An 8 week Growth Spurt????

[Baby Clapp]

Hi there,

I am wondering if anyone has every experienced their little one going through an 8-week growth spurt?  My little guy definitely went through all of his other growth spurts (first 3 days, days 7-10, 3-week and 6-week).  It is hard to base a growth spurt on fussiness as he has always been very fussy (has both reflux and colic).  I did notice on Sunday that my breasts felt very soft and I felt like I couldn't get ay more milk for him to eat so I am wondering if he is trying to stimulate more milk production.  I expressed this concern to the doctor at a follow-up appt. on Monday and she did put me on meds to try and stimulate more milk production. 

What I am struggling with is the fact that my mother-in-law is with us for this week and she is insisting that I top him up with formula.  She wants me to do this as he typically cries just before going to sleep and then about 30-40 minutes after he has slept because he has completed his first sleep cycle, wakes up again and cries before falling back asleep.  I really don't think he is hungry at these points as he falls asleep after 5-15 minutes of fussing.  He did exactly this when I took him on a walk this morning - fussed and cried for about 5 minutes after being awake for an hour and then fell asleep for 30 mins.  He then woke and fussed/cried for about 5 minutes and then fell into a very light sleep for about 20 minutes at which time he woke (this would have been 2 hours since start of last feed) where he cried unconsolably until I fed him (I had to run home!)  He is now seeming to feed every 2 hours instead of his usual 3, which is what he typically does during his growth spurts which is why I am wondering about an 8-week growth spurt???

I am not against supplementing, if it is for the right reasons, but I sense my mother-in-law wants to shove a bottle in his mouth EVERY time he cries as she has already admitted that she doesn't like to hear him cry. I fear that will screw up our EAS routinue (which my husband and I love as we can usual determine what his current cry means based on where he is in his routinue) AND I am scared that it will mess up my breast milk supply.  It is important to me to continue breast feeding as I believe that is best for him but I am feeling very unsupported by both grandmas.  A somewhat typical day for us is:

7am wake and eat
7:30 awake time
8:00 sleep

10am eat
10:30 awake
11am sleep

1pm eat
1:30 awake
2pm sleep

4pm eat
4:30 awake
5pm sleep

6pm cluster feed 1
6:30 awake
7pm  sleep

8pm cluster feed 2
8:30pm awake
9pm sleep

10pm cluster feed 3
10:30 bath
11pm sleep

12pm dream feed
12:30 sleep until about 5am
 

My son just went for an 8-week check up to see if the reflux meds were working which they are as he jumped from the 25th to 75th %ile!  He has regular poopy and wet diapers therefore I can only assume he is thriving just fine off of my breastmilk BUT I don't want to be bull-headed and not try supplementing if it truly is the best thing for him.

Any thoughts/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Bonnie

[A pair of Charlies]

Hi there

Yes, 8 week GS is really common and usually lasts 2 -5 days. Sounds like a GS to me so BF on demand for now, rather than looking at the clock. How are things now - have things settled down?

So sorry you're not getting the support you need IRL, but lean on us here a little and let us give you a boost, eh?

Okay, the supplementing with formula. Yes, you can supplement BUT it will mean that your baby's demand is satisfied by a supply you're body knows nothing about, so for the next feeds, your body won't be making the extra it needs to and so the cycle continues. The GSs are pretty slick really - baby grows rapidly so wants to feed more frequently, even though your breasts may feel pretty much empty for a day or so. But the clever baby with all the insistant extra sucking (whether he gets the milk or not) is stimulating your body and telling it in so uncertain terms to step up the supply, produce more milk produce more milk more milk. And no one likes incessant nagging - within a few days your milk supply increases to meet the new supply level demanded, the time between feeds extends a touch and your baby gets the larger amount of milk per feed that they need. I think that's how it works. Supplementing means your body doesn't get the clever little nagging message. A way around that is to pump after the feed (when supplementing with formula) so your breasts get the extra stimlulation that way. Not as good or effective as aBFg baby, but better than not. 

More ways to help get your supply up to meet the new demand includes switch side nursing (pop him on the other breast when the feed is finished, and then back again once that breast is finished, even if not much milk). Also, nursing skin on skin also really helps too.

Sorry, that may all seem a bit garbled. 

Here's some more info:
 * http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=66001.0
 * http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64627.0

Let us know how things are now?

Charlotte