Baby-tracking

May 29, 2008 12:12 AM

Babyweb 2.0 - looking for an online app/site to keep track of baby's feeding/pooping etc schedule.

Google calendar and iCal are too tedious to update, do not want to do with a spreadsheet or *gasp* pen and paper. Or overblown software.

Ideally you would just have the day with times and be able to quickly add pre-designated events (say feeding) and possibly some extra details (80 mls formula) etc.

Does this exist? What is a quick solution for tracking these things?

posted by gomichild to computers & internet (14 comments total)

I think you want the Trixie Tracker
posted by stefanie at 1:10 AM on May 29, 2008

Err.. sorry. Here's the correct link, and for good measure, the original site that started it all and an old MeFi post about it.
posted by stefanie at 1:21 AM on May 29, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Ooo ta stefanie I will look into this one - didn't come up in my searches.
posted by gomichild at 1:37 AM on May 29, 2008

gomichild! Omedeto!
posted by misozaki at 3:31 AM on May 29, 2008

Yeah, Trixie Tracker is the shit (hehe, poop jokes). On the other hand, paper and pen was very dependable and served me well when I was out and about, or travelling. Congrats!
posted by cocoagirl at 4:48 AM on May 29, 2008

I think Fretful Mother Magazine covers this.
posted by Gungho at 6:41 AM on May 29, 2008

Might I ask a question as a non-parent who's done her fair share of babycare with friends' kids, etc? Why do parents track these kinds of things if a child is normal and eating/sleeping/pooping as expected? I mean, I could see if the baby was not doing much of the above/or too much of, but is this something pediatricians ask for these days? We're considering having kids and I find this aspect of it fascinating...
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:09 AM on May 29, 2008

For me it's because I'm working hard on eliminating bottle feeding to go to breast feeding and it's helpful to see how much of what he's drinking. Also it helps you when you come to plan your schedule if the kid is say sleeping at certain times and so on.
posted by gomichild at 8:11 AM on May 29, 2008

bitter- girl...

I woulda thought this was crazy until I became an sleep deprived Mom.
My kid was fussy ALL the time so I didnt know if it was hunger or not and I am/was so tired I had NO idea when I fed him last.
Also- it he hasn't pooped I know to up his fluid/cut back on binding things like banana.
Since I work now there is a wipe board and my child care provider write poop, food and nap info on it every day.

Yup, It's all pee and poop talk with us.
posted by beccaj at 9:25 AM on May 29, 2008

Also helps communication between two sleepy parents. Docs/parents in the US are a bit obsessed with numerical measurements of baby as a way to determine wellness.
posted by sondrialiac at 9:27 AM on May 29, 2008

bitter-girl.com - this was something we tracked in our house just for the first few weeks when you don't know what day it is let alone when the last time your kid pooped. There are metrics in the few few weeks about how everything is functioning that map to wet/poopy diapers and if you didn't write it down - you'd have no idea. Especially when you are breast feeding - there is no gauge on your boobs - so the only way to measure if you are producing enough/they are getting enough is their weight and their waste...
I couldn't have been bothered with turning on my computer to write this down - I had a notebook on the nightstand with three columns. Tick marks for every wet diaper, poopy diaper and a column of feeding times with a line drawn below every day.
posted by Wolfie at 9:53 AM on May 29, 2008

Why do parents track these kinds of things if a child is normal and eating/sleeping/pooping as expected?

1) Exhaustion. You want to remember what time it was when you last fed the baby, but you're so tired that one day blends into the next. Or you're asleep and your husband doesn't want to wake you, and knowing if the baby ate an hour ago or three hours ago makes a big difference in guessing why baby is crying (and whether or not to wake mom)

2) For Breastfed babies, especially if mom has supply issues or the baby just has a poor latch/suck the number of wet diapers in a 24 hour period can sometimes be the only way to gauge if a newborn baby is eating enough
posted by anastasiav at 12:57 PM on May 29, 2008

Thanks, everyone! Makes sense to me... but until you explained, I would've put it down to obsessed-with-detail-parenting and not just, say, having a real reason to know these things! Ah, what I have to look forward to! :)
posted by bitter-girl.com at 1:42 PM on May 29, 2008

Thought I'd drop back in to mention this gadget I just learned about: the Itzbeen Baby Care Timer. Looks great and is getting some good reviews. For me it would hit the sweet spot between simple, digital, and portable.
posted by cocoagirl at 5:13 PM on June 4, 2008