Author Topic: Does this sound like a growth spurt?  (Read 1319 times)

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Offline Vally

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Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« on: April 27, 2011, 17:32:32 pm »
DD is 13 weeks. She has been going well at night with just sometimes one feed in 12 hours. Last night she woke every 2 hours and each time I fed her. She took a good feed each time. I was surprised that she then took a good feed this morning at 6am
. Today she has just seemed unsettled and difficult to read. I have been feeding her every 2 hours but not long feeds. Could this be a growth spurt? I am worried that she has started drinking more at night than in the day it seems although my dh thinks I shouldn't worry as she has only just stated this. I sm also worried about having enough milk as I find it diffiucult to express. Should I top up witj formula?

Offline Mama2C

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2011, 17:39:10 pm »
Sounds like a growth spurt to me!

Babies usually go through growth spurts at this age...here's a link that gives more info on growth spurts...http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurt.html

In my experience BFing my two kids (DD weaned herself at 16 months and DS, who is 14 months is still BFing 4x a day)...I always had enough milk for these growth spurts...your body knows what to do and so does your baby. Just trust her - she knows what she is doing! I never needed formula. Your supply will adjust if you just let it!

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Offline Sam-n-Max's Mommy

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2011, 21:19:34 pm »
I also think that it is a growth spurt.  I remember the same exact situation when DS was around that age.  Hang in there with the sleep deprivation!
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Offline Shiv52

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2011, 21:46:41 pm »
{{{hugs}}}

Sounds like a growth spurt.  I wouldn't supplement with formula.  It will take your body a couple of days to up its supply but if you supplement your breasts won't know you need the extra milk and supply can be affected. 

It will pass xx





Offline Vally

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2011, 06:38:14 am »
Thanks for replies. Last night was better which makes think was growth spurt. She went to bed at 630am woke at 12 and then 530am. She normally sleeps until about 630am sometimes 730am. I fed her at 530am as I thought if growth spurt I should feed. She seemed sleepy still but tried to put back down to sleep but she wouldn't. She was wide awake happy so I thought I would have to keep her up. She then stayed up for 2 hours until 730am for her nap which seems to long A time but she just didn't seem to be tired. She is now asleep so will see how long nap lasts. Was I right to feed at 530 am and then keep her up? Are EW sometimes also down to GS? Is 2 hours too long A time ?

Offline Vicku

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2011, 19:42:02 pm »
During GS (and it certainly sounds like one to me :)) you will have to be a little inventive and take things as they come. It does usually mess up their routine, but only temporarily. Don't worry about one one A time, she will make it up another time.
About not getting much from a pump, some women simply doesn't respond well to a pump and will never get much out even if they have a very good milk supply. So don't measure your supply by what you can pump because it can be very deceptive. Always better to measure by baby's wet nappy output. HTH
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Offline Vally

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2011, 08:39:58 am »
She is still waking for two feeds at night. She does seem to take fairly good feeds but should she only be having one by now? Especially as a week ago she had a few days with just one feed. I want her to drop a feed in the night as she is not hungry in the morning. Ssh pat does not work for her. She only falls asleep after crying for 5 mins. I don't use the CIO method but I allow her to cry whilst I am with her as she just seems to need to cry to wind down. How to I get her to drop a feed in the night? What do I do when she wakes? Which one should I try and drop? She gies to bed at 630/7 and wakes  at 12 and 4.

Offline Sam-n-Max's Mommy

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2011, 11:01:36 am »
My DS was still feeding 2x at night at that age.  He was going to bed around 7...we would do a DF at 1030 and then he would sleep from anywhere until 4-5:30am, feed and then go back to sleep until 7.  We continued the DF until he was about 7 months old.  The DF is still considered a night feeding, but it helps eliminate a wake up call at a time when you yourself are already in dreamland. :)  Have you tried that?

If you don't want to do the DF, when you think she's ready to drop a night feeding, I would drop the midnight one first.

I think this age is a little crazy.  I remember things going a little haywire around this time and DS waking up for more feeds during this period that he usually did.  It lasted us a few weeks.  I am not sure if it was a long growth spurt or if he was comforting himself and I didn't know enough to know that at the time :), but it did eventually work itself out.  He did start eating less during the day as a result and I think that could be why it lasted so long -- it turned into a cycle.  It started to resolve itself once I limited what he was eating in the middle of the night (not dropping a night feed, but giving him less).  One thing I think was happening was that once he started drinking his bottle, he would relax and fall asleep and then would just keep sucking, so he was probably getting more than he needed in the night.  I suspect that your DD's night feedings will work themselves out in a little bit.   Hang in there, babies are confusing! :)
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Offline Vally

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2011, 11:04:05 am »
Thanks. Good to hear pretty common at this stage.

Offline Vicku

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2011, 19:49:13 pm »
Oh yes, it is very common at this age for nights to become a bit messy. Many many BF babies still have two nightfeeds, and carry on doing that for a while still, while of course there are others who STTN by themselves very early on too.
Have you thought about trying a DF? My thought was that since the feedings are at 12 and 4 ish, and she's not hungry in the morning, that if you moved the first feeding forward by doing a DF around 10:30, hopefully the second feed would be a little earlier than 4 and she may still be interested in the wake up feed. Of course it's no guarantee it'll work out like that, but perhaps worth a try for a few nights? Would also mean (if it worked) that you'd only get woken up once :)
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Offline Vally

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2011, 20:21:32 pm »
I guess I really should try the DF. I have never really been keen on the concept of feeding a person whilst a sleep but I certainly understand why so many people do it. We never did it with DS but he was s great sleeper and I am already learning just how different DS and DD are. I guess I should be more open to trying something different.

Offline Vicku

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Re: Does this sound like a growth spurt?
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2011, 20:24:26 pm »
Well since things are a bit messy now anyway it may be a good time to just give it a go and see. It's entirely up to you though of course :) I DFed DD1 with success until she was 10mos, but never bothered with DD2.
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