Bringing home a newborn can be a harrowing experience, especially for first time parents. Not only do they have to learn to take care of another person, but dealing with baby’s chaotic schedule (or lack of schedule) can really throw parents for a loop!

There are a few different reasons to track the happenings in baby's day. For one thing, it assists in communication between caregivers. It is also one way to help baby develop a schedule; you can discover any trends that begin to develop and work to adjust them as necessary. Plus, it is just a great reminder for sleep-deprived parents whose memory is not always firing on all cylinders!

An easy way to track a baby’s schedule is to shade in a chart when baby eats and sleeps. Below is a picture of a quick and easy spreadsheet you mark when baby eats and sleeps, or any other action you want to follow. (Click here to download your own copy.) In the picture, feedings are marked with diagonal lines and sleep is shaded black. This chart reveals the baby is starting to develop a trend in his feeding habits as meals are grouping around the same time each day.



The bizzyBee by Chicks with Kidz has been mentioned before on Polliwogged as a soon-to-be released product that helps parents note baby’s feedings, sleep, and medication and then upload that information into a computer to electronically track trends. Now set for a March 2009 release, the bizzyBee might be just the ticket for parents of spring babies.

Tools like these that keep track of baby’s schedule can help ease some of the stress of life with a newborn. - Sara I.