Technology

Parents go to great lengths to ensure their children are safe. They childproof their houses ad nauseam; they take CPR classes before their babies are born; and they'll even spend hours on end researching a crib before purchasing it to make sure it's the best -- safest -- choice for their little one. But perhaps parents need to go a step further. As crazy as it sounds, perhaps parents all oughta own iPhones. After all, a 3-year-old girl's life was just saved because of something her mother did with her iPhone.

Hollie Weeks, 3, wasn't feeling well. She had a headache, was vomiting, and had a stiff neck. Her mom, Claire, started getting worried that it might be something serious, so she checked an app she had downloaded onto her iPhone called Meningitis Signs and Symptoms. Lo and behold, she discovered that her daughter did, in fact, have meningitis. Immediately after going through the checklist, Claire called an ambulance. Doctors now say that if Mom had waited an hour longer, her daughter wouldn't have made it. Wow.

iPhones can be both a blessing and a curse when you have kids. On one hand, they can be a bit distracting with their constant buzzing, chiming, and dinging, signifying every text, email, and Facebook update; but on the other, apparently, they can save your kid's life. Sure, Claire could have gone over to her computer, looked up meningitis symptoms, and found the same info. But an app is so much quicker and more effective -- and she didn't have to leave her sick daughter's side.

So, yeah. I'll be downloading this app, along with a whole mess of other "symptom checker" ones. How about you?

What apps have been most helpful to you as a mom?

Image via Meningitis Trust