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Original poster

Tracking feeds / sleeps / nappies

11 replies

Ladybuglamp · 15/12/2023 17:27

New mum to a 3 week old here. The past couple of days iv started using the glow app to track feeds, sleep and nappies.

Ive found it helpful just to keep track of when I last gave her a new happy and which breast to feed from next, but I’m not sure if it’s worth paying for the premium version or continuing to use.

anyone with experience of using a similar tracker who has found it helpful? Or am I just wasting my time and energy?

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RidingMyBike · 15/12/2023 17:31

I used BabyTracker which was free and worked well. I found it particularly useful for looking back and seeing if milk consumption had been down or up (you could record BF duration and side, any expressing and formula feeds) alongside illness.

Also the weight tracker as it automatically worked out percentiles and is easier to see than the chart in the red book.
And the medication tracker for if you've given them Calpol as it records the time and dose which I found reassuring (especially when paracetamol and ibuprofen are different amounts).

RidingMyBike · 15/12/2023 17:33

It meant I wasn't having to think about this stuff as it was in the app so gave me some brain space.

But we'd had a rocky start EBF with dehydration and no wet nappies and I'd needed to track nappies and feeds anyway after that.

Neverseenthatmuchjunkinthetrunkbefore · 15/12/2023 17:50

Long ago now, but early days can be challenging enough. As long as he was eating, weeing and pooing I was happy. Those days weren’t as data rich, IT focused as these days. Enjoy your baby and take videos of every day. Congrats!

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DappledThings · 15/12/2023 17:57

I never tracked any of this. I offered both breasts every feed so it never mattered remembering which one

mrsed1987 · 15/12/2023 18:00

We did, can't remember what app it was but it was one we could both log in to on our phone, this helped for those early mornings as we took it in turns so didn't have to wake the other one up to tell them how the last feed was etc

snackprovidersupreme · 15/12/2023 18:22

If your baby is gaining weight fine and you are getting through plenty of wet nappies, then I wouldn't bother.

You should be able to tell which breast is fuller for the next feed and if not then I was told to have a hair and on my wrist and swap it over after each feed so I knew where to start next time. Lovely and low tech!

It depends if the record makes you feel more in control and comfortable or if it worries you more. In a way, the apps made me feel like I responded less to my baby's natural cues and more to what I thought I ought to do, which was unhelpful for me. With my second baby I ditched the apps completely !

Caspianberg · 15/12/2023 18:26

No. Don’t do it

I tried with glow app, and it honestly just made me more frustrated. The app would say you baby is only napped 20 mins today and you have fed for more than 10hrs in one day! And I would be thinking I know, I don’t want to be reminded that he’s feeding every hour and not sleeping

gotomomo · 15/12/2023 18:29

Honestly - it will just make you more anxious. Change when the nappy needs changing, feed from both sides each time and let them sleep as much as they want. Trust your instincts

Original poster
Ladybuglamp · 15/12/2023 19:34

Thanks for the advice all! I think I will ditch it. It’s just one more thing to worry about!!!!

OP posts:
RidingMyBike · 15/12/2023 20:14

The other thing I found was that, unless you deliberately stop for some reason, you won't know when the last ever BF or whatever happened as it's retrospective - you suddenly realise you haven't BF for several days and look back and think that was the last one!

Superscientist · 15/12/2023 20:41

I just picked the first free option I found. I did find it useful to be able to track feeds, sleep and nappies especially with lots of medical appointments who would want to know how things had changed over the previous 3 or 4 weeks
We had a period of 5 second feeds and it was useful to be able to track and show professional her feeding habits. I didn't stress if I had days where nothing got entered. It was also quite helpful to have a graph of how her sleeps varied over a week for example to see what her routine was and how it changed from month to month

Yes they can be useful but no I would never pay for an app (which is my general rule with life tbh!)

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