Give each part the right kind of record
If you already use both breastfeeds and bottles, this is a way to organise the record. It is not advice to introduce a bottle, change your feeding approach or choose a top-up amount.
| What happened | What to record | What not to assume |
|---|---|---|
| Breastfeed | Start, finish and sides used; last side if known | A number of millilitres from minutes on the timer |
| Bottle | Time, contents, amount actually taken and unit | That everything prepared was consumed |
| Pumping | Time and amount expressed, in its own entry | That the expressed milk was fed immediately |
Use the same units when adding bottle amounts. Keep breastfeed minutes in their own column: minutes and millilitres cannot be added into one total.
One feeding session, two useful entries
This fictional example explains record keeping, not a suggested amount or feeding routine:
- 10:00–10:18: breastfeed, left then right, finished right.
- 10:22: bottle, expressed breast milk, 30 mL taken.
- Note on the entries: same feeding session; bottle followed the breastfeed.
The record contains two feeding entries. If you count the whole episode as one session, label that convention. A caregiver who logs a breastfeed and bottle separately may produce a higher entry count without baby having more feeding sessions.
The bottle amount is known in this example. The breastfeed has a time record, not a measured milk volume. A summary should say “30 mL recorded by bottle, plus a breastfeed”, rather than “30 mL total milk”.
Avoid counting expressed milk twice
Imagine you express 90 mL in the morning and a caregiver later records 60 mL of that milk taken from a bottle. Those numbers answer different questions: what was expressed and what was fed. Adding them as 150 mL of intake would count some milk twice.
If you also record milk in a stash, keep storage changes separate from the feeding record. Milk moved out of storage is not necessarily the same amount baby drank. This example is bookkeeping; use your local published guidance for milk handling and storage.
When transferring a paper entry into an app, mark it as transferred. Check the child, date and approximate time first so another caregiver does not enter it again.
Make the next handover shorter
A useful note could be: “Last breastfeed finished right at 10:18; expressed-milk bottle followed at 10:22, 30 mL taken. Both entries are the same session.” There is no need to write a paragraph each time.
Let the log describe what happened. It does not determine the next bottle amount or tell you to delay a feed. CDC advises noticing hunger and fullness cues and says a baby does not have to finish a bottle. If you are concerned about intake, speak with your child’s clinician. Source: CDC.
Follow any individual feeding plan your care team has given you. The free feeding log has separate spaces for feeding type, side and bottle amount if paper is easier today.
