Once a baby comes into your life, you have little time for anything other than burp cloths, diaper changes, and lots of laundry. Friends — what’s that? Of course, when you start emerging from your zombie state of newborn life, you crave some real convos with people who can talk in complete sentences. You want to chat with other new moms who totally get how maddening it can be when people ask you annoying mom questions like, “Is he or she sleeping through the night?” Or commiserate with another mama who understands how you miss those teeny-tiny hands of your growing baby. As you navigate your way through motherhood, it can be super helpful to have a tribe of mom friends by your side who are going through the same issues as you.
Enter Peanut (free on iOS), the app that works like Tinder to bring together like-minded mamas for IRL connections. The app was created by Michelle Kennedy, a former lawyer who worked on dating apps like Badoo and Bumble. Kennedy discovered that she really wanted to meet other moms when she became a mom for the first time. “I was working in the dating industry, where it was my day-to-day to produce products people could use to find a match, or a date, and I was struggling to find a woman who was like minded to go for a coffee with,” she says. Her close friends weren’t at the stage in their lives to have children, so Kennedy dreamed up Peanut as a fun, interactive way for moms to meet and arrange play dates, meet-ups, or coffee dates.
To get started, a mom creates a Peanut profile through their Facebook account, answers some initial questions about her life and personality, and the app’s algorithm shows the user other mamas who have similar interests within a certain radius. There’s also a toggle feature launching soon that lets you discover “mamas near me now” or “mamas near my home” so you can connect wherever is convenient for you. Moms can chat with each other before meeting, or “wave” at each other. When a “wave” match happens, a “match” screen appears and highlights what both users have in common. Once connected, users can decide whether to meet in person or continue chatting. Another mama-friendly feature of the app is a polling and scheduling tool that moms can use to find a time to meet without a lot of back and forth. “Whether you’re a new mother and feel like you need the support of other mamas, or you have older toddlers and children but feel your social world has shrunk in size since the arrival of motherhood, we want to provide a platform for a community of like-minded women who want to connect,” says Kennedy.
Currently, the app is available in the UK, US, and Canada, with a majority of users in London and New York City. But Kennedy is quick to point out that Peanut is spreading by word of mouth, and it’s seeing a growing number of users across the US.
Kennedy isn’t just the creator; she’s also a user. “I went to meet a mama for a drink last night that I met through the app. The response so far has been incredible. I’ve received personal messages via the app, and through my other social media channels, to thank me for creating something, which recognizes the issues and challenges that women can face, and helps women to connect,” Kennedy says.
If you’re seeking some friends who are fellow moms, it might be worth signing up for the app and checking out some profiles. Create your own mama squad right in your own ‘hood.
Will you be trying out this app? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(Featured photo via Getty)
