Since the time my son was born, I have been charting his food intake and diaper outputs. My husband and I learned this from our postnatal stay at the hospital, and have found it very helpful in determining whether things are going well with our son or if there are areas for improvement. For example, for the first few weeks of his life, we were told that our baby should have 6-8 full diapers per day to ensure that he's getting enough milk. I also wanted to keep track of how much time he breast fed, and how much formula supplementation he took in so that if he was not getting enough, then it could be increased. I was also pumping at the time, so I wanted to keep track of the frequency of pumps, as well as yield.
So I created a chart that included: Date, Time of Day, Length of Time on Left Breast, Length of Time on Right Breast, Breast Milk Consumed, Formula Consumed, Pee, Poo, Pump Time, and Pump Yield. This may seem a little neurotic, and it definitely isn't for everyone, but it really helped me keep track of things when I was so sleep deprived. As time went on, I continued to use the chart, but added headings that were relevant and took out ones that weren't. For example, once I started to sleep train my son, I added columns for nap times and bedtimes. This really helped me to find the ideal sleep times for him. When my son started to go on solid foods, I used the chart to keep track of each new type of food he had been given and it provides a running record of what he likes and hates as well as any allergic reactions. I also noticed there was usually a relationship between how much he ate for dinner and whether he slept through the night.
I've kept all my son's feeding and diaper charts in a binder and it's nice to have a little record of his daily life since birth. The only problem is: I don't know when to stop…
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