Welcome to Baby Diary!

I created this book to help parents track the important activities of their new baby. When my son was born it was a fantastic day and I was thrilled to be a mom. As the weeks went by and he did not sleep well and I became more and more sleep deprived I couldn’t keep track of when he ate last or how long he slept. I was a mess. I didn’t want any other parents to suffer with the confusion or self doubt that I did. I hope this little book can help in the early days of parenthood and bring some clarity to that ever changing world. I wish you and your baby all the best.

Dear New Parent,

Here is a book I put together for you and your new baby.  When you arrive home with your bundle of joy it is the beginning of an amazing journey. It is also the beginning of making sure your baby is growing and progressing. To do that you need to track seemingly mundane tasks such as sleeping and eating. When I had my first child, I had this information on scraps of paper all over the house. It was of little help to me at the time so I decided to create this book so all the information would be in one easy-to-use place.

You will soon learn that a full day for your baby consists of eating, sleeping, pooping and peeing! They may mix up the order here and there but these four activities will now rule your world. And you need to keep track of it all. You may feel as though you are in the movie Groundhog Day where you get the strong sensation that you have done all these same things the day before.

Why track all this information in the first place, you may ask. Your baby’s most important job at this stage is to get into a good pattern of eating and sleeping. Your baby will be working very hard each and every day to grow and thrive so by keeping track of how well they are eating and sleeping (and, yes, also pooping), you will know if they are getting what they need to succeed. This information also tells you if there is a pattern in these activities so you can get into a new life routine. (And, probably most importantly, this information tells you that you are not crazy to think that youneed more sleep while your angel smiles at you looking perfectly rested!)

Parenting is a challenge, to say the least, and new parents need support along the way. This book will help you and your family work effectively with your pediatrician during the first months – a time when you are going to be making a huge adjustment yourself and operating on fewer hours of sleep than you once thought humanly possible. This is an easy-to-use book and will give you the information that will help your pediatrician better understand how your baby is progressing, how your baby’s systems are developing and generally what your routine looks like. This will help your pediatrician determine if you or your baby needs any help in a particular area. There is no judgment here just information to help you make decisions or see patterns that will help in your parenting. I hope this will offer a small slice of calm in your crazy new parenting pie.

There are literally thousands of books out there about maternity, pregnancy, and parenting. And there are many differing opinions on how to make it through each of those stages. No matter the parenting philosophy or style you choose, this book will help. I am not trying to cover all the bases of the first few months; just the very basics that will help you and your family get into a routine. I designed this book to complement the other tools available.

I hope you all get enough sleep and I hope all in your house are happy and very healthy. Thank you for purchasing this book.

The Basics of the Book

I am not a certified parenting expert, medical doctor or wellness guru; suggestions in this forward are just that, suggestions. I get this information from my own experience and those of other parent friends and these are the things that have worked for us. These suggestions are meant to help not confuse or judge. The following is an overview of the information you can track with this book and my suggestions and thoughts about each of these areas.