Roxie Alsruhe | Photo Credits: Chris Rubacha
As many mothers can likely attest, breastfeeding comes with myriad unique challenges, some of which tend to go unmentioned until they happen. One such challenge is keeping track of breast milk storage guidelines while also navigating ever-changing expiration dates.
For the sake of making sure their babies maintain a healthy body weight and get the nutrients they need for development, moms generally want to make sure that no drop of breast milk is wasted. This is easier said than done, however, when considering how difficult it can be to constantly keep tabs on the state of their breast milk so it doesn’t spoil while in storage. Roxie Alsruhe, founder of the breast milk app tracker HoopDee, created a program to solve this issue for her own wife and son.
A Dedicated Bottlefeeding App
The way HoopDee tracks the state of a given bottle of breast milk is simple: a parent adds one of HoopDee’s color-coded Hoops to a bottle, then they tap the Hoop with their phone while the app is open to log the bottle, and then they receive reminders from the app that tell them when a registered bottle will expire.
The app also logs when the bottle was registered and what its contents are, giving users all the information they need to track the contents of each bottle at any given time. Having a complete log of information to pull from likewise allows the app to calculate a user’s entire supply based on how much their baby eats and how much milk the user has stored away. These calculations can even include frozen breast milk via HoopDee’s tested and food-safe freezer bags.
Labeling is further simplified by the Hoops themselves. While the HoopDee app provides comprehensive tracking info, the fact that the Hoops are color-coded goes a long way toward keeping tabs on a specific bottle.
The Hoops are also child-safe, food-safe, dishwasher-safe, waterproof, and stretchy enough that they fit any bottle but not so stretchy that they lose their form. Their flexibility also means that the Hoops don’t need to be taken off a bottle, nor do they require batteries or charging, since they use NFC (e.g., the “tap to pay” function).
Adherence to Strict Safety Standards
Photo credit: Amalia Clicks
When it comes to creating products that are designed to come into contact with food in some way, safety is paramount. Recognizing that parents would come to rely on the accuracy of their app and the reminders it issues, HoopDee’s designers performed extensive research on guidelines outlining important safety practices for people handling and storing breast milk.
They eventually settled on designing HoopDee’s functionality around the CDC’s food safety guidelines, in part because other countries share the CDC’s timeframes concerning breast milk storage. The HoopDee team also checked these guidelines against common practices held by hospitals and other medical facilities across the U.S., ultimately finding that they also use CDC guidelines.
This thorough verification gave HoopDee the assurances it needed to continue following its chosen guidelines, thereby giving parents confidence in knowing that the rules the app follows have been rigorously vetted for safety and quality several times over. Before the app’s release in March 2025, it was also tested by a variety of users, including parents, UX designers, and clinicians, further ensuring user friendliness and practicality.
Getting the Village Involved
HoopDee was created with mothers in mind, but the app also makes it possible for users to share it with family members. In doing so, spouses, grandparents, siblings, and others can use the app’s tracking info to help feed the baby; in essence, getting the rest of the village involved in raising the child. Distributing this task across several people gives mothers a much-needed chance to take time for themselves and relax before resuming their parental duties.
Taking care of a baby is no small feat, as keeping track of one’s breast milk supply is only one of many tasks parents have to tend to. Having the ability to simplify even one of these tasks can go a long way in reducing the stress involved in childcare, making apps like HoopDee valuable tools that make parenting a bit easier while keeping babies happy and healthy.
Written in partnership with Tom White
