What to log for a newborn, and what is actually useful later

For a newborn, log three things every time: feeds, diapers and sleep. Add medicine, temperature and weight only when you have them. Skip the rest. Those few entries answer the questions you will actually be asked, by your partner at 3am and by your pediatrician at the checkup. A simple baby tracker makes logging them quick.

Why log at all

In the newborn weeks the days blur. Many babies feed about 8 to 12 times in 24 hours, breast milk or formula. [1][2] Add the diapers and the naps, and that is dozens of small events a day, spread across tired people. Nobody can hold that in their head.

A short log does three jobs. It tells the next caregiver what just happened. It lets you see the shape of a day when you are too tired to remember it. And it gives you real answers when your pediatrician asks how things are going.

The three things to log every time

Feeds

• Time. When the feed started.
• Bottle. The amount in ounces, and whether it was formula or expressed milk.
• Nursing. Which side, and roughly how long.

The time matters most. "When did she last eat?" is the question you will ask more than any other.

Diapers

• Time, and wet, dirty or both.

Diapers are worth logging because a newborn's diapers are one of the signs used to judge whether she is getting enough to eat. [3] You do not need to work out what the numbers mean yourself. Your pediatrician will ask, and you will have the answer.

Sleep

• Down and up. When she fell asleep and when she woke.

Newborn sleep comes in short pieces, so the pattern only shows up when it is written down.

Log these when you have them

• Medicine. If your pediatrician prescribes something or tells you what to give, log the name, the dose and the time. Give medicine at the times your doctor told you, and do not give extra doses without speaking with your doctor. [4] A written record shows everyone what was already given.
• Temperature. If you check it, log the reading and the time. Note how you took it too, since some ways of measuring are more accurate than others. [5]
• Weight. After a checkup or a weigh-in, add it next to everything else. At checkups, your pediatrician will check her weight and plot it on a growth chart. [3]
• Pumping. If you pump, the amount and the side.
• Tummy time. How long, if you want to see how much she has had today.

What to skip

Logs fail when they get too long to keep up. You can safely skip:

• Every fuss, cry or hiccup.
• Every burp and every bit of spit-up, unless your pediatrician has asked you to watch it.
• Long notes. One line beats a paragraph that never gets written.
• Charts and averages you will not look at.

If you are not sure whether something is worth logging, ask yourself: would I want to know this at 3am, or would my pediatrician ask about it? If not, skip it.

What turns out to be useful later

Most of the log is for right now. A few parts earn their keep later:

• Feed times and amounts, when someone asks how often she is eating.
• Diaper counts, in the first weeks, when your pediatrician asks.
• Sleep stretches, when you want to know whether nights are getting longer.
• Medicine doses and times, any time more than one person is caring for her.
• Weights, so they are in one place and not on four different visit papers.

How Our Little Two helps

You log by talking or with one tap. Say "She drank 4 ounces at 2:10.", "Wet diaper." or "She's down." and it is filed in the right place. The Tracks are feeds, diapers, sleep, pumping, meds, temperature, weight and tummy time, nothing you do not need. Ask "When did she last eat?" or "What happened today?" and the answer comes from your log. More on logging feeds on the Feeding tracker page and diapers on the Diaper tracker page.

A one-week start

1. Log only feeds, diapers and sleep for the first few days.
2. Add medicine, temperature or weight when they come up.
3. Make sure everyone who cares for her logs in the same place.
4. At the end of the week, drop anything nobody looked at.

For what tends to happen in these weeks, see the newborn weeks.