A Bermondsey couple have built their own app to make it easy to wean your baby, despite not having any experience in programming.
Sarah Roesink, 40, and Spyros Zevelakis, 46, have three small children, one of whom was born just as lockdown began.
They decided to use the lockdown period to work on their app, called Phoebe, to help parents wean their children with healthy meals. They had previously shared recipes online, after their first child was born four years ago, and have built up a solid following.
“Having a baby is a celebration to life but it comes with an overwhelming sense of responsibility and other challenges,” said mum Sarah.
“By the time your first baby is six months old you have hardly had any sleep and you must begin introducing solids.
“You want to offer your baby the best possible start in life but don’t know where to start. And your baby might have allergies or intolerances on the top of everything.”
Many new mums and dads turn to social media to find recipes for weaning – but the 40-year-old says she found it too time consuming.
“There were too many distractions and too many show offs that can make a mother, covered in baby-sick, feel really poorly,” she said.
The couple’s app has videos of recipes to slowly wean your baby, with a focus on healthy ingredients. Recipes can be filtered by age and by common allergens.
It was built by Spyros, who works in design for tech firms. He said he hoped the new app would help dads pitch in with weaning their kids.
“In my mind, I want to create something that dads can use to support their partners,” he said.
“Weaning a baby is widely considered a mother’s business right now. I think this needs to change.”
More details on the app and how to download it can be found at https://www.phoebeapp.com