Did you keep a chart?

Just wondering if anyone here kept a chart for the babies when they got home, such as when they were fed, how much, when diapers were changed and stuff like that.

If so, did you find it helpful?

TIA

 

I have a book that I ordered from Justmultiples.com and it is called Double Time. It is specifically for recording eating, sleeping and diaper changing. It has saved my life!

 

I did. My husband and I just found it almost impossible to keep up with the poops and pees and and bottles without it. It wasn't necessarily a chart, but we had a notebook and wrote down the info. We were always forgetting who did what, especially being sleep deprived. Helped a bunch to have that.

 

We did a simple notebook with who hate how many ounce and what the diaper hangs consisted of

 

Yes, we had notebook where we recorded the time they ate and how much, and their diapers (#1 vs. #2). I kept it until they were a year old, although it became very redundant the last few months when they were on a consistent routine. It is REALLY easy to lose track of how much they have eaten and their diapers, and it was really helpful to be able to look back at it - especially at their WBV when the ped wanted to know how much each was eating per day, etc. It's SO hard in those first months to remember who has done what - I don't think I could have done it without writing it down and I have a really good memory.

 

nope - was far too overwhelmed to worry about how many times a day someone was pooping - they pooped at every feeding and diaper change...

 

I kept a log for a month or two, but found it kinda pointless. They both had a diaper change at the same time and ate at the same time so I really didn't know what we were keeping track of!

 

Lasted a total of three hours. I found no need. It was just one more thing to fret over.

 

Yes,


Kept it until they were 4 months old and off of apnea monitors/off most meds (preemies and came home on a ton of meds) and had established a growth curve.

In my sleep deprived state, I found it required to recall who did what for the Dr.

We had to record ounces ate, wets, apnea alarms, meds, and poops. Both my DDs were under 5 1/2 lbs when they came home and were at risk of losing weight/sleeping too much- not eating. One had reflux & moderate digestive problems so we had to make sure she pooped daily and ate enough.

There is no way I could have kept medications straight on so little sleep w/o a chart & recording! They were on different things at different times....

It also helped remind me that they WERE stretching out feeds and eating more as time went by, even if it did not feel like it!


I dont know if I would have if they were not medically fragile preemies.

 

We did for the first couple of weeks.. it helped keep us organized. I was also trying to remember to switch the babies up on the breast, so it was handy to keep track of that. Once we got into the swing of things and realized that the kids were on a good schedule we stopped.

 

Nope. They were on the same schedule so we didn't. (Not sure if I would have had they been on different schedules.)

 

No, I never did. I had enough to deal with just with having the twins and then our older DD as well.

 

Jessy was micro so we really needed the chart. We kept it for around 2 months

 

The only thing we ever wrote down was medications, so we were certain we were not overdosing a baby. When they were very little, we just made sure every 12 hours or so they were eating their minimum amount of formula--kept track in our heads and once a certain 12 hour period was fine, we forgot about that and just focused on the next 12 hour period. And we changed their diapers before each feeding and would have noticed if a diaper was dry so we didn't track that.

 

Nope, never really had the time...

 

Nope, never needed to. They were on the same schedule and ate about the same amount, so we never needed to.

 

I had good intentions. I bought beautiful pens and found a notebook. Then the twins arrived and charting went out the window. Mine never had growth issues despite being small so I was not worried if they didn't finish bottles. They also slept when they wanted to sleep the first few months, I just followed the healthy sleep habits, happy child cues and went with the flow.

 

Yes we did. It was so helpful. My dh and I took turns to take care of the twins even now. And they were on reflux med. Then they were on different fomula. And my DS got so gassy and couldnt poop for days. My DD puked many times/day up until 7 months. So we did write down everything.

basically, its easy. Just get a blank notebook (1 dollar) and a pen. Start a day with write down the date and have 2 column 1 for twin A, 1 for twin B. Write down feeding time and how much they drink, med (if they take it at feeding), poopy diaper,.. close the day at midnight or whenever you think you want to end the day.im telling you the first 3 months, there is no way you can remember everything. You should right now. And you will see how many oz they need to intake so they will start sleep through the time. And when they get bigger, its easy to stretch their schedule fro 3 hrs to 4 hrs, something like that. I used to check back the notebook, when something weird happened like they got fussy (checked if they got enough milk, med, or if my DS pooped lol) Taking notes actually doesnt take much time. I would say take up 10 mins a day. And they you start them on solid. Its very helpfull to keep track what you give them to watch out for food allergy.

We stopped using notebook at 8 months. They are off all the med. they have 5 bottles and 3 times solid/day. So its pretty easy to remember. I dont care when they poop anymore because they poop poop and poop everyday. lol. Good luck!

 

No, we didn't. Thanks to the NICU, my girls were on a very regular schedule when they came home so we just maintained it and there wasn't much else to worry about. I'd recommend getting on a good schedule more than anything!

 

We kept a log for our twins and it was a lifesaver. Between sleep deprivation and my wife and I taking turns with the twins it would have been impossible to keep track otherwise.

 

Thank you for all the responses! I typed up a simple chart on the computer to use, so we will just see how it goes.

 

Not sure why my response posted about 5 times!! Sorry! How do you delete posts?

 

I did for about a day. Then decided as long as they are pooping, peeing, and eating- that is all that matters. I give the ped a rough estimate of their eating at the appts and she seems satisfied with that. They are growing well and I just don't see the need to track it all. Never did. When we left the hospital they sent us with the charts and said to keep doing it and bring to the Ped but we didn't and she never asked for it.

 

Dont worry about the duplicates- you aren't the only one. Currently I think only mods can delete posts- I got it for you!