I feel like a horrible mom, but...

[mstormin]

I feel awful saying this, but I really can't detect the hunger sign in my DS.  He's 6 wks old so I feel like I should know him by now, but he doesn't root and I'm not really sure btwn the differences in his cries.
The worst is at night since I'm so tired!

If I try to feed him to see if he's hungry and he's not he gets really fussy and will cry more.

What are the hunger signs in your child?  help!

[alligirl]

Heehee...I STUNK at reading my kids' cues....BOTH of them.  I wasn't any better at 6 MONTHS than I was at 6 weeks.  I just couldn't figure it out.  I would just kinda figure that at about 3 or 4 hours he should be hungry so I fed him.  And at 6 weeks, I would be really surprised if you had all his cries/cues figured out, so don't be so hard on yourself.

Sorry I can't help you more....just wanted to let you know you are not alone!

[tylersmommy]

Don't be so hard on yourself! I had a similar problem...Tyler didn't cry much and wanted to suck all the time, so I had a tough time detecting hunger signs in him. I basically never figured it out, so I kept an eye on the clock and fed him when it was time, like Alli said. Night time was tough too...I think that's a big reason why we he had 2 night feeds until he was 7 mo, when really all he wanted was for someone to find his binky. :roll: I think I was too tired to think that he might need something other than food!

So no, you aren't alone!

[Deb_in_oz]

I also say don't think you are a terrible mommy - it is really hard in the early days and it also depends on your child!  with my first it was about 2 months or so and we finally felt like we knew most of her cries (but for the first 6 months we used the charts in the original BW book and would be looking up descriptions - like "is her torso arching?"  :roll:  and trying to deduce from the cues Tracy lists)  this was a real lifesaver as it taught us what the descriptions looked like on Alex.

dd2 is spirited and very hard to read - she is almost 6 months and we are only now seeing eye rubbing to tell us she is tired and slight cries for food - up until now it has been purely a guessing game and we got it wrong the majority of the time.   trust yourself that you will get there in the end and in the meantime if you think it is hunger (especially if it is 1-2am and then 3-5am) offer food and you will soon learn  if you listen carefully to what the sounds are when you are right!  HTH

[HeatherC]

I agree with the pp.  It was trial and error for us in the first several months.  I was feeding every 2.5 hours from the start (except in the hospital after she was first born and I didn't know what in the world was going on  :? ), but it took her awhile to bf well.  Therefore, we sometimes bf just a bit every hour or so, and tried to offer the bottle to make sure she was getting nutrition.  Anyway, if you're not sure, go ahead and offer a feeding.  He'll let you know whether or not that is what he needs.  You could try charting his mood, the time, and what you tried and what worked.  Tracy's chart of cry descriptions was also a livesaver for me.  It was my first step in figuring out how to help dd and set me on my way with her.

[Critter]

I am going to echo everyone else....don't be so hard on yourself :-)

I get so proud of myself because I think I have it all figured out and then Luke decided he wants to change it up....he's 10 weeks.  Guess that's what we have to look forward to for a lifetime :-)

I agree with watching the clock.  If your lo is not hungry, he won't eat.  My pedi told me that babies are much more aware of their needs than we are....so true.