Baby Apps
Here is another in an increasingly long list of reactions that prove I'm getting old. I read in THE ATLANTIC just this morning about the new wave of apps designed to keep track and chart EVERYTHING about your new infant's behavior. On Baby Connect, for example, you can log the exact amount of your child's intake, describe, weigh and measure your child's output (a rather disgusting thought), record every sleep session, describe the differences in your child's crying and fussiness, etc. You can even ask the app to tell you, based on the data you have entered, how your kid stacks up. What percentile is he? How does his poop "measure" up to other two month olds'? And the biggest question of all: Is my baby normal? I find the whole thing horrifying. It's right up there with play dates and toddler visits to the beauty parlor.
There's one line that really concerns me. The article says the best thing about the new baby apps is that they offer "tech-savvy parents a substitute for hand written diaper-change and feeding logs." DIAPER-CHANGE AND FEEDING LOGS! Were we supposed to do that? No one told me. No mention of it by Dr. Spock. Penelope Leach ignores the whole thing. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that we have no diaper-change log for Franny. It makes me a little angry that our pediatricians never mentioned the possibility. I think we've missed out on a valuable source of nostalgia. Sure, we have plenty of photographs that we can go through and remember. But when it comes to diaper-change logs, nada!
And what if the app goes down, or someone swipes your iPhone? At the Y if the FitLinxx computer that keeps track of everyone's progress--the total weight lifted, total miles run--is off line, many members wander around aimlessly, not knowing what to do. You know, they really wanted to lift weights and run today, but the computer broke. By the same token, do your baby's full diapers count if they can't be recorded? That's why if I was a new parent I wouldn't want one of those apps. Just too much to worry about.
