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. :)