The newborn weeks

What tends to change

• Newborns have many needs, like frequent feedings and diaper changes.[1]
• Many babies feed often in the early days, around the clock, and the time between feeds slowly gets longer over the first weeks and months.[2][3]
• Babies often show hunger before they cry: hands to mouth, turning toward the breast or bottle, smacking their lips.[4][5]
• Wet and dirty diapers are one of the signs pediatricians use to judge whether a newborn is getting enough to eat.[5]
• Newborns sleep a lot in total, but often only an hour or two at a time.[6]
• For every sleep, follow safe sleep guidance from your pediatrician and the AAP.[7][8]
• Parenting is hard work, and taking care of yourself matters too.[4]

What is useful to track

• Feeds. Say "She drank 4 ounces at 2:10." or "Nursing left." A nursing session runs a timer until you say you are done. More: Feeding tracker.
• Diapers. Wet, dirty or both, in one word. More: Diaper tracker.
• Night shifts. Whoever is up logs it, so the other parent wakes to the same picture. More: Night shifts.

Sharing the care

In the newborn weeks the baby passes between a lot of hands. One shared log means nobody has to brief the next person on the last feed or the last diaper.

Partners, grandparents and other caregivers join the same Care Team and see the same entries.

Questions for the next checkup

Well-child visits are a good time to talk about growth, development, sleep and eating. It helps to bring your top questions, and anything your baby does or does not do that concerns you.[9][4]

• Is she feeding and gaining the way you would expect?
• Are the wet and dirty diapers what you would hope to see?
• What should we watch for before the next visit?