When you have a newborn baby, despite being extremely sleep-deprived, you are expected to keep track to how often the baby eats, poops, pees, and sleeps. For this reason, there are many apps designed to track this information for you so you don't have to remember. We tried a few of them, but unfortunately couldn't find one that worked for us. The issue was that I was breastfeeding so often, and we would always forget to use the app when I started feeding. Most of the apps work by starting a timer when you start feeding, and stopping it when you finish feeding. This was also tricky because she was almost feeding non-stop and sleeping on me as well, so it could be tricky to pinpoint an end time.
After some trial and error, we found what worked best for us was just using Google Keep (the notes app), and tracking our baby's feeding schedule as well as my medication schedule in the same place. This worked best for us because if we forgot to make a note when the feeding started, we could just estimate the time and update it when we remembered. We actually didn't end up tracking diaper output or sleep at the beginning, besides just trying to have a general idea of them in our heads. Originally, we tried to keep track of the length of feedings, but eventually we switched to only noting the start times, and which side she was feeding on.
We never bothered with tracking diapers, but we always try to be mindful of how often wet and dirty diapers are happening. I started tracking sleep a few months ago to try and figure out the patterns/trends so that I'd have an idea of what to expect each day.
This has been very helpful for planning (i.e. if she wakes up at this time, she will likely have this many naps, and they will probably be around these times, etc.).
Because I am someone who likes to have a lot of information, and I like to plan, I have kept up with tracking our baby's breastfeeding times (this helps me to know which side she fed on last, and how long ago she was on either side), formula top-up times and amounts (she's down to one bottle these days, but the time and amount varies), solid food meals (what she ate and when - in case of any allergies, and to keep track of which foods she has tried), and sleep schedule (for the reasons stated in the previous paragraph).
It can be exhausting at times to keep up with all this tracking, and I look forward to being done, but I will miss the convenience of having all this information.
It's only for me at this point - no one else needs this information. I'm not sure when I'll stop. I think the breastfeeding one will be the hardest to stop tracking, since knowing when I fed her last gives me peace of mind with my low milk supply issues.
When it comes to parenting, it's important to do what works for you, as long as it still works.
I know many parents don't track anything, and that works perfectly well for them. I will stop eventually, but for now, it's still working for us.
Comments