Newborn Feeding Log

Who this is for

A line for every feed, written at the time. Each row takes the date and the time the feed started, whether it was breast or bottle, which side or what was offered, how long it went on, the amount if that is something you measure, and a note — and nothing else, because what goes in those columns is yours and your baby's.

Parents in the first weeks, partners and relatives taking a night shift who need to hand over what happened, and anyone who has been asked by a midwife, health visitor or doctor to bring a few days of written feeds to an appointment.

What this helps you track

• Every feed with the date and the time it started
• Breast or bottle, and which side or what was offered
• How long the feed lasted, in minutes
• The amount, if measuring is something you do — left blank if it is not
• Who fed the baby, so a question can be put to whoever was up

How to use it

1. Write the baby's details at the top, and in the wide box copy anything your midwife or health visitor asked you to keep an eye on, in their words.
2. Start a row as the feed starts: date, time, breast or bottle, which side or what was offered.
3. Add the minutes when it ends, and the amount only if you measure — say in the header which units you are using so the column means the same thing every time.
4. Put anything worth passing on in the notes: bringing it back up, falling asleep, a difficult latch, a change of teat.
5. Sign each row with whoever did the feed; overnight, that is often not the same person twice.
6. Take the whole log to the appointment rather than a summary, or fill it in online and keep it saved in your own browser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How much should my baby be taking, and how often?

This sheet does not say, and carries no amount, interval or schedule anywhere on it. That question belongs to your midwife, health visitor or doctor, who knows your baby. There is a box at the top to write down what they told you.

Does it work anything out for me?

It adds up the minutes and the amounts you have written in, and counts the feeds you have logged. It does not compare them to anything, because there is nothing on this sheet to compare them to.

I breastfeed and do not measure anything. Is half the sheet wasted?

No. Leave the amount column empty and use the side and minutes columns instead. Plenty of people fill in four columns of this log and never touch the fifth.

Can I log expressing on the same sheet?

Yes. Put it in the breast or bottle column and say so in the notes. Keeping it on one page means the night reads in order rather than across two sheets.

Do I have to fill in every single feed?

Only if you want to, or if you have been asked to. A few honest days with the awkward feeds left in are worth more than a fortnight of tidy guesswork.