3/4 month growth spurt - how long will it last?!

[hlh]

Hi there.

DD2 is 15 weeks old and EBF. We have now had 5 nights and 5 days of lots of feeding. Every 1-2 hours in the day and averaging around 4 night feeds, with no end in sight. She didn't really have a growth spurt at 3 months so not sure if it is that one coming late or the 4 month one early.

Just wondered how long they can go on for as routine is out the window at the moment!

Thanks for any advice x

[Fiver]

Sounds like she's making up for not having had a 3m one!!  Hopefully you're coming towards then end now and things will settle down again.  Some people see a 4m sleep regression too, so you could be getting some of that as well as the GS.  Just keep on doing what you're doing and keep going

[hlh]

Thanks, still no sign of the end but hopefully it can't go on much longer! DD1 has chicken pox at the mo so she is home from nursery too so having a crazy time! Just hoping she is not going to end up wanting fed all the time after it ends....

[Fiver]

Just a thought, but could DD2 be in the early stages of CP too?  Often LOs will feed more when they are starting to get sick?  Just a pondering.

[hlh]

DD1 had her first spot on Sunday so I think if they were going to get it from the same source she would probably have had some spots by now, but you never know. The growth spurt has been going on for a week now. Saw the health visitor today and she said they can sometimes last 2 weeks, hope that's not the case assuming that's what it is?? I have been able to see her bottom two teeth below her gums for the last month or so. She seems bothered by it at times but don't think it could be responsible for all the additional feedings?

Who knows just hoping to get some rest soon. DD2 is waking earlier and earlier in the evening, it was 9pm last night after going to sleep at 7.30! DH settled her though so didn't feed until 11.30 at least.

[Fiver]

Teeth can certainly play their part.  DD's sleep always goes a bit wonky just before one comes through, but was lousy for a LONG time.  That said, her first tooth didn't appear until she was 16m.  They can certainly rumble around under the gum line and cause discomfort.

[hlh]

Last night was awful, really don't know what is going on. Can't seem to work out in the middle of the night and my extreme sleep deprivation why she's waking.  Was just assuming it was still growth spurt but I don't know any more :-(. I'm trying to move towards 3.5/4 hr EASY so will maybe post the last couple of days routine on the EASY board to see if that may be the problem. 

Thanks for your help. Fingers crossed for more sleep soon! :-)

[Erin M]

Yes, definitely post when you get the chance.  Having another pair of eyes does wonders when you're sleep deprived.

[hlh]

Thanks, been trying to keep a note so will try and do that later. I just started the transition on Thursday and because of the GS was doing a rough 3.5 hr EAEASY as she was seeming to wake from her naps early hungry. Sometimes she is taking a small amount for the second E but sometimes nothing so I think I'll try EASY again and see if it impacts on waking earlier from naps.

I am a bit worried about the nights though and whether she is ready to drop a feed in the day as she had 3 feeds last night.  My health visitor suggested feeding from both sides in the night to see if she would last longer. I had tried that when she was very young and could never seem to wake her enough to take the second side. Pre growth spurt she was having 2 NFs each from one side and approx 10 mins. Last night she had 3 NFs each time she had both sides for approx 10 mins. So she has gone from feeding for about 20 mins to 60 mins. She used to last to 12/2am (no DF) but is now waking at 10/11 to be fed. She woke at 10 last night and DH tried to settle her for a while and then I ended up feeding her around 11 and she was definitely hungry and more upset than I think I've ever seen her before. She then fed around 2 then 4.30 (rough timings, cant remember as was half asleep!).

She has fed well today at 7 and 10.30 but worried that she seems to be going longer stretches in the day than she can at night.

Around this time with DD1 we started to give her a bottle of formula at 7 before bed as she wasn't settling due to hunger and it seemed my milk wasn't filling enough in the evening. DH thinks we now have the same issue with DD2 in the night. I would be happy to do a formula bottle before bed but we cant get her to take a bottle at the moment! Trying to work on that.

Any other thoughts on why she is suddenly so hungry at night?? Feeding has calmed in the day so assuming she is no longer having a growth spurt....

[Fiver]

It could be that you are facing the 4m sleep regression where problems with sleep sometimes arise.

[hlh]

Thanks for your advice. I take it there isn't much I can do if that's the issues? Do you think I should try and not feed her then even if she seems hungry? Am I creating more problems for myself?
It's funny as this week her naps have been so much better, settling on her own very quickly and either not waking at 45 min
s or just needing a quick shush pat to extend. I'm guessing that's maybe the increased A time. Nights out the window though!

[Fiver]

If you think she's hungry, then feed her.
If you need some help tweaking your EASY, the ladies over on the http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=41.0 can help, otherwise there are the Sleep boards where you can get further advice regarding anything sleep related

[hlh]

Thanks very much for your help! Will post on EASY and/or sleep board re other issues.

[Erin M]

She also may need to stick closer to 3 hours between feedings during the day for now too.  I found with mine that trying to push past 3 hours before they were ready was a mistake -- and some babies really aren't ready until closer to 6 months.  Sleep is really tough t sort around this age as well - there are A LOT of changes going on developmentally and a lot that interferes with sleep.  If she's going liver during the day than at night, I would probably stick with a 3 hour daytime feeding schedule -- your night feeds sound hunger related with the length of them.  You can also try resettling without a feed just to try it -- I would try every now and then with mine -- but if they settled and woke right back up, then I'd take t as hunger related and feed -- feeding is much quicker anyway than trying to repeatedly resettle a hungry baby!