Whether you’re a first-time parent or welcoming the latest newborn into your family, the early parenting period can be downright confounding. On top of the lack of sleep and the rigours of truly 24/7 attendance, from the get-go, each new baby has its distinct character, which takes time to get to know. This is where Parent Sense can help.
What is Parent Sense?
A proudly South African platform and app created by Meg Faure, childcare expert, and best-selling parenting author, Parent Sense offers innovative, science-based tech-enabled parenting. Recently shortlisted as a finalist for the UK App of the Year at the UK App Awards 2021, Parent Sense provides a holistic framework for baby care, helps you accurately track and analyse your baby’s sleep and feeding patterns, and is packed with know-how and sage advice to get you safely through this unique minefield disguised by sweet baby smells and cute gurgles.
Chereen, mom to 8-month-old twin boys and an 8-year-old boy avidly uses Parent Sense to manage the complexity that comes with juggling twin routines. In a chat with Meg on social media, Chereen shares that her twins have completely different temperaments and sensory personalities. Despite their differences, she has used the app to successfully get them into a predictable feeding and sleeping routine. Both boys are now sleeping through the night, and everyone is more rested and relaxed.
For many parents, caring for a new baby presents some lonely, exhausting, and confusing times. This can sap much of the joy out of the first precious months of life, impact on bonding and undermine a parent’s confidence. As they turn for advice, they then find an overwhelming mass of parenting content, much of it, of dubious quality, and it can be challenging and time-consuming to find trusted sources. As all parents know, the last thing you need when you’ve got a babe in arms is more demands on your scarce time. The Parent Sense app provides the support and trusted advice you need in your hands, accessible anytime and anywhere.
Track your new baby’s data
Just as many of us in this data-driven age use apps to track our own fitness and health, Parent Sense enables you to track your new baby’s data to make informed parenting decisions or to share with healthcare professionals. Parents also receive a weekly Baby Digest mailer that summarises their baby’s tracked sleep and feed trends, as well as any health or development milestones. A platform feature which parents will greatly appreciate is the innovative Parent Sense baby sensory personality quiz developed by Meg Faure and available on the app’s website. This fast tracks your understanding of the unique being you have brought into the world and empowers you to adapt your parenting style to meet your baby’s particular needs.
Faure says, “Babies simply don’t have the communication capabilities that we as adults rely on for understanding. Instead, they are experiencing the world through their senses. Identifying your baby’s sensory personality helps you to know and understand them better. Your baby’s sensory personality drives sleep and feeding behaviours and impacts on developmental pace and successful weaning. Identifying your baby’s sensory personality empowers you to adapt your parenting to meeting their unique needs. You can tailor the home environment and routines to meet your baby’s preferences which leads to a calmer baby and a more peaceful family life. Having access to the Parent Sense app, helps to take the guesswork out of the parenting choices and decisions that you are making, putting you in the position of well-informed control.”
Different sensory personalities
There are four sensory personalities:
- Sensitive
- Slow to warm up
- Settled
- Social Butterfly
These archetypes are based on how a baby or toddle reacts to sensory information in their environment. Some have low thresholds for sensory input and are easily overwhelmed by sights, sounds, smells and tastes; while others may get grumpy because there’s not enough that’s new and exciting happening around them. Knowing where your baby fits gives you an essential understanding of how best to care for them. This knowledge is real power for parents who can otherwise feel inadequate and even helpless at a time when they really need to be confident that they are capable.
Faure says, “Parent Sense empowers parents by bringing the expertise you need right into your pocket, available on your device whenever you need to draw on expert support. It’s what parents have always longed for, and it is really exciting to see new parents now downloading the app and doing their parent journeys differently, more effectively, and more joyfully.”
Download the Parent Sense app here
