Growth spurts

I remember when my son was ‘new’ and we had our first growth spurt, the one thing that I noticed was that he would want to eat almost through out. On a normal day, he would nurse for at most 30 minutes so for him to want to nurse for an hour and then wake up 45 minutes later wanting some more made me feel like going crazy. It did not help that I had sore nipples that was painful and felt worse than labour, I promise.

Growths spurts happen at around 7-10 days old, then 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. It does not work like clockwork so it can be days earlier of days later. It last for 2-3 days and sometimes might go on for a week. If you have put baby on a schedule, this is when they throw it out of the window and follow their own path. Do not worry, it goes and things go back to normal.

So what happens during a growth spurt? It is different for different babies.

Baby becomes hungry all the time- A growing baby is a hungry baby—she needs all the calories she can get. If you’re nursing, frequent feedings boost your milk supply so you can meet the increasing appetite of a larger baby. Don’t be surprised if your little one wants to nurse as often as 15 or 16 times a day during a spurt.

Baby is fussier than usual- the most obvious reason for this moodiness is lack of sleep. If he’s awake more often during the night in order to feed, he’s not getting the longer periods of rest he needs—which will put even the calmest baby on edge.

Some babies may nap longer than usual or sleep longer at night- how I wish this is what my son did.

It’s probably a good idea not to use growth spurts to justify making behavioral changes over the long term. For example, you wouldn’t want to overfeed a child because she’s “in a growth spurt.”

Don’t be too quick to blame growth spurts for everything. Have you recently changed his daily routine? He could also be getting sick: Breast milk provides valuable antibodies that your baby needs to fend off an infection, while sleep gives the body energy for the fight. In addition, a baby who is teething may become fussier and display erratic changes in his eating and sleeping patterns. Finally, don’t forget the simplest reason of all for sudden shifts in your baby’s mood and schedule, he’s a baby—it’s his job to constantly throw you for a loop!”

additional info from:

http://www.parents.com/

http://www.babycenter.com/