breastfeeding giant baby, growth spurts and my appetite

[dragonflyinthelillies]

My son is 10 weeks old and massive (on the 98th percentile). He's just had (another! ) growth spurt, during which i was very hungry.

However it finished about 3 days ago now and I'm still ravenous and eating everything in sight.

My question is is this normal? And as he gets bigger will I just need to keep eating more and more until we start weaning?

Ive got to say I feel pretty daunted and can't see us lasting till 6 months without food. I go to these mother and baby groups and he really is huge compared to other babies his age.

My husband is 6'5 so I assume this is where it comes from!

[April52]

I can't tell you if it's normal or not but I stuffed my face with both mine. DD was only on 75th centile and I remember eating mountains of hot food - real comfort stuff like stews and mash. She got very hungry at 4 months and I lasted till 5 before she had food. DS is 16 weeks old and I don't know what happened but he shot up from 50th centile to 91st at week 5 and he was soooo hungry! I ate cake and chocolate. He is still a hungry boy but I'm not so hungry any more. I don't think I'll get him to 6 months before he has food. I know it's not recommended at all but tbh most people I know went for the (now outdated) between 4 and 6 months to wean.

[PatioPonderer]

Yes it's normal, just go with what your body is telling you. I ate everything in sight when bf, in fact we had to buy another fridge to house all the food. I had to take a bag of fruit and snacks to bed for during the night too. And I was slim during this stage.

I doubt you'll eat progressively more as time goes by, surely there is a limit! who knows though!

You must be producing some gold top milk there :)

[RandomMess]

I'm tiny, had huge 98th centile babies and exclusive fed until 6 months. Yep you are ravenously hungry - make the most of it, I ate and ate and ate and managed to loose weight

[Branleuse]

Just make sure that what you eat is nutritious and try and take some supplements. A good multivit and some omega 3s, because its you who will be depleted otherwise, and your body will need nutrition as much as it needs calories

[Grantaire]

Getting them to 6 months is nothing to do with how big they are. There are far more calories in milk than anything you can offer before 6 months and they digest milk far easier than solids so actually, exclusive feeding is somewhat easier for a hungry, big baby. Weaning should be done when they are physically ready and showing the signs of their gut being mature enough for solids. Sitting up, no tongue thrust reflex and able to pick up food, put it in their mouths, chew and swallow. How often and how much they feed is irrelevant in a normal, healthy baby.

My babies were big too. DD shot up from the 50th to off the charts within 7 weeks and at 27 weeks she was still exclusively bf and weighed 25lbs.

I went through periods of being very hungry. I just listened to my appetite and tried to eat healthily. Breast feeding is quite dehydrating so make sure you're drinking sufficient water as thirst will feel like hunger too.

[YouCanDanceIfYouWantTo]

Another one with a 98th centile EBF baby! She's 10 months now and things have calmed down considerably.

I think the times she was feeding the most and I was most ravenous were definitely for the first 3 months. Things definitely seemed to calm down after then - and we didn't wean until 6 months.

I also found it a little embarrassing at mother & baby groups when my DD was bigger than babies 2-3 months older, but be proud your DS is obviously thriving!

You wanting to eat loads is totally normal so don't worry about it, you need your energy so keep on eating. I found that feeding so much I didn't put anything on and managed to burn through the baby weight pretty quickly (which was a nice bonus...)

[squizita]

Mine is between the 9th and 2nd percentile. .. I was still like this and even stuffing my face lost a stone off my pre pregnancy weight! Just go with it! I'm not sure where my tiny dd puts it all lol.

[Muddymits]

My dd was well over the too of the chart, at six months she was massive and still ebf. She went onto solids slowly and gradually stretched out- she has stayed off chart for height!
I was starving with all mine, their size made no difference. I think I snacked less the better they slept and that how I felt linked more to thAt then their growth

[worldgonecrazy]

I think most BF mums remember the intense hunger. My manners went out of the window for a few weeks, I just NEEDED to shovel the food in as fast as I could. I went for high protein foods to try and keep me fuller for longer, and I always had cheese and bananas in the fridge/cupboard to help keep me going. It does ease off after a while.

[alittleegglayonaleaf]

Dd1 was like this - in my experience it's normal!

[tiktok]

The volume of breastmilk taken by a baby is more or less the same between the age of one month and six months - the baby does not take more breastmilk as he grows. This has been known for a while, and you can read more about it here: kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/..

So a baby of 10 weeks will not increase his intake as he grows, and your appetite will not increase.

Appetite spurts happen, of course, but they are temporary.

[dragonflyinthelillies]

Ah cool thanks guys that's reassuring. I feel like such a pIg sometimes! And don't get me wrong I'm very proud of my creamy good stuff!

I think your so right muddymits I definitely snack more after a bad night... especially chocolate, I seem to fantasise about it constantly when I'm really tired!

That's interesting tiktok I'll have a read