Author Topic: Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??  (Read 1947 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Jrolph

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 1
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 79
  • Location: Ontario, Canada
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« on: August 22, 2005, 12:25:56 pm »
Does anyone know when the next growth spurt is after 6 months??  My DS is almost 9 months and for the past 4 days he's been waking up during the night every 2-3 hours.  He was starting to be a really good sleeper up until the past week.  It has been really tough on me and I don't know what to do.  He is hungry when he wakes up and nothing will help him unless I feed him.  I know that he can put himself back to sleep very easily I am just lost since he has been waking the past few days.  The first couple of days he was a cranky bear but he had been getting better during the day now.  I am so confused right now and I almost feel like a prisoner because I am afraid to go out in the evening because I am scared he will wake up and want to BF.  He is exclusively bf and he has never had a bottle.  He drinks from a sippy cup but in the middle of the night all he want is to be breast fed.  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jen

Offline SandyGal

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 1
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 154
  • Location:
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2005, 00:53:05 am »
Hi Jen:

Have you started him on solid foods? He sounds hungry. The only way to stop night hunger is to increase his calorie intake during the day. What does he eat during the day?
Sandy-Mom to Kyra (1-7-04) and Kylan (9-20-05)


Offline Jrolph

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 1
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 79
  • Location: Ontario, Canada
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2005, 01:06:02 am »
Hi,

Sorry, I put that he is exclusively breastfed but I only meant that he doesn't have formula.  He eats three solid meals a day.  he usually has cereal and fruit for breakfast, veggies and fruit for lunch and cereal and veggies for supper.  I try to give him a little bit of meat but he doesn't like it pureed so I am holding off on the meat until he can eat regular meat.

I thought he might be hungry but he shouldn't be considering how much he eats during the day, all of that including 5 breasfeeds a day, so he should be full.

Offline cazao

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 104
  • Location: Vancouver, Canada
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2005, 15:17:50 pm »
hey there. i think there`s a growth spurt a 9 months. we`re experiencing exactly the same thing. i guess we need to feed our los in the night and so long as we don`t do any AP, things will settle down in a few days (hoping hoping  :roll: ). not sure how to get more food into my lo in the day, but i think i`ll try. i heard having protein (meat/tofu etc) at dinner helps fill them up? good luck (we`ll be watching this post.... :lol:)
Our beautiful baby girl is....

Offline SandyGal

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 1
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 154
  • Location:
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2005, 01:15:16 am »
If it is a growth spurt, the night feedings will up your milk supply during the day. If it continues happening, maybe do a yield to see how much milk he gets? Sounds like he is a good little eater. My dd would eat meats only when mixed with veggies or fruit (chicken and apple for instance). Don't know if that would work for you, but you might try. Give it a few days and see how he does before fearing that he is developing a bad habit.  :)
Sandy-Mom to Kyra (1-7-04) and Kylan (9-20-05)


Offline Jrolph

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 1
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 79
  • Location: Ontario, Canada
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2005, 12:25:58 pm »
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all of the good advice.  My DS is doing much better he only woke up once last night so that has been a big improvment.  I think he was just going through something developmentally or a growth spurt not too sure.  I am really thankful that waking every 3 hours has ended it was very exhausting and I haven't been feeling well the past couple of days so it has been a god send that he has been sleeping better.

Thanks again for all of the advice.
Jen

Offline Natalie B's mom

  • New & Learning The Ropes!
  • *
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 9
  • Location: England
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2005, 19:53:13 pm »
I'm glad to hear I'm not alone! My dd is 9 mos and has been waking. I didn't want to feed her right away, but after 45 minutes of her not settling, I did it and she gulped down 7 oz and fell back asleep. It's only happened twice and have read that there is a growth spurt right around 9 mos. so am hoping this is it and she's not getting used to having a bottle at 3 am!

Offline marnelle

  • New & Learning The Ropes!
  • *
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 1
  • Location:
Growth Spurt or Separation Anxiety??
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2005, 03:17:22 am »
Hi all,

Wow, here I am not knowing whats going on with my little nine month old and you all have the same problem!! I just couldn't understand why my DD started waking again. She's been doing really well with night sleeps, can put herself to sleep and needs no feeds between 7pm and 6am. Now suddenly she starts crying at night and it takes me about two hours to settle her and usually I end up rocking her, which I really do not want to do. I'll try feeding her next time and also boost her feeds and meals during the day. Thanks for all the advice. It's worth trying them all!!

Marnelle
I have a nine month old baby girl called Emma