App review: Kick To Pick

I am 5 months pregnant, and my new baby has named itself Lucien if it is a boy and Adeline if it is a girl. The little in-utero darling did so with the Kick To Pick iPhone app.

The app lets you create a shortlist of your favorite baby names. Then your baby chimes in in by kicking for its choice. Of course, the baby cannot read what is happening on your phone's screen. This is not science. It's a silly but fun way to browse through names and giving your little one a "say" in the matter.

If you don't have any favorite names going in, you can always scroll through all the boys or girls names, but that will take a while. The list of names is exhaustive, with variations on spelling and cultural interpretations. You can even choose the name Adolph if you want, but your baby may kick you for a different reason if you do.

Once you have a list of names that you like, you lay down comfortably, rest the phone on your bulging belly, and wait for the little one to kick you when the right name appears on the screen. You should lay still, but the app does not mistake regular breathing for kicks.

I don't know the gender of my baby—and don't plan to find out beforehand—so I scrolled through a short list of some favorites as well as all of the boy and girl names. My little one kicked for Lucien and Adeline; it kicked for other names too, but the phone did not register those kicks. At 21 weeks along, my baby may need to develop some muscles before it can really ring in.

If putting radiation too close to your pregnant belly is a concern, this app addresses that. It instructs you to put the phone on Airplane Mode before you start, which is wise while the science of radiation effects of childhood development is still being figured out.

This app is a great way to discover names you had not previously considered, too, but I do wish there were a Search function in the name list. Since there isn't, you have to search names by scrolling through hundreds of others in alphabetical order, which can be tedious.

Is this app worth 99 cents? If you and your significant other are in an intense dead heat over a few possibilities, you could really let the baby choose with this app. It would make for a fun story to tell him/her later in life.

The app could also be a fun baby-shower pastime, although I hardly think it's fair to hold the baby solely responsible for his or her own name this early in life. I wouldn't rely on it completely.

"You kicked for that name, Hilmer!" might not be the kindest parenting tactic. It's none of my business, but I'm just saying.

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—Natali Morris