Infant feeding log is a record of all the feedings of an infant for an entire day. It provides information about how much milk has been consumed by the baby in 24 hours. It is important to know about the overall feeding pattern because it directly affects growth and any serious discrepancy in the pattern should be checked by a specialist.
Usually, infants are fed on a schedule which may include 2 or 3 ounces after every hour and as they grow, quantity of milk is increased simultaneously. Type of milk i.e., breastfeeding, formula or any other natural milk i.e., cow or goat milk. Other than mother, all types of milk are referred by a child specialist to avoid any serious illness in infants.
Infant feeding log records all the feedings for the day and may be customized to include nap times as well because it is directly affected. It is an important to tool to note growth of an infant over a designated period and ensure their nutrition is proper.
The log is maintained by parents
Infant feeding log are usually maintained by parents therefore, they are generally different for different infants. Some of the general information provided by an infant feeding log is mentioned below,
- Infant data: name, age, weight, height, and other information about the infant is added on the log to mark a significant difference.
- Date: date of each day is mentioned to keep the record updated and organized.
- Type: type of milk is also mentioned for each feed because some infants are fed on breast milk along with formula milk etc.
- Number of feedings: total number of feeding for the day are mentioned to keep a track of milk concentration.
- Milk concentration: concentration of each feed is mentioned meticulously because whole feeding log depend on the intake of milk. It is usually measured in ounces.
- Timing: timing of each feed along with duration between two feeding is also recorded.
- Naps: naps are not directly related to feeding log but a well-fed infant sleep peacefully and do not get irritated during wake window therefore a record of nap times throughout the day can be very insightful.
Few important things to be well understood
Infant feeding logs are given primary importance because of the following reasons,
- It helps parents to track growth of their infant so that they can take necessary precautions if things do not seem fine.
- A feeding log can be presented to doctors and other specialists to help them in assessing situation and guiding parents.
- It can be valuable if infants are under the supervision of day care authority because parents can recheck their well-being though their nutrition intake.
- Measuring regular weight and height of an infant helps parents to increase their feed based on their body requirements.
- In case of nay ailment, healthcare providers devise treatment plan based on the physical factors of any infant.
- Response of a new formula milk can be recorded though infant’s milk intake.
- Feeding log also provide a schedule for feeding an infant so that they are well-fed without being fussy.
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