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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

6 week growth spurt........is no sleep normal?

9 replies

Hunter1106 · 22/07/2011 23:06

my ds was born 9lb 14 and has continued to gain weight steadily over past 6 weeks. He generally slept ok(ish) at night but past few nights/days has been waking up after only 30mins sleep and screaming when feeding! (doing both breast and bottle but he screams at both) ive been using infacol but no help! I lay him on his back fully swaddled but this isn't working now. I also tried a dummy but that doesn't help either! Is this normal for this stage? I see from other posts most babies sleep MORE at this time!! I'm starting to pull my hair out so tired and worried might be something wrong......any advice much appreciated thanks :(

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Pleb1969 · 22/07/2011 23:42

holy crap! 9lb 14! My eyes are watering at that. My DS are all too old for me much to remember the early days - I do remember putting my youngest on baby rice at 10 weeks old as a 9oz bottle wasn't enough... would probably be VERY frowned upon on certain forums in here...

Zimm · 23/07/2011 09:28

6 week growth spurt is hell- DD did not sleep, just screamed and screamed for food. Pass ed a few day though. If you are BF now is the time not to use bottles (and def not babyrice!) as growth spurts are a crucial time for establishing your supply. just sit on the sofa and feed and nap when you can.

bessie26 · 23/07/2011 10:46

Zimm is right, 6wk growth spurt is hell. I spent about a week in bed with DD2, it's when we learnt to feed laying down!

Hang in there!

shuffleballchange · 23/07/2011 18:59

Pure hell, but it does get better. Have ds in bed with you, learn to feed laying down and feed, feed, feed. I was tempted to switch to bottle feeding with DS2 at this stage because it was just too tricky feeding all the time and doing school run etc with Ds1. We did stick it out, and I'm glad I did as the feeding settled down again. Stick with it and just keep telling yourself its not forever. Lots of cuddles and closeness work wonders at this stage, its very tiring for you, but worth it.

Original poster

Hunter1106 · 23/07/2011 21:51

Thanks for advice/empathy! My dh thinks that too many cuddles "spoil" a baby and will not let me bring him into our bed!!! I find it so frustrating as I love being close with my ds although I don't want him to develop bad sleep associations! I know nothing you do is the "wrong" thing but get so frustrated with people saying you can spoil a baby at such a young age! Surely the wee thing just needs cuddles!

OP posts:

Octaviapink · 24/07/2011 07:02

DH and anyone else saying you'll spoil the baby is completely wrong - babies need the oxytocin hormone that is generated by physical contact for their brains to develop properly. Cuddles are required for correct development - most mammals carry their babies around everywhere.

It does sound like he's trying to get your milk up - breastmilk is definitely the best thing at the moment as it has the most calories that he can easily digest. The baby rice route can be tempting I'm sure, but as baby rice is simply 'filler' you can fill him up without actually giving him calories he can use, thereby making him hungrier.

RitaMorgan · 24/07/2011 07:17

You can't spoil a baby with cuddles, but you can effect their brain development by not cuddling them enough - tell your DH that! And don't worry about bad sleep associations - a 6 week old doesn't have the neurological capabilities yet to remember things and form habits in that way. Do whatever feels most natural to you for at least the first 3 months, probably the first 6, and then worry about routines and sleep associations then if you're that way inclined.

Your baby's needs have to come before your DH's at the moment - could he sleep in the spare room if he doesn't want to bed share with the baby? I agree with whoever mentioned feeding lying down, it made such a massive difference to how much sleep I got.

LittleMilla · 24/07/2011 21:17

Hunter my DS is now 11.5 weeks and we had the same thing. I just did what I could to get through it...so lots of sleeping in bed etc (when DH was at work ). I also had similar chat from DH...I think they mean well, but at the time I just politely told him to feck off and said I'd deal with consequences.

We're far from perfect (you'll see me posting all the time!) but DS is slowly but surely becoming dreamy. And actually, from about 7 weeks I really started to see a change and enjoy him more. After some effort, DS is able to nearly always settle himself now (has done for the last few weeks) and almost always sleeps in his cot. I bring him to bed if he wakes up early and I'm knackered...but 6 weeks is mega early to worry about spoiling them. My DH keeps on asking when he's going to sleep through, but as he's only up twice a night for 15 mins feeds, I've just said he'll do it when he's ready. Occassionally I crack and try random things to appease him, but everything is so much better when I chill and let DS take the lead.

And if/when we get the 4 month regression, I'll do whatever I need to do (co-sleep, feed to sleep etc) to get him and me through it.

boognish · 24/07/2011 23:41

If you're having to feed your humungous hungry baby that much, well, I'm amazed that you've managed to survive doing it so far without bringing your baby into your bed. Tell your dh to find a comfortable alternative place to sleep. Being in close physical proximity with your baby will help you establish that vital hormonal link that keeps your milk supply up. All the websites tell you to just put the rest of your life on hold right now, get into bed with baba and feed, feed, feed.

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