Wonder Weeks App

No More Wondering When It Gets Better

• What: Wonder Weeks App
• When: Birth to 20 months
• Why: Personalized calendar for fussy periods
• Where: Amazon or App store

If you have a new baby and want to know when and why they get fussy at particular times, take a look at the Wonder Weeks app. The app condenses the Wonder Weeks book into small, quickly readable tidbits timed for each of the ten leaps in mental development that happen during the first twenty months of life. Instead of reading the entire book and trying to remember everything and when it applies, the app allows you to enter your due date and does all the work for you.

It shows you a calendar with predictions for when your sweet mellow baby will get fussier. Better yet, it explains what’s going on to cause the disruption. The easy to glance at calendar gives you an idea of what to expect, when, and for how long, so you know to grab more sleep while you still can. Once you land in the middle of a leap, you have an idea how long it might last before things calm down a bit, and what to look for in your baby’s new skills afterwards. It also offers general tips, tricks, and advice to help your baby practice new skills. New skills often results in increased crying combined with less sleep and eating, which as any new parent knows, creates a recipe for disaster. Just knowing about the approaching storm and that you will get a break can help.

I only discovered this app with my third child, but found it uncannily accurate at predicting his fussier spells. It doesn’t replace the book, which I would definitely recommend for any parent, but I love the calendar feature with its storm clouds and darkened days. You can set it to show the exact dates, but if you’re like me, weeks of age works better. I might not have any idea what month it is, but I can tell you my baby’s age in weeks without needing to think.