Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace: My Feeding Record

Friday, March 14, 2008

My Feeding Record

I am breastfeeding our newborn, and I must say... it is going soooo much smoother than it did with DS! She actually nurses! Go figure. I shouldn't be surprised. There were lots of people praying that this would go well. I am thankful to the Lord for helping us with it. We are still working to keep my one week old awake (or getting her awake) for feedings, but other than that, things are great in the eating department!

Though you probably wouldn't know this by seeing our home, or even knowing me personally, but I need some sort of organization. When it comes to feeding and monitoring my baby, I can't just wing it. My memory is worthless and I have no idea what is going on. The hospital gave me a "Feeding Diary" for the first week, and it was very helpful, yet it still lacked something. Well, today we finished up that page and I was left with an "ahhh... now what am I going to do" kind of a feeling. Ok... so not really. I had a system for DS last year, and it worked... still it wasn't my favorite. Something better had to be out there. Well, it's possible that there is something out there somewhere, but instead of finding it, I just put together all the things I think I need, and I created something... and I made it pretty. 'Cause really... I just had a baby girl... and everything needs to be pretty and girly right??? Anyway, I thought I would share it with you and make it available. :) Someday I hope to have the ability to make things download-able for you, until then, if you want a printable copy, send me an email at babychaser[at]gmail[dot]com, and I'll send you the pdf. :)

So here it is...

Yes, I know... impossible to read! :) So I made you this sample of one day...

I filled in some examples, but here's the way I have it designed to work. My source says that my newborn (in her 2nd-4th weeks of life) needs to be fed 8-12 times, have 6-8 wet diapers, and 2-5 poopy diapers each day. You will notice that the minimum number for each row is filled in with pink (sorry mommies of boys... if you want a copy, let me know and I'll try to make a boy version). This is to help you see at a glance if your little one is reaching the goals.

In the "Feedings" row, you should fill in each box at the time of feeding with an "R" or a " L" depending on the side you started feeding on. (If you are bottle feeding [and I understand that many people need to or choose to for various reason] as I had to do with my DS after a while, write the number of ounces fed in the box.) Above the feeding boxes, write the time you started the feeding.

In the "Wet Diapers" and "Poopy Diapers" rows, fill in the time in each box as you change your babies diapers. This is one of the main changes I made in the feeding records I've had in the past. Most of them have a place to check off, but I can never remember if I remembered to do that, or if I missed recording it. And with no way to know when I checked it off, I was at a complete loss. So now I can know whether or not I remembered to write down that 4 o'clock diaper change. [Sigh of relief!] I worry about these things you know. :)

So there you have it! Let me know if you want a copy, or if you have any ideas for making changes! :) I'll try to make a "first week of life" version, and I'll post the revised version for the weeks beyond week 4 when I get there. :)

Labels: As it happens..., Breastfeeding, Passing it On

7 Comments:

At March 14, 2008 at 11:50 PM , Kacie said...: I'm not a mommy yet, so I'm asking this because I genuinely don't know, but I'm curious:

Why do you need to keep track of wet and poopy diapers?

I understand keeping a feeding log, but I'm confused about the rest.

Also, I <3ed the picture of your little girl's feet! So precious!
At March 15, 2008 at 9:21 AM , ~Babychaser~ said...: Great question Kacie! When breastfeeding, it isn't possible to know exactly how much a baby is getting, so one way to be sure my baby is getting the food she needs is to monitor her "healthy growth indicators". (I'll have more on this in a post next week sometime.) Two of these indicators are wet and poopy diapers. If she's having the right number of dirty diapers (as I have on my record chart), then I can be pretty sure she is getting enough milk! :)
At March 16, 2008 at 1:22 PM , Nikki said...: Breastfeeding went easier with Daniel, too, than it did with Sarah Beth. Is it because we know what we're doing instead of neither of us knowing what's going on? I don't know, but isn't it nice?!!
At March 16, 2008 at 2:04 PM , Nikki said...: I know that you probably don't have time for this right now, but I'm "tagging" you. Come over to see what that means.
At March 18, 2008 at 9:57 AM , Dawn said...: Oh my WORD! This chart is just amazing, my friend. I too got frustrated with the hospital's dinky little chart. This is very creative, simple, and perfect for nursing mothers. Are you sure you weren't a home ec major? You do so many things that would fit right in line with all we were taught! ;-)

So I'm thinking that after we move into our townhome in April and get settled, perhaps sometime after that we can come up for a little visit? On April 19-20, we're visiting an OMF missionary retirees home in Lancaster with a friend who is flying in from CO.
At July 22, 2009 at 10:23 AM , The Rood's said...: Do you by chance still have a copy of this form that you wouldn't mind sharing? I did a google search and you blog came up. If so I would love a copy if you didn't mind.
Thanks,
Amanda
At November 15, 2010 at 7:58 PM , Dawn said...: Take a look at this book I found, it's cute and fits perfectly in my diaper bag. Gave one to my babysitter too. All the easy to use charts in one book. No more trying to keep track on random papers. Gave one to my friend for a shower gift! Perfect for new moms.
www.newbornnecessities.tateauthor.com

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Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace

Friday, March 14, 2008

My Feeding Record

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