Tracking breastfeeding....?

Chatting with a friend... Who was wondering about tracking with breastfeeding and whether an app or pencil and paper tracking is best.... Friend states that Apparently the lactation consultant and breastfeeding 'person' at her hospital have stated that tracking is very important....

Um.... Didn't occur to me that I would need to track unless there was a problem... Feed when baby needs baby is okay.... Feed again when baby needs..... What am I tracking??? And why am I tracking????

What worked best for you with tracking.... An app something else...?

Any other thoughts of comments from my lovely BB girls on the matter would be greatly appreciated and I'm interested in what you think.

Seriously I'm really not sure why I would bother, it seems a waste to track if mum and bub are feeling and feeding well....

Only if there are issues with the feeding. For instance, if baby is very sleepy and not waking to feed enough, then you'd need to keep track and wake to feed.
Otherwise it's just something mums are likely to get in a twist about, rather than just following their baby's cues.

I tracked everything with DD using an app - I think it was called Baby ESP or something. It tracked feeding, nappy changes, sleep, everything.

I definitely wouldn't do it again and haven't tracked a thing with DS. It just made me stress about sleep, and wonder if she was feeding too many times for too long, when I knew myself she was fine. The onoy slightly useful thing about it was telling me which side I fed on last but after a bit I didn't even need that.

So in hindsight, I wouldn't track anything unless there's an issue and you need to.

I have used an app a few times with #3. i always have my phone so i found it easier to use an app this time. I used a diary for #1, but had no toddlers to escape with the pen/diary or scribble on it/take pages etc.

I wanted to track feeds for a couple of days, because i didn't think she was feeding effectively or often and so i wanted an idea of length of feeds and how many in a day. I found out she was having more feeds than i thought she was, which was reassuring.

I tracked quite a lot of DDs (#1) habits, none of DSs (#2) and have done intermittent tracking of feeds with DD (#3). i think it has its place, but don't stress if its not your thing.

I just used paper & a pen. I tracked for a few weeks bc my baby was a bit sleepy, had to wake to feed every 3-4 hours. At the start it was actually really helpful bc I was tired, recovering from the birth & couldn't remember what I had for breakfast let alone when I last fed. You would imagine that feeding your baby wouldn't be something you'd forget, but at the start everything seems to run in to each other - feeding, sleeping, nappies, pumping, etc. I found it useful just to monitor how many feeds were had in a 24 hour period, how many wet nappies etc to make sure things were on track.

With DD I tracked using pen paper for a couple of days because when you are in hospital they like you to and are often asking when did you last feed etc. But I found that I was focusing to much on the tracking and didn't find it useful, for me I found it hard to track and follow baby cues e.g. if you know is only 1.5 hours maybe you try to space it, whereas if you aren't totally sure is easier to just go with the flow. I wasn't having any problems though.

I have noticed more people think there is a need to track now there is an app to do it, a bit like the availability of good quality breast pumps means more and more people are expressing when that isn't routinely required either.

If you can just go with the flow (I know some people just can't), and there is no medical reason to track, I wouldn't do it. (sleepy babies in the early days sometimes is useful as may need to wake, but I always found my boobs would tell me if baby had slept too long :-))

I use a piece of paper and pencil. Have been tracking for 6 months and 2 weeks now :D Even though I'm feeding on demand, I like to know when I last fed him, when about I can expect it again. (He was on a 3 hourly routine to begin with, that moved to 4 -5 hourly, now more or less back to 3 - 4 hourly and always longer overnight). I think it was handy, especially when I was trying to plan my day. I write down the start time - finish time, which breast I fed first & last, then how long in total. I also write on it when he does nr 2's as he's not very regular :D.

To be honest, it just seems like added pressure to me... It seems unfair to add that pressure to mums when they are just trying to get through....obviously if there are medical reasons for needing to know, that's fine. But in a typical baby, with a typical mum,following a typical pregnancy... Surely... We can just go with the flow....

Think I'm going to just let it go unless there's another reason to do so....

...it's just I'm usually a "good girl", so of someone tells me I have to, I will feel like I do..... Even if it doesn't feel right to me. That's what's hard about standing up for yourself sometimes, just knowing that you are okay to, and can, make that call yourself....

I've never tracked it. Sometimes it's better not to know, especially overnight - remove all bedroom clocks. My basic mantra; "when in doubt, flop em out" lol.

I tracked it with DD1 in the early days. Just a bit of paper next to the couch where I preferred to bf. I'd just write the amount of time and which side (so R 40, L 20 or something like that). I wasn't really doing it to see what DD1 was doing, more because I was so tired, I would forget which side was used last and knew I should start with that side to drain properly! After I while, I learned to tell just by the way I felt.

Just see how you go! In the beginning I was worried I wasn't feeding enough times a day, as ABA says 8-12 times a day for a newborn. I was only feeding about 6 times. Baby gained enough weight though and that's more important than how often baby feeds. As my baby at one point gained about 500 grams per week for about a month, I was worried I fed him too much, hence continued noting it down. For me it's interesting to see the difference in time he used to be on the breast and how long he's on the breast for now. I also found out about how long he feeds for and will need to change breast after a set amount of time, otherwise that one will miss out. Also when he was younger I couldn't have him on the breast for longer than a certain total amount of time as he'd for sure bring the excess back up. As there is so much to worry about with a newborn baby I decided to write it down as it was one less thing to worry about! (I also kept forgetting which breast I fed off last and still use my notes to remind me, haha, silly baby brain! But there are other ways to realise which one was used last - size / engorgement, or bra clips that you change over from one side to another of bracelets that you swap between arms). Anyhow, it's up to you, just see how you go! :D Not long now!!!

The key is always: Know your baby. If you're in touch and responsive to their needs, then things tend to work just fine.

Day 1 - milk coming in. One wet nappy per day of life. Poos transitioning to mustard/yellow, etc

After milk comes in to 6-7 weeks:
Poos 2-3/day & wet nappies 4-5 (but poos are easier to track and better indicator)
Weight gains & growth
Alert, awake times. These might be very short to begin with. (always cranky or always sleeping are signs something is not right)
Feeding 8-12 times in 24 hours (there are outliers, always look at all the signs, not just one)
Good skin tone, not losing fat, no sign of dehydration

After 6 weeks, poos often slow down so they're not such a good indicator, but you should still see the wet ones and other signs.

So, it's helpful to have a rough idea of how things are going, but you don't need to track obsessively and certainly not every day or for any length of time, *unless* there is actually a problem.

How do you know which side you fed from last? Well, actually it doesn't really matter anyway, but you can always do the feel test :) Which one feels fuller? Start there.

Women have been feeding their babies for millennia without apps or even the ability to write things down. Our bodies are made for this, just as they're made for birthing. Trust in biology is the starting point here, and the bond you establish with your baby. Watch them, they will tell you what they need.

I didn't track, but I did try to alternate which boob I offered first, because both babies would feed a lot more from boob #1, and I wanted them supplying equally, ITMS.

All the same, one boob (lefty, AKA "Old Faithful") was the better producer, but I suspect I offered that side first a lot more, unintentionally ...

There also ended up being an entire cup size difference for quite a while after DS2, which made all my v-neck tops and shirts sit strangely until they settled back down, after DS2 weaned ...