Feeding log suggestions

[TwoEEs]

Just that really I'm due our first baby in just over a week and have been looking at feeding logs. I'd like to write down which breast and how long as well as nappies and sleep. Does anyone have any recommendations of good ones? Templates to print or a book
Thank you

TBH, I would recommend not using one at all. It doesn't serve any purpose and is likely to make you anxious. What are you hoping to get from it? If you really really want to, an app is the most convenient but it's better to spend the time and energy looking at your baby and trying to learn their cues.

There are plenty of apps where you can just click a button to start and end feed, but my honest advice is don't bother. I did the log thing and all it did was make me crazy and anxious. Unless you're medically advised to track, you are much better off learning to look at the baby and keeping an eye on nappy output rather than obsessing over input. And tiny babies do nothing except feed, kip and poo, keeping the log is a full time job which you will quickly be too sleep-deprived and busy to do.

Oh I read that completely wrong at first, sorry op My first thought was... please don't feed your baby logs!

Another person saying don’t it will make you crazy. Wear a hair bobble on your arm and swap it over so you know which boob to use next.

Do people do this? Sounds like a route to insanity to me!

Don't do it. I came across mine the other day and I had a wee giggle. What was I thinking I remember showing the midwife when she came out and she smiled nicely. Now that I think about it she probably didn't want to burst my bubble

Wear a hair bobble on your arm and swap it over so you know which boob to use next.

Fwiw, I always found it more efficient just to "weigh" both boobs in my hand and start baby off on whichever one was fullest

Signed up to reply, as tracking feeds and sleeps has really helped me. I also tracked nappies in the early days whilst establishing breastfeeding. My baby has been a great sleeper and whilst that’s totally down to her and luck, noticing patterns and being aware of how long she’d been awake/asleep for really did help me.

I use the app “BabyTime” (orange logo), it’s really simple and you can “share” baby with your partner/other carer too. I am still tracking at almost 5 months and it’s become second nature now.

Maybe you're setting yourself up for a fall if you can't breastfeed .........

I just fed from whichever boob felt the most full!

I used Hatch Baby. We found it helpful as was bottle feeding and we both had it on our phones so we could see when the other had fed the baby and how much. Especially helpful for the night feeds.

There's an option for breast feeding as well, it's not just geared towards bottle feeding.

Hi everyone thanks for your replies. The one about feeding the baby logs wins...too funny. I feel my intentions may have been misinterpreted however I am looking to keep a log in the beginning just so my ever failing memory and the stress of moving house with a new born doesn't set me back. I'm not planning a regimented routine. Nor am I planning to use the log as a way to 'time' the next feed. I purely want something I can look to and my partner can look to in order to help remember which boob was last/when last feed was etc.
Don't really see how it's setting me up to fail if I can't feed. I'll just write bottle times and ounces on it. Also I understand why others would feel anxious about it but it's not something I'm worried about personally

My DD is 8 weeks and I found it incredibly reassuring to note down which boob at what time. I just used notes with a simple jot down of ' LB 2pm-2.25' (LB - left boob)

I also noted wet / dirty nappies as breastfeeding can be tricky and helped reassure me that baby was producing enough nappies.

I'm 8 weeks in and still noting breastfeeding times and boobs - sometimes I'm busy and tired and can track how long since last feed.

As an added note - I found breastfeeding incredibly tough and was very passionate about carrying on (getting it right with help) and scanning through and realising how many productive feeds and how many nappies she was producing/ weight she was gaining really helped motivate me.

Notes on my iPhone ^^

That's great you're not anxious about how your going to feed. Other mums can be on the edge
If you feel you need to keep a log of it do it. I wouldn't have remembered to do that nor did I have the inclination to but I know one girl who did it x

I used Glow Baby app.

Found it really useful for when baby was crying and I was thinking 'but I fed you not that long ago' and then the app reminds me that actually two or three hours have flown by.

Also good for how king since the last sleep in the days when he couldn't go more than two hours between naps.

He was a both breasts at every feed baby (actually still is...) and after a while I started feeding from his preferred side first and then going to the less favoured but in the early days it was good for knowing which side to start with. Nothing worse than getting all comfy then realising he's at the wrong boob.

*how long. Not how king. There was nothing royal or princely about any of it.

Thank you chips, userblah and Nina
I think it will be useful for me too. Confirm I'm recognising the right signals too. I'll try glow and see what I think but I love a notebook so might end up doing the notes thing but in an actual book 🙈.

I used scraps of paper and the odd back of a receipt while in hospital then treated myself to a notepad when was out !!
I bottle fed so noted time and amount . Did the nspppies for a short while .
Tracked sleep a bit later when there was more of a pattern!
I also found mine from when lo first born made me chuckle too !

I used baby tracker app for a good few months. Found it helped a lot with sleep deprivation and hormonal loopiness on my part.

It also helped to back me up as my ds has CMPA and having all that data at my finger tips shut up more than one dissenting GP who was trying to blame it on my hormones making me paranoid.

I would also give a huge amount of praise to the developers of that app as you can contact them through the app with any questions. I got three or four things added to it because I asked and said why it'd be helpful. They're brilliant.

Actually, someone mentioned the awake time and this IS useful, because newborns don't tend to have much of a routine but they do have a maximum time that they can cope with being awake before they hit a very short window where they need to fall asleep otherwise they will go utterly mental. Luckily most newborns are very adept at sleeping most of the time and/or will cry until you hold them which helps them fall asleep, but all of them will fight it or get overstimulated at times and some of them seem to routinely fight it or need very specific conditions for sleep. It also helps if you're wanting to be a bit proactive about getting them to sleep in locations/ways other than on you or only feeding to sleep, because if you know when they're likely to be sleepy it means you can maximise all of the other sleep cues and concentrate them on the thing you're trying to encourage.

You're looking at 45 mins to a bit more than an hour, up to an absolute max of 2 hours awake in the first 4 weeks, then they seem to average about 1-2 hours but an absolute max of 3 hours until about 3 months and then it tends to be a pretty solid 2-3 hour chunk of awake time and they start solids by 6 months so then these seem to slot in around mealtimes, and there's your semblance of a nap routine.

I would suggest not doing that at all. Especially if you are breastfeeding. Time at the breast means absolutely nothing. All babies feed at different efficiencies depending on all sort of things (age, tiredness, tongue mobility) so it has no indication of actual milk intake whatsoever. Your newborn will likely feed near constantly in the early days and this is good an normal. Keep an eye on nappy output as this is the most reliable indicator of how much milk a baby is getting. Your midwife should give you a guide to how many wet and dirty nappies to expect on each day of life with your discharge notes.

OP, I think what some posters are saying is that you don't need to remember or have a note of when your baby last fed, how much they took, which breast or when they produced a wet/dirty nappy.

Babies should feed when they want to for as long as they want to. Some days a baby will want to feed every 15 minutes, sometimes they will be content for hours between feeds. Both are ok. Sometimes they will feed for comfort. That's also ok.

What isn't ok is trying to coax milk into your baby because you don't think they've had as much as usual.

When breastfeeding you'll never really know how much milk your baby has taken and that's great because it really doesn't matter - some days they will drink faster or slower, sometimes your milk might be more or less concentrated.

And believe me you won't need to keep track of which side you last fed from. The one you last used will feel softer and emptier. The other one firmer and fuller. Just go with whichever feels fullest.

I actually think feeding logs can be quite damaging when formula feeding as they can encourage parents to coax babies into drinking a set amount, which can set an unhealthy precedent for overeating throughout life. Not to mention the stress this might cause to parents.

Honestly, just listen to your baby and offer them milk when they ask for it - either by crying or showing other signs (which you will soon come to recognise).

Good luck with your LO :)

I just don't think the idea of "logging" meshes with how a breastfed newborn feeds at all. Some babies feed for hours, some babies feed for five minutes, some babies feed, sleep for 5 mins and then want back on... The whole idea of logging which breast, how much etc just tends to feed into the mindset that they "should" be feeding in a certain way, and not far down that road lies paranoia and the conviction that you "don't have enough milk". I found learning to read my baby's signs rather than paying attention to what was "supposed" to be happening made both me and baby much happier.

Logging sleeps and nappies makes sense because many newborns do benefit from having their sleep managed so they don't get overtired, and nappies are more important than time on the boob in gauging feeding.