BabySparks - Development App

I’ve just created my children’s profiles and clicked on a milestone to view it, and I was prompted to subscribe. I then went to view a potty training video and it again prompted me to purchase the lesson or subscribe. I am a pediatric nurse, thus my purpose in downloading this app is to find an easy tool that I can refer my patient’s parents use. I was attracted to this app because of it’s high 5-star rating and because of the activities and lessons that they suggest parents to do with their children. It seemed to serve as an easy guide for parents who want to help their children but don’t know how. There are many resources out there that cost little to nothing — if you have the means, why not purchase? But if you don’t, like many of us, then it’s not feasible to spend money on something like this. I’ll refer my parents to CDC Milestone Tracker, which is by the way a free service. I do appreciate the thought behind this app and I know the developers mean well; I’ve seen them reply to most, if not all, reviews. Kudos to people who keep our children in the best interests because it seems to be a shortage in pediatric services nationwide. Best wishes to all.

Updating my review: I’m not sure if they went in and fixed the issue but I went back into the app and saw it has my sons adjusted age. So I give it a 5 star because it is a great app to help with your child’s development! Our son is 10 weeks old but he was born 34 weeks (5 weeks early). For preemies, you take how many weeks they have been born subtract that by how many weeks they were early and that’s their developmental/gestational age. So he is at 5 weeks right now. I used the app a few times and it only gave me videos for 2 months old and he wasn’t responding at all because he’s too young. He’s basically acting like he is only 1 month old. He isn’t cooing, following objects or responding to sounds. The app is great if the baby is born at full term. It does not change it up for preemies, even though it has the option to check the premature box and add his original delivery date.

BabySparks is great! No new parent needs to pressure themselves too much because most of these activities simulate normal day-to-day interaction and play that most great parents do with their baby. However, I’m one of those people who will get stuck in a rut and end up doing the same 5 activities with baby over and over every day. This app provides a wide range of activities to vary your playtime. I love that the activity descriptions are clear, the link to the various developmental milestones is described right there in the activity and every activity has an accompanying video. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because of a very slight misstep in the UI. It is mildly annoying that when you look at an activity it stops you on your way back to the main list to ask how the activity was. I like to look at the daily activities first thing in the morning and get an idea of what we’re going to try that day and again would be nice not to have to click extra times to get back to the main list. It’s an unnecessary step. It’s a small thing but over time feels cumbersome. Slightly more thought on how much button pushing is required in this app would make it a 5-star treat for every new parent!