Growth Spurts

[MaMa2D]

Hello! I am curious as to what you experienced when your DC was going through a growth spurt. My DS will be five weeks tomorrow. He has been eating a little more than usual (he is exclusively fed EBM - so its not that I'm nursing him constantly - I can tell by how many ounces he consumes). He was able to take at least three one and a half to two hour naps during the day and would wake three times throughout the night and fall asleep within half an hour of feeding. For the past couple of days he fights sleep and was up from 4 AM to 7:30 AM. He just went down for a nap at 11:30 AM - with maybe 20 minute cat-naps here and there. No matter what I do he has to be constantly held until he is in a coma-like sleep to be set down and continue sleeping. Even as I type, I can hear him waking up from an hour nap after not sleeping for over 4 hours. He's definitely more fussy than usual. Any advice? Could it be a growth spurt or something else? Thanks in advance.

[newyorkgirl]

It sounds like a growth spurt to me. :) We're on the tail end of one right now. The first growth spurt Bennett had, he just ate more frequently for a couple days and he still slept all right. Afterwards, he went back to his usual every-3-hrs. (For the most part, he is breastfed, with the occasional bottle of EBM and sometimes formula, just so that he gets used to it and will take it if the need comes up.) This most recent growth spurt, which feels like it lasted about a week and a half, he ate every 1.5-2 hours, was much more fussy than normal (but I've also heard that colic peaks at around 6 weeks) and definitely slept less and wanted to be held all the time.

Only in the last two days or so, he is going back to his 3-hr schedule and napping better. He is also beginning to sleep one long stretch per night (could be because he is getting big enough to hold enough milk to do so).

With the feeding, I just had to nurse him. I know I sometimes got a little frustrated that all he wanted to do was nurse, but, well, if that's what he wants... With the fussiness, I would sling him and go for walks if it was cool outside. If it was too hot, I live right across the street from a shopping mall, and we would go walking inside the mall. The sling was a lifesaver - he would usually fall asleep within 10 minutes of being slung. We swaddle at night and use the techniques of the Happiest Baby on the Block (which sometimes don't work during a growth spurt, as we've learned!) and he usually doesn't fight the swaddle until he wakes up and is hungry.

HTH!

[MaMa2D]

thank you so much for your response newyorkgirl! we really can't understand why out of nowhere he is fighting sleep so much and wants to be held constantly. all this morning and last night he would cry if i set him down, but is so calm when being held (so don't think its colic ... but someone may set me straight ;) ). he is a big eater normally, but i have noticed that he is eating almost 5 oz. of EBM during each feeding, where normally he'll eat a little over 3 oz. any of you FF or giving your child EBM in a bottle ... does this sound right?


he is constantly kicking out of his swaddle and the side rocking and swaying hasn't worked as well the past couple of days

[MaMa2D]

**bump** because i'm desperate for advice! :confused:

[Marisa]

Does he seem uncomfortable, like his tummy is bothering him? It's common for a sensitivity to show up around 4-6 weeks, if there's something that you're eating that doesn't sit well with him. (Dairy is probably the most common culprit, I actually gave it up for the first 6-8 months or so.)

He may also be hitting a developmental milestone and not know what to do with himself. For the first few weeks babies are all about sleep/eat/sleep/eat. He may have realized that he prefers his view of the world when he's being held -- he's more upright, he's closer to the action. My mom runs a "new mommies" group at her hospital and tells them to lay on the floor just looking up at everything, and imagine that that's the only view of the world that you can manage to get. Of course babies stop crying when they're picked up -- it's way cooler than laying there staring at the ceiling! :)

Along with that developmental change, it's also possible that his shorter naps mean that he's starting to be ready to be awake a little more during the day. Can you get outside while the weather is nice? Get to the park? Give him some different stuff to look at?

How much he eats at each feeding has a lot to do with how big he is. He may be in a growth spurt, but his stomach is still just about the size of his fist, so keep that in mind. In order to get an idea of how much he might be eating, take his weight and multiply by 2 and 2.5 to get a range of oz. for the day. During a growth spurt he might eat more -- and also keep in mind that that's a guideline based on formula-feeding, and breastmilk is digested more quickly. Smaller, but more frequent, feedings might be the way to go.