I'm confused

[Hester]

Hey all,

So, Noah is 4 month tomorrow. He is on a 3 to 3.5 hour EASY, but his naps are not very consistent.
Now since about a week his feedings are erratic. He seems hungry every 3 hours, (GS?) but when he eats, he will eat for a couple of minutes and then he starts to cry and arch his back. Pops back on, cries, back on, arch back, cry etc.
I am feeding both sides now, which I started after I has a mild form of mastitis 2 weeks ago. My milk supply was low on that side for a while.
He also wakes up at night, doesn't really need to feed, but is fussy.

Any ideas? I was thinking I needed to switch to a 4 hour EASY, but he doesn't seem to make it till 4 hours, he gets very frustrated and screams if he has to wait that long.

Also, the last feed of the day, around 6.30 is usually only 1 side for 5 minutes, and same pattern, arching, crying etc. I feel as if he doesn't get enough to eat this way, but he has enough storage for me to figure this out. Should I feed maybe pretend this is a GS, just feed him more often for a couple of days and then switch to 4 hour EASY?

[Vicku]

Hi Hester

Both of my girls did *exactly* what you describe suddenly at 4 months and both times it turned out to be the 4mo GS. It is a biggie and many people say the 4mo GS was the biggest GS for their babies. $mo is the classic time that people give up Bf too as it can often seem like there's not enough milk and if you don't know about the GS happening aound then it is easy to doubt yourself and supply... In fact the baby is building the supply for a while to come after that and you just need to park yourself on the sofa (as much as that's possible with more LOs running round) and feed feed feed It is frustrating for them as they are so hungry and they only get small quantities of milk each time they nurse. If you've also had mastitis and supply dipped after that it will make things even harder and he is trying to build up the supply further. Hang in there though, it should get better. If it was me I wouldn't worry about going onto a 4hr EASY just yet as many EBF bubs don't make it to 4hrs until quite a lot later once solids are established. It does of course vary between babies though and if you think he's ready then maybe he is. Depending on his naps and A times too... For now I'd just feed on demand for a while until things settle though. It is quite likely the 4mo GS but could be due to other things too like teething for example.
What do you think?

[Tay]

Vicku is brill, great advice! Just wanted to suggest trying http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=88759.0 to see if it helps with the fussiness.
xx