Growth spurt or time to ween?

[Tala86]

I really need help! DD used to be a great sleeper going 6 hrs during the night after her last feed. As of 2 weeks ago though she's up every 3hrs! She's ff during the day and bf during the night. She just seems so hungry all the time, she has 3 6oz bottles in the day and 3-4bf a night. Yesterday she had a 6oz bottle and was hungry 2.5hrs later and had an extra 7oz bottle (4th of the day). I thought she'd sleep longer but still only managed 4hrs.

I've read about growth spurts but I didn't think they lasted this long? She's 13lbs (over double her birth weight), sits well with minimal support and holds her head steady, she's always interested in our food and if you hold something by her face she tries to push it in her mouth and eat it. Is she ready to start solids at just over 4months or is it just a growth spurt??

Hi Tala, I'm no expert, but all the information I have read (DD is five months, so I've been reading about it quite a bit!) suggests that extra night wakings and being hungry are not reason enough on their own to start weaning, and that extra milk is all a baby needs. If your baby is showing other signs though, why not talk to your health visitor?

Sounds like the 4 month sleep regression to me rather than ready for solids.

I'd echo what others have put above. A hungry baby is not the right reason to wean. Unless you're specifically directed to do otherwise by a GP, weaning should be at 6 months.
There's an excellent section about it on MN I think, I'll try and find a link.

Here's the link
www.mumsnet.com/babies/weaning

Ok I'll try and hold off weaning. I'm taking her to see our hv on Wednesday. How on earth do I survive this sleep regression/growth spurt? We're only getting 2hrs of sleep in between night feeds. She's so tired she sleeps loads during the day. I've started to keep a journal of feeds/sleeps to show the hv cuz I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong. She'll nap about 6hrs total in the day and sleep 12 at night (including all the night feeds).

My baby is very similar at the moment and I am finding it tough. I get very excited if I get three hours sleep in one stretch. She feeds every three hours but with a fair bit of grizzling in between, so nights are very broken at the mo. Can you try and nap during the day when your baby does? It won't last forever"!

I'm in the same position with my 5 month old DS suddenly waking every few hours starving. He is EBF which none of my family or friends did and I have felt a bit of pressure from them to start weaning. After reading this I am going to stick to my guns and carry on with BF only as its only a few weeks till his 6 month check with HV. Nothing against people choosing to wean early but I don't think my DS is ready to yet.

It really does sound like growth spurt/ 4 month sleep regression. It's brutal but all you can do is plough on through & know that it's not going to last forever ( even if it feels like it).
Is there anyone who could take baby out for a few hours over the weekend so you can have a chunk of sleep? You'd feel a lot better for it.
Can I ask why you ff during the day & bf at night? No criticism at all - it's just not an approach I've heard of before & wondered how it works for you. I don't know anything about mixed feeding so am interested.

My mom helps out quite a bit but she's suffering with her health at the moment so can't ask her to do too much. I started combination feeding for a couple of reasons, mainly my let down was too quick causing DD so choke and ended up with her spitting up very regularly, secondly she was only going 2.5hrs between feeds and spending about 2 of those hours being sick which was killing me. I didn't want to give up breastfeeding completely so just BF at night and first thing in a morning. Took a while for my body to adjust and sometimes I express a little on the evening but my milk supply has gone down to a level she can cope with.

I do try to nap during the day but it's still broken sleep, I want so much to have 5hrs in a row, that would be heaven

That's really interesting. It's good that you've found a way that works for you. I've never heard of that approach before but now you've explained it makes a lot of sense. Sorry to hear about your Mum, her health worries must be tough to deal with as well as everything else. Hope you get some sleep soon.