Beside gives parents of kids with ADHD one calm step, right when it's hard.
Describe the moment you're standing in, the way you'd text a friend. Ten seconds later you're reading one thing to do, with the reason it works, from a library a child psychologist has reviewed.
Free for 7 days. No account needed.
The Today screen. Beside holds one step ready for this morning, and Help me now sits one tap away.
The advice is on the nightstand. The meltdown is in the hallway.
You've asked four times. The bus comes at 7:52. He's on the floor because the sock seam is wrong, and the book that explains all of this is upstairs, half read, next to your bed.
You've done the reading. The books are good. The podcast was good. A chapter you half remember still loses to a meltdown that is happening now, three feet in front of you.
Beside closes that gap. It puts one fitting step on your phone while the moment is still happening.
What is Beside?
Open it in the moment itself. Type what's happening, or pick it from a list when typing is too much. The step you get back is sized to your child's age and shaped by what has worked in your house before.
How Beside works
One Tuesday, start to finish.
Say what's happening
The tablet died mid-game and he's screaming. One tap opens Help me now, and the app dims to a dark, warm screen with touch targets sized for a hand that shakes. It asks what you need right now, something for you or the moment in front of you, then lets you add a line in your own words to sharpen the step. Offline, Beside answers from its built-in library, so a step comes either way.
You don't have to type it: the mic on your keyboard writes as you talk, and Skip, just give me a step sits under the button for the afternoons when even one line is too much.
Help me now, 15:07. You tell Beside what's happening the way you'd say it out loud.
Read one step, sized for a shaking hand
The screen quiets down to a single instruction, large enough to read with a screaming child next to you. Each step traces back to a reviewed piece in the library, with the reason it works spelled out; in the moment you see the step alone, and the sourcing waits for when you have both hands free.
The step is not always for him. Choose Something for me and Beside starts with you: one slow breath, out longer than in, about a minute. One button underneath for when it helped, and that is the whole screen.
One slow breath, 15:08. Some steps are for the parent, and they look this quiet.
It asks how the step landed
The storm passes and the screen returns to light. One question, one tap: did it help. Then Beside offers the parent two minutes for herself before the day moves on. That single tap is the whole feedback loop, and it feeds everything the app knows about your child.
The evening check-in teaches it your child
Thirty seconds before bed: how you came out of the day, whether the step worked, one small thing for yourself. Week by week those taps build a portrait on the My child tab: what calms him, what sets him off, which endings need announcing before they arrive.
Tomorrow at 7:15, the step on the Today screen starts from what worked at 15:08. The app gets more specific about your child while you sleep on it.
My child, 20:52. Beside keeps what worked for Milo and starts tomorrow from it.
The small bird is Wren. She has one job.
She stays beside you. She breathes with you in Help me now, settles into her nest when you close the day, and looks a little more cared for each time you take a moment for yourself. Leave her alone for a week and she waits. Nothing breaks, nothing scolds, no streaks.
She is a wren: one of the smallest birds there are, loud for its size, and it stays the whole winter. That is the promise in one bird, a small thing you can hear over the noise, from someone who stays when it gets hard.
One switch in settings turns her off, and Beside keeps working as a plain tool. Wren looks after the parent, and the steps look after the child.
Where the steps come from
Nothing in Beside is invented on the spot. Every piece in the library stands on a named principle from the programs clinicians have taught parents for decades, and each piece names its source inside the app.
Follow the 15:08 step back to its source
A book hands you this same ground as a chapter, read after bedtime, remembered in fragments. Beside hands it to you as one step at 15:08, while you're standing in the hallway. The knowledge is the same. It arrives while you can still use it.
The programs behind the library
What parents say
The first four reviews came in by email, straight from parents. They stand here word for word, with permission, with the five stars each parent gave.
Judge the steps on their ground as well: each step names the piece it was adapted from, and a child psychologist reviewed that piece before it reached you. The 7 free days exist so you can hold Beside against your own Tuesday.
I honestly wish I had found this app sooner. When Ethan is melting down, I don't need a 20-minute article about ADHD, I need to know what to do right now. I can tell the app what's happening and get a simple, practical suggestion. It's made a huge difference in our evenings.
I love that it doesn't make me feel like I'm doing everything wrong. I can type what happened, explain the situation, and get an idea of how to handle it differently next time. It's like having a calm voice in your pocket when parenting gets overwhelming.
Homework used to turn into an argument almost every single night. I described what was happening in the app and the advice was incredibly practical. We're definitely not perfect now, but the battles have become much less intense.
The daily tip takes less than a minute, but I've actually started using them throughout the day. Some of the smallest changes have made our mornings so much less stressful.
The questions you search at 11pm, answered free
Eight guides cover the hardest recurring moments, written from the same reviewed library the app draws on. No account, no email wall.
How do I help a child with ADHD in the morning?
Cut the number of decisions. One clear choice beats an open order.
Grounded in PMT (Kazdin)How do I stop ADHD homework meltdowns?
Make the task small and visible: a tiny first step with a clear finish line.
Grounded in PMT (Kazdin)Why won’t my child with ADHD listen?
He hears you and can't act on it. Long or open instructions overload working memory.
Grounded in Russell Barkley's frameworkWhat is a good bedtime routine for a child with ADHD?
Predictability does the work: the same few steps, in the same order, each night.
Grounded in Mindell's bedtime researchHow do I help a child with ADHD regulate emotions and meltdowns?
Treat it as a flood. Steady yourself first, then get low and wait it out together.
Grounded in Russell Barkley's frameworkHow do I handle ADHD screen time battles?
The fight is about the sudden stop. Set the stopping point before the screen goes on.
Grounded in the Premack principleHow do I stay calm as a parent of a child with ADHD?
Calm is a pause you practice: one slow breath out before you respond.
Grounded in co-regulation researchWhy does my child with ADHD struggle with transitions?
Switching gears is itself the hard task. Advance notice softens the turn.
Grounded in advance-notice studiesQuestions parents ask before downloading
What is Beside?
Beside is a mobile app for parents of children with ADHD, ages 4 to 17. You describe a hard moment and it returns one specific, sourced step to try, drawn from a reviewed library grounded in established parent training programs and clinical guidance from the CDC, AAP and NICE.
Does Beside replace therapy or parent training?
No. Beside is education and support between sessions. If your family works with a therapist, coach or parent training program, Beside fits alongside that work, and its steps come from the same schools of practice.
Does Beside take a position on ADHD medication?
No. Beside is neutral on medication. Its steps are behavioral, the approach clinical guidelines recommend parents learn first, and the medication conversation belongs to you and your child's doctor.
What ages does Beside cover?
Ages 4 to 17. During setup you pick an age band, and each step is tuned to it: what works for a seven year old mid-meltdown differs from what reaches a fifteen year old.
What does Beside cost?
Both plans start with 7 free days. The yearly plan costs $69.99 per year, which works out to under $6 a month; month to month costs $9.99. The plans differ only in price and term. Cancel during the trial and you pay nothing.
Do I need an account, and does it work offline?
You can use Beside without an account. An optional sign-in with Apple, Google or your email address exists to keep your back-up safe on a new phone. Without a connection, the app answers from its built-in library, so a step comes either way.