tracking it that
there was a problem and she actually had reflux (baby heartburn)."
While Appelt loved Hogg's approach to baby care, she wanted a tidier
record-keeping technique.

With input from her husband Greg, a pediatrician and allergist, Appelt
created a software program that looks like a Daytimer and logs a baby's
"inputs and outputs," as she sweetly puts it.

With as little as two weeks' data and the click of a button, a parent can
instantly crunch numbers into a tell-all bar graph to reveal an infant's
innate schedule, including warning clues of oncoming colds or teething.
For a generation of parents weaned on computers and accustomed to
spontaneous feedback, The Baby Nanny program is a natural fit, says
Appelt, 30.

"It allows parents to know their baby faster and better, improve their
baby's sleep, assist mothers with breastfeeding challenges and help
parents with premature, colicky or twin newborns."

Appelt's website — thebaby nanny.com — adds to the data feedback with
recommended sleep guidelines for infants and tips on crying and colic.

"Put together, it really helps parents, nannies and caregivers in day
cares move toward better and more understanding routines," says Appelt.
Finding the best sleeping and eating schedule for a baby boosts a mother's
feelings of success, reduces stress for parent and child and can be the
start of an improved relationship, she says.

"If you've ever heard a baby cry for long, you already know it's not easy
for we adults to take. And we want to fix it immediately."

Although Appelt admits moms have instinctively done this kind of tracking
for eons, she notes modern mommies prefer a more systematic approach.

"This is just another tool to be efficient," she says.

Even now that young Aspen is a growing, chatting toddler, Appelt has
returned to her own product to track her daughter's fussy times as well as
sleeping and waking habits.

"You can track weight, height and allergies. Parents end up with good
information for when they go to the physician."

True to the realities of parenting, the program also reveals a child's
pattern over time, because just when you think you've got a routine
figured out, things will change.

"A child's schedule evolves as they grow, but now you've got this software
on your hard drive, it sits there right on your desktop and it allows you
to see things coming with just a few seconds of inputting data," says
Appelt, who distributes the software to Canadian and U.S. baby stores.
Since The Baby Nanny disk was released in October 2005, Appelt has been
interviewed on U.S. morning shows and CNN radio because the appeal of this
solution rings true with any parent of a newborn, whether first, second,
fourth or adopted child, she says.

"When parents don't know their baby's routine, they don't know their
wants, and the baby cries.

"But when parents can figure out a baby's patterns, they give a baby what
a baby wants most — and that's structure."

Decoding Baby's Needs

• Test the Canadian-born baby tracking system at thebabynanny.com
• The Baby Nanny is available across Canada and the U.S. In Calgary, check e-Children, Baby & Me and Kacz' Kids.
• For more information, visit thebabynanny.com or call 1-877-826-4110.

© The Calgary Herald 2006

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