Best Parenting iPhone Apps

You know that iPhone all the kids are wild about? It can actually help you with your parenting. No, it won't raise the kids for you - not yet, anyway. But there are a number of apps that can save you time and maybe even help you save what's left of your sanity. Here are ten we like. - Brett Singer

Note: These apps are available for both the iPod and the 2nd Generation iPod Touch, which is basically an iPhone without the phone. All of these apps were tested on a 2nd Generation iPod Touch with the 3.0 operating system; differences between the two devices are indicated when necessary.

1. Emmbook for Baby - $4.99

Who has time for scrapbooking? Emmbook allows parents to take a picture, write a caption and immediately add it to a child's Baby Book. (Much easier than the old paper and glue method.) You can also use Emmbook to keep track of thank you notes - take a photo of the gift and make note when the thank you note is written.

2. AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner - free

Cookbooks are great but they're really heavy and hard to hold in one hand while wrestling with a hungry toddler. This free app makes it easy to figure out the answer to the age-old question "What's for dinner?" Select from three categories to find your perfect food match - Dish Type, Ingredients and Ready In (handy for the aforementioned hungry toddler, who has just announced that she isstarving.) The "spinner" interface makes one-handed use a breeze. If you want to leave your stomach in the app's capable hands, press Spin Categories for a random selection. Bonus: When you don't feel like cooking, fire up the free Pizza Finder app and order a couple of pies.

3. Evernote - free, requires free account at Evernote.com

Parenting is about making lists, and parents know that if you think of something and don't write it down, it's gone forever. Evernote is a free site that lets you take notes and categorize them however you want. The iPhone app syncs with the website, which in turn syncs with the desktop app so you can view, edit and print your notes on any Mac or PC. You'll never miss a PTA meeting again.

4. WebMD Mobile - free

Hypochondriacs of the world, rejoice! Now you can look up your symptoms on the go! Actually, this useful app from WebMD doesn't let you enter specific names of diseases, which is probably a good thing. Instead, tap specific body parts, select from a group of symptoms and check out a list of what might be causing your child's discomfort. This app may go a long way toward calming the troubled parental mind. Yes, it could be a brain tumor - but it also might be gas.

5. SitOrSquat - free

SitOrSquat has a basic premise: finding you a toilet when you need one - anywhere in the world. The name of the app refers to the throne room's rating: 2.5 stars or higher equals "Sit"; anything lower is "Squat." Entries are user-created so the amount of information on each potty varies. Some have comments ("Really tiny but pretty clean") or even photos - a useful (if a bit voyeuristic) feature. The interface is nicely-designed, making it easy to locate a lavatory when your little one really, really has to go.

For more apps, click here.