babybuddy

Welcome back to the Selfhosters blog! Today, we’re diving into a very unique Docker image that will be a game-changer for parents—babybuddy.

babybuddy is a web-based baby tracker designed for parents and caregivers to effortlessly monitor various aspects of their child’s daily routines. With functionalities that allow tracking feeding times, diaper changes, sleep patterns, and more, it’s like having a digital assistant specifically for baby management. Even better? You can self-host it using Docker!

Why Self-Host babybuddy?

Self-hosting babybuddy ensures your child’s data stays completely under your control. You don’t need to rely on third-party services to store sensitive health and behavior information. By running it in Docker, you get the added benefits of portability, easy updates, and isolated dependencies.

Setting Up babybuddy with Docker

LinuxServer.io has provided a pre-built, well-maintained Docker image for babybuddy. You can find the documentation and example docker-compose file on their official page: https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-babybuddy.

Here’s a straightforward example of how to get babybuddy running with docker-compose:

version: "2.1"
services:
  babybuddy:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/babybuddy:latest
    container_name: babybuddy
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
    ports:
      - 8000:8000
    restart: unless-stopped

Info:

• PUID and PGID should match your user’s UID and GID respectively.
• TZ should be set to your local timezone
• The config volume will hold all your persistent data

How to Use babybuddy

Once it’s running, navigate to http://localhost:8000 in your browser. You’ll be greeted by a user-friendly interface that allows you to:

• Track feedings (start time, end time, duration, method)
• Log diaper changes
• Monitor sleep schedules
• Keep tabs on tummy time and more
• Generate helpful charts and summaries over time

You can even set up multiple caregivers with personal logins, so everyone is on the same page regarding your baby’s needs and activities.

For bonus security and accessibility, consider running babybuddy behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS using Traefik or Nginx, and connect securely even when on the go.

Conclusion

babybuddy is a robust platform for modern parenting, and self-hosting it is both secure and straightforward thanks to Docker. Whether you’re trying to stay on top of an infant’s feeding schedule or simply want better insight into daily routines, this tool has your back.

Happy selfhosting, and I will see you in the next post!