Growth Spurt?

[tt]

Hi...I have a 4 and a half month old who used to be able to go 9-10 hours without a feed during the night.  SFor the last 2 weeks, she has only been going 5 hours before waking up and crying so I started feeding her thinking that it was a growth spurt.  But now that has gone for 2 weeks so I'm not sure if it's become a habit.  Last night, when she woke up at 1:00, my husband fed her a bottle (I usually breastfeed) to see if she was really hungry and she had 6 oz which is quite a bit but still woke up again at 6:00 am. 

I'm wondering:
-How can you tell if it's a growth spurt or if they might need to start solids?
-How long does a growth spurt usually last?
-If it's become a habit, how do I break it?

Thanks.

tt

[Carter'sMama]

Hi there!

I will try and answer some of your questions! 

Usually a growth spurt lasts a few days to a week and generally they occur at 3 months, 6 months, and a year.  During growth spurts they tend to be more hungry not only at night but during the day as well.  It is a good idea to feed more often during a growth spurt to help your body to produce more milk to satisfy your lo.  That being said ... if it has been going on for 2 weeks or more it night have started as a growth issue and ended up as a habit.

I think that you did the right thing by sending your DH in with a bottle.  I used to do the same thing when I was trying to determine if indeed it was a growth spurt that I was dealing with.  You could try pat/shush to get her back to sleep instead of a feed.  You have only been feeding during the night for a couple of weeks and your lo is still young so if it has become a habit than it isn't so ingrained that you can't fix it.  However, if she won't go back to sleep without a feed and she is scarfing down 6oz then she could very well be hungry!

Tracey doesn't recommend starting solids until your lo is atleast 6 months old because their immature digestive tracts just aren't ready yet.  If your baby is a large baby though you might want to talk to your pediatrician and see what he/she suggests.

I'm sorry if these aren't the answers you were looking for.  If you have any more questions please feel free to ask and I will try and help!

Good luck!

[Samuel's mum]

Night waking can sometimes seem to go 'backwards'! As your baby has become more active and perhaps moving more they could simply need more calories. You could experiment with getting more calories in the day e.g cluster feeding but some mums find that a night waking does happen from around 4 months until solids at 6 months. There are plenty of good reasons to wait until 6 months if you are breastfeeding. All the major health organisation e.g AAP, WHO, Canadian and British health services have moved to a recommendation of 6 months (from previously saying 4-6 months) based on relatively new research. You could certainly experiment with techniques for avoiding the feed but you may find it's needed until solids become more a part of her day (but only complimenting her milk diet.)

[JacobMarksMummy]

Dont be too keen to start your LO on solids as at four months her digestive system isnt ready for the stain of digesting solids. It can put major presurre on all her vital organs to do so and could leave her more at risk or allergies and obiesity in later life. Sorry, I'll get off my stool now 

As sams mum say have you tried getting more calories into her in the day? I used to cluster feed for quite a few months with my DS and even then he would wake at 3ish and then again at 6ish for more milk. Has this change co-insided with a sudden increase in her physical abilities? Or it could that she is awake for slightly longer and needs more calories for that. I would definatly try getting rid of the first night feed and see what happens just to check if its habit or hunger. You could try giving water instead of milk to see if she gets fed up of waking when she isnt getting what she wants. Definatly continue sending your DH in whenever you can as this is very helpful when trying to disconnect the sleep/mummy/milk connection alot of babies develop. HTH 

[tt]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  I think it was some kind of growth spurt since the baby is physically looking fatter and bigger! Usually I feed her every 3 hours but yesterday we were out and I didn't feed her the bedtime feed until the almost 4 hour mark.  Maybe she was hungrier because trhe feed was slightly longer and she slept went from 6:30 pm to 6:00 am without a feed! I'll have to see what she does tonight. I've been trying to cluster feed and also pump so that I get more calories into her and have more milk in general.

I will definately take the advice of waiting until 6 months before introducing solids.  It sounds like that is the best thing to do...especially since she's not exceptionally big or anything.