Baby Buddy
Baby Buddy exists in two distinct forms: an open‑source, self‑hosted Django web app for logging baby activities (sleep, feeds, diapers, tummy time) with multi‑child support and a JSON API while keeping data under your control, or a separate UK charity–backed Baby Buddy app that delivers evidence‑based daily parenting guidance.
It targets tech‑savvy parents who prioritise privacy and control, or parents who want free, vetted, UK‑local guidance. It reduces routine guesswork, enables accurate shared logs for partners, babysitters and clinicians, and provides API‑driven exports for simple analytics or custom dashboards. Operators should expect moderate deployment effort.
Use Cases
- Day‑to‑day logging of feeds, naps, and diapers.
- Share a single timeline with co‑parents and babysitters.
- Export activity data to clinicians before appointments.
- Use the API to build small dashboards or alerts.
- Prototype a privacy‑first data collection app with Django.
- Lightweight data source for personal analytics and experiments.
Strengths
- Detailed activity logging: sleep, feeds, diapers, tummy time.
- Dashboard and daily stats for fast situational awareness.
- Multi‑child and multi‑user support for shared family records.
- JSON API (Django REST) for exports, automation, integrations.
- Multi‑language UI increases accessibility for non‑English users.
- Open source code enables extensibility and self‑hosting control.
- Evidence‑based content and videos in the Best Beginnings app.
- Suitable for self‑hosting (Coolify deployment assumed trivial).
Limitations
- Self‑hosting responsibility: uptime, security patches, backups required.
- No managed cloud sync or vendor SLA in open‑source project.
- Primary web app; mobile clients depend on community projects.
- Community support only via GitHub; no formal commercial contract.
- Data residency details for the Best Beginnings app (Unverified).
Final Thoughts
Try now if you can run a Docker/Django service and need local data control and API access. Wait if you need managed SaaS, automatic cross‑device sync, or an SLA.
A managed cloud suits teams needing guaranteed uptime, automatic cross‑device sync, and no ops burden; it provides SLAs, managed updates, and hosted mobile sync.