From birth to the first day of school – the Bebbo mobile app answers parenting questions

As of today, the Bebbo mobile application is available on Google and Apple stores. Bebbo provides the support parents need in the first years of a child's life to help monitor their child’s growth and development, keep track of their child's health, nutrition, timely paediatric visits and vaccinations, but will also support parents to take care of themselves. Bebbo is an improved version of the HaloBeba - Your companion in parenting mobile app, which was developed by UNICEF Serbia and the Belgrade Institute of Public Health, together with the HaloBeba telephone counselling service, and in cooperation with the Nordeus Foundation. This new Bebbo app will be available in 11 countries and territories, in 19 language.

The Bebbo app provides information on breastfeeding, nutrition, vaccinations, play, learning and health, as well as evidence-based advice about children's health.

“The new and improved HaloBeba mobile app, now called Bebbo, is our gift to parents – the most important people in the first years of a child’s life! This innovative tool makes practical guidance and advice easily available and is a step towards a more relaxed and stimulating parenting experience. We hope that this enhanced Bebbo app will become an ally in the upbringing of every child and will support parents if they have any doubts. We are especially proud that UNICEF’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia has recognized the innovative nature of the original HaloBeba app, upon which Bebbo is built, and has now made this upgraded app available beyond the borders of Serbia,” said Deyana Kostadinova, UNICEF Serbia Representative.

This comprehensive guide to parenting and growing up is available to both Android and iOS users, and can be used both online and offline when content is pre-downloaded so it can be available when there is no internet access.

“We are very pleased that the Belgrade Institute for Public Health’s counselling service - HaloBeba - will expand and augment the support it provides to parents and everyone who takes care of children. The counselling service provides almost 150,000 tips by phone every year, primarily on how to take care of children when they are ill or with colic, but also on hygiene and daily routines, advice on breastfeeding and nutrition, the importance of vaccination, on stimulating development, the importance of parent-child relationships and other topics. Professional and timely advice over the phone, provided by exceptionally kind nurses, is the right medicine for many parents, as it calms and encourages them. By developing the Bebbo app, the Institute and UNICEF are continuing their long-term successful cooperation for the benefit of children,” said Prof. Dr Dusanka Matijevic, Director of the Belgrade Institute for Public Health.

The Nordeus Foundation, a partner in this endeavour, as well as experts from the Nordeus company, were instrumental in developing the application.

“Knowledge and technology know no boundaries, but their power grows through sharing. This is supported by the fact that this kind of support system is crossing the borders of Serbia and is expanding its positive impact. We are proud that from day one we had the opportunity to contribute our knowledge and experience. This kind of widely available and free support means a lot to both parents and children and is especially invaluable now that both health and education systems are facing the challenges of this pandemic,” said Branko Milutinovic, CEO of Nordeus and one of the founders of the Nordeus Foundation.

The content of the application can be personalized according to the age of the child, and all data is stored on the user's personal device. It can be used by both parents simultaneously for one or more children.

With the Bebbo app, parents can regularly monitor their child's growth and get recommendations on how to encourage progress in accordance with their child's age. This interactive guide through parenting allows parents to record preventive paediatric and other medical examinations, monitor the vaccination calendar, keep a record of received vaccines, and receive a reminder about upcoming vaccinations. Moreover, when parents run out of ideas for daily activities with their children, they can consult the Bebbo app and get recommendations that will encourage learning and development, all thanks to a library of tips with over 700 articles and videos.

The Bebbo app is part of the Playful Parenting Program implemented by UNICEF and the Government of the Republic of Serbia, with the support of the LEGO Foundation.

Bebbo promotional video