Log sheets?

phillygirl526 · February 2012

Did you actually use them? Were they something you couldn't have survived without? Trying to figure out if they will be more of a pain to fill out for each baby every time or not!

E&RMommy · February 2012

I couldn't survive without mine. But hey - I work in medicine and my life is Ins/Outs.

It also helped us tremendously because DH and I worked, so we knew what they were getting, what they were passing when we were not there. We finally stopped them at about 6 months.

ETA: Each baby had a clipboard. I saved a few of the sheets when we stopped for their baby books. DH always wrote something funny instead of just poop. "code brown", "double code brown", "poop from hell".....things to make us laugh years later. And man they ate every 2 hours for a while. No wonder I was so exhausted.

Colorado Babies 12 · February 2012

Great idea! I heard they are a life saver for those days of exhaustion!! I plan to use them when my twins arrive in May.

rjl07 · February 2012

We're still using them. I like knowing what they did during the day with the nanny when we get home from work. The girls are less than regular poopers too so it helps to have a record to remember when the last one was. A takes synthroid every night too and it helps to remember to mark it down.

LakeGenevaBride · February 2012

We started with log sheets but they were getting misplaced and not used consistently (by DH). What worked great for us was a steno notepad. We had baby A on the left side of the page and Baby B on the right. Each day we just turned the page and started fresh. We wrote down time and amount of feeding, naps, and poops.

kthappy76 · February 2012

Ah, yes. We have a notebook and everything gets charted. Not charted, not done...

GeauxTigers82 · February 2012

I thought I would need them, but never used them on a daily basis. The only time I used them was/is when they are sick and requiring medicine, but even then, I'm the one that handles that, so I know who had what. I think if you're the main one taking care of them (and your husband and other caregivers know the expected schedule) a log sheet isn't neccessary. I would think you will remember who did what. I feed them at the same time, put them to sleep at the same time, gave meds at the same time, etc. so I don't see what else there is to remember (except diaper...urine and poop, and you're likely to remember that). I did, however, track their intake at some point, just because they weren't eating enough and I wanted to add up the totals for the day.

If you have someone else taking care of them during the day/night, I would do a log sheet. I like to know everything that is going on, so in that case, I would definately have that person keep track in writing.

Of course, I would try it in the beginning, just in case you find that it helps you. Can't hurt...

jcath · February 2012

LakeGenevaBride:
We started with log sheets but they were getting misplaced and not used consistently (by DH). What worked great for us was a steno notepad. We had baby A on the left side of the page and Baby B on the right. Each day we just turned the page and started fresh. We wrote down time and amount of feeding, naps, and poops.

After looking at lots of templates we went with the steno notebook to - it's easy and I only used it for feeding times but when they had ear infections I also noted meds at the bottom.

Don't feel it has to be complicated - it's just so easy to forget what you did to whom

cookiemonster03 · February 2012

I made sheets in excel in 30 min increments for a while. Just printed off a handful and filled them out as we went.

We stopped around 1 mo.

Breezy8407 · February 2012

Did anyone use an app or electronic device for this? One of my friends pregnant with a singleton registered for the Itzbeen that has logging capabilities. I have also seen an app for the iPhone that does something similar.

I am a pen and paper kind of gal, so I might be inclined to go old school anyway.

ninjabridemom · February 2012

Breezy, we registered for the Itzbeen, too, and I also have an Excel file that looks like it will be helpful (it's SUPER detailed). I'm planning on printing a bunch of those out and putting them in a binder, AND using the Itzbeen, to see which is better for us.

cookiemonster03 · February 2012

Breezy8407:
Did anyone use an app or electronic device for this? One of my friends pregnant with a singleton registered for the Itzbeen that has logging capabilities. I have also seen an app for the iPhone that does something similar.
I am a pen and paper kind of gal, so I might be inclined to go old school anyway.

we looked around for an electronic option, but we didn't find anything we liked that was easy for other caregivers to use as well (eg, my mom who doesn't have a smartphone).

The Itzbeen is fine for keeping tabs, but a) you'd need 2 and b) you can't download it so it isn't good for trending. In the early days when we tracked, we needed to add up how much they ate during the day, etc.

lovebugkim · February 2012

We used the Itz been timers and they worked GREAT for us!! I was so glad to be done with the log at the hospital. The timers are simple. Just push a button and be done!!

Jen0204 · February 2012

Breezy8407:
Did anyone use an app or electronic device for this? One of my friends pregnant with a singleton registered for the Itzbeen that has logging capabilities. I have also seen an app for the iPhone that does something similar.
I am a pen and paper kind of gal, so I might be inclined to go old school anyway.

I made an excel spreadsheet that I use. I have two worksheets - one to keep track of what time they ate, how long they breastfeed for, how much pumped BM they got, how much formula they got, and if they pooped or peed. The second one keeps track of when I pumped, how long I pumped for, and how much I got (because I'm working with an LC on supply issues). The only downside to the spreadsheet is that H isn't good about updating it when he takes care of some nighttime feedings. He'd probably be much better with a paper log.

ETA - if breastfeeding was going well for me and we weren't having issues with my supply and if the girls weren't premature and very small then I would probably have stopped keeping track by now. I just find it helpful since we are trying to increase my supply and the doctor is watching their weight gain very closely.

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