Until a couple of weeks ago, my 15 week old, Reese, was sleeping from 9:00 pm to 9:00 am with one middle of the night feeding. But in the past two weeks, she's been waking up hungry roughly every 3-4 hours throughout the night. The times aren't exactly the same each night, but are similar. We are new to the Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, but have intuitively doing many of the things Tracy suggests: We wake at roughly the same time each day and bf every 3 hours, followed by awake-time and a nap that averages 1 to 1 1/2 hours. We cluster feed in the late afternoon every 2 hours, with a 30-45 min catnap. Instead of our usual bouncing the baby to sleep, I've started Tracy's pat and shush which works most of the time. We also swaddle, because Reese is a spirited baby. I have yet to start the "dreamfeed" since our schedule seems to start about 1-2 hours later than Tracy's 7:00 am waketime.
My questions are these: If this has been happening on and off for 2 weeks, could it still be considered a growth spurt? Since she's 15 weeks old (and 13 lbs, 13 oz), do I treat Reese with the recommendations for a 3 month old or a 4 month old? Should I try to stretch her nursings to 4 hours, given that she's still cluster feeding in the afternoon every 2 hours? I've never had a problem with milk supply, in fact, I have a heavy flow and Reese nurses only one breast per nursing for roughly 5-10 minutes. Tracy suggests pumping to increase flow -- is this necessary for me? Should I institute the 7 am starttime, or is starting at 8 am okay?
