It’s time for another instalment of our From Our Families series…, where we meet some of the parents using Onoco and see how they’re using the app on their individual journeys!
Today, we're speaking to Fiona from Glasgow, who’s been using Onoco since her son Leo was born.
Hi Fiona! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your Onoco experience with us today. It would be great to start by getting to know you and your family a little better…
Of course. My name is Fiona, I’m based in Glasgow, and have been using Onoco since my son Leo was born last year. Having read about it online, both my husband and I liked the sound of the app so it was an easy download for us.
That’s fantastic to hear. Were there any particular challenges you were looking to solve when you originally downloaded it?
To keep a record of feeds, nappies etc and to be able to share this record between family members - specifically myself and my husband, but it has been brilliant to be able to extend that to include other caregivers.
And have you found you’ve continued to use it in this way since Leo was born?
Yes, we use it to keep track of bottle feeds, nappies, medicine, weight, and after the first few months started using it to track sleep and naps. We have also added our family members, so have me, my husband, my sister, best friend, two aunties and my mum on our profile!
Have you uncovered any interesting insights while using the app?
It's been really helpful, as in the first few weeks everything was a blur and it was hard keeping track of feeds and nappies, especially when the midwife or HV was asking about them. Our wee one was also taking very tiny amounts when he was first born, so the app was great to help us keep track of his feeds, and also to see the trend as his intake went up. We have found tracking the sleep really beneficial as we can then predict when he will start to get cranky and need a nap and get him down before there is too much of an issue and he is mega overtired.
It’s all been fantastic really! Just good being able to have a record of everything in one app that is easy to use. It’s so handy for other people to be able to use it too, when he is being looked after by other family members. It is also a great tool to help us know how much formula milk and nappies to buy each week after looking at the daily and weekly totals.
I also think it is great, for example; if I have looked after Leo in the morning and his dad is looking after him in the afternoon, he can just jump onto the app to check out timings of everything rather than us having to do a sort of handover of everything. This is great if you are rushing to go somewhere as it means nothing is missed.
Is this shared care typical of your family set-up?
It’s usually just Leo and I during the week as his dad works away, but on weekends dad is home so we usually try and do something fun together as a family!
Otherwise on a general day, we're up at about 8, with bottles every 3 hours. We go to lots of baby sensory classes, bookbug and also some mum and baby fitness classes. Both Leo and I are very sociable so love being out with friends and family for brunch and coffees (milk for Leo!!!). We also like being out and about in the fresh air so make sure we get a walk most days. Bedtime for Leo is between 8 and 9, with one bottle through the night.
We also have help from granny and aunties with Leo at different times, to give me a break, and it's been really beneficial to have the shared use of the app.
Is there anything you’d change about Onoco?
Maybe just being able to add more users!
And would you recommend it to other parents?
I would thoroughly recommend the app to anyone, and already have recommended it to friends and family who have recently had babies. I love how easy it is to use. It's great that multiple caregivers can get access to it and that you can change user settings for editing records etc. It’s also so handy knowing averages for bottles nappies each day and week,
and when you start to monitor sleep it's great to be able to predict naps.
It really is a fantastic app and we will definitely continue to use it with my little one, and would definitely use it again if we go on to have any more children in the future.
That’s so lovely to hear. To finish us off - how would you describe your family life with one movie or song?
Pharrell Williams - Happy
Thanks so much to Fiona for sharing her experience!
If you’re an Onoco user and would like to share your story with us, please get in touch - and if you're not, now's the time to download! Simply visit the App Store or Google Play.