A guide to the best breastfeeding app to make your feeding journey easier

This top-rated breastfeeding and general parenting app makes life easier for tired parents by tracking your baby’s feeds, nappy changes, and sleep. You can even log their milestones, 'firsts' and log medical history like medications. The growth tracker lets you log their growth measurements and compare them easily against WHO averages, and chart their progress. Mums appreciated this ability to log information, saying "it was hugely beneficial to be able to give solid information to health professionals about feeding and nappies when they asked."

The breastfeeding section is particularly comprehensive, allowing you to time the feed and note which breast was used. It can also be used for formula and solids, letting you enter details about the formula brand, any reactions and notes. You can even add photos so all your information is in one place.

Both parents can have the app and log data which will then sync (though some reviewers noted this can take a while), and many parent reviewers mentioned this as a plus point, with one saying "myself and my wife have been using this app and we think it is absolutely brilliant. The fact we can both log in on our own devices and see the same profile makes life so easy."

Mother&Baby's Digital Writer, Rebecca, used this app with both her children and found it invaluable throughout her feeding journey, especially as it reminds you which breast to feed on (harder than it may seem to remember in those early, sleep-deprived weeks!). The easy to use one button start/stop timer is particularly helpful during night feeds.

It's recommended by NHS midwives across the UK as it's simple to log data and makes easy to read charts so that you can see your baby's day at a glance. You can use it for all feeding styles, tracking breastfeeds, bottle feeds, breast pumps and solid food, but it also allows parents to log nappy changes, weight and length, and add notes and reminders.

Like the Baby Tracker - Newborn Log, it can be used on different phones and syncs the data across so parents can see schedules at a glance which was highly rated by users. "Me and my partner are currently splitting the night in half with me staying with him until the early hours and Mum taking over at 6/7am. We can efficiently use this app as a schedule so we don't have to explain the entire evening to each other" said one dad. You can also let non mobile users log into your account at babyfeedtimer.net so it's great for grandparents who may not have smartphones.

Parents also rated it for its longevity, with one mum noting that "I've been using this app for nearly 3 years now and I love it. I really like how you can pick the things you want to track, so initially it was feeds, growth and nappies, but now they're older it's sleep, growth and medication. I even use it for tracking medication for my older kid too."

This breastfeeding app has a free version as well as number of monthly memberships which offer upgraded features, including greater analysis and tailored guidance. With the free version, you can track sleep, breastfeeding, bottles, nappies, pumping, solids, growth, medication and temperature, getting summary reports and different views of the activity.

You can see sleep patterns, set reminder notifications and sync the data across difference devices to let everyone stay on top of schedules, which parents rated. "As a first time parent this app has been a life saver. Able to keep track of nappies, feeds and sleeps which is super handy to answer midwifes and medical staff as appropriate on my babies health and patterns. Also is very encouraging to see her rhythm. Also being able to log in from two different phones has meant my husband has been able to help support with tracking the information too!"

While the subscription options can get pricey, reviewers were still very impressed with the functionality of the free version, with one saying "Fantastic app to track all of our babies needs! We haven't subscribed to the sleep plan but the app is super functional and helpful even without it, we don't feel like we're missing out on anything."

The premium versions offer a SweetSpotⓇ feature that predicts your child’s next nap time, offers expert sleep guidance based on your own child's routines and development, and creates customised sleep plans.

This more basic app is great if you're an Android user and just want an app to track breastfeeding. While there are more tools available with the paid version, the basic version focuses on breastfeeding and without any ads which many reviewers liked, saying "Quite a good app without too many frills (which is a good thing)" and "I love that this app has no ads!"

You can record when baby fed and on which side, joining subsequent feeds into one meal if needed. Graphs allow you to analyse breastfeeding times and meals and see when your baby is typically hungry so you can prompt hunger.

Parent reviewers liked the widgets which let you quickly start the timer without opening the app - this is something that other apps lack. "Great for quick recording of feeds. The widget means I don't have to open the app or even unlock my phone so it's super quick and easy. The pause button is useful so I can show both sides offered in the same feed" said one breastfeeding mum.

However, there's no option to sync data across different devices which many of the best apps to track breastfeeding offer.

If you need advice on breastfeeding, this app could help. Not only does it allow you to track your feeds, but it can then offer answers to your breastfeeding questions, based on the information you provide. In addition, you can log feeds, height and weight growth and nappies.

Some reviewers felt it didn't offer enough without the upgraded subscriptions so if you're looking for a free breastfeeding app, there are better options on the market. Some reviewers also mentioned it can be difficult to download a version in English.

However, many reviewers felt the information was valuable, with one describing it as "Super useful and user-friendly! Perfect to keep track of the feedings and you can find all the info you need about nursing! A must have if you are breastfeeding!"

Baby Daybook allows you to monitor feeds, sleep and nappies, spotting patterns that might make predicting nap and feed times easier thanks to the timelines, graphs and reports. Whether you're pumping, bottle feeding or breastfeeding, you can use the easy logs to track baby's intake. When they start weaning, the app also allows you to record your baby's first foods, their reactions, and preferences, making the transition to solid foods a little easier.

Custom activities also allows you to track things not found on some other apps, including bath times, tummy time, playtime etc. The more advanced features allow you to add photos and create albums to chart baby's milestones. You can also share logs and updates with the other parent and caregiver so everyone's up-to-date, set reminders, and track growth.

Mums found this ability to track many things made their life easier, saying "I only use the fairly basic functions of the app for keeping track of feeds and nappy changes but find it really useful as it's very easy to forget in the whirlwind of newborn parenting... Updated 3 years on: still using this app now with baby #2 and wouldn't be without it. It's great being able to see trends with feeds and naps in particular, sometimes it feels like she's not feeding or sleeping much and I'm often wrong!!"

Unlike Breastfeeding Baby Tracker, the free version comes with ads which some reviewers found distracting, "Only 4 stars as free edition comes with ads which are annoying when trying to add data, especially during early hours of the morning in those first fuzzy weeks" said one mum.

Nara App was created by a mum and is much more than just an app for tracking breastfeeding. It can also help keep track of your pregnancy and postpartum journey. During pregnancy you can use it to track things like morning sickness, aches and pains and moods.

In the postpartum period you can use it to stay on top of how much you're drinking, eating and sleeping so you can then share accurate notes with your doctor or health visitor. For baby, Nara can track breastfeeding, bottle feeding, pumping, nappies, sleep and growth, allowing you to see trends and patterns that make it easier to predict baby's needs.

It's also free and has no ads so if you're looking for an app that can do everything, without pop-ups and for free, Nara could be the one for you. Parents were impressed with how many features the app offers for free, with one saying "I can't believe this app is free with all these useful features."

Some reviewers did note that the app may slow down after a few months of use with one saying "When the app has stored some months worth of data, the buttons in the app become extremely slow. Delays from 1-5 seconds are the norm, so entering new data becomes an exercise in patience. This is a pity as otherwise the app would really be perfect for our needs." Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of parent reviewers rated it 5*.

One of the best breastfeeding apps for twins, Le Baby allows you to set up multiple babies and switch between them with one swipe so you can monitor the feeds and progress of more than one baby. You can use different colours for each so you can see at a glance which baby you're currently viewing.

As with other apps, the growth charts include WHO percentile references so you can compare your baby's growth, and allows you to track breastfeeding, nappy changes and also vitamins which is something not found on other apps. The data can be synced between iOS devices so you can share the logging of information with your partner or other caregivers.

Parents particularly like the simplicity of the design, saying "every detail for (sleep deprived) parents has been considered and only the most important information is shown at any time. The superb one-handed use is just the icing on the cake."

Unfortunately for Android users, Le Baby is currently only available on the App Store.