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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

3 week growth spurt - does it exist?

12 replies

minko · 24/09/2006 10:33

Have had a terrible night... DS who is 3 weeks tomorrow woke at 12, 2, 4, 6 and 7.30. Took one breast each time and fell asleep before I could give him more. Is he in a growth spurt? Please tell me it's not gonna stay like this!

OP posts:
hunkermunker · 24/09/2006 10:36

Yes, sounds like it.

It won't stay like that. He'll go to university one day and won't want you in bed with him there

Sorry, flippant - I understand totally and empathise - not fun to be woken so frequently. It DOES pass - just when you think it's not possible it's going to. And then he'll sleep for a lot longer than usual and you will have rock-hard boobs and need to wake him. Sigh.

You're doing a fab job. Keep it up!

chunkypudding · 04/02/2008 12:34

okay so this is a very old thread but I was wondering if there was anything about this on here.. my baby, who is pretty keen to feed anyway, seems to have gone a bit mad with it today, and is also very grumpy... he'll be 3 weeks on wed and I remember my health visitor saying growth spurts are often accompanied by lots of crying...

anyone want to cheer me up? Have had a totally rough night, my em c section scar seems to have popped open on one side (only a small bit) and I've just knackered my back...

surely my baby will not want to feed constantly for more than a couple of days??? I'll have no nipples left!

on the plus side, am losing weight really quite speedily (brave)

MegBusset · 04/02/2008 12:51

Yes, DS was like this at 3 weeks, it lasted several days and he cried a lot (he had colic too), I just kept him on the boob as much as he wanted and it did settle down. You are doing brilliantly, I don't know much about BF after a c-section but if you can feed lying down at all it might help you rest.

tiktok · 04/02/2008 12:52

chunky for the rotten day....

No real evidence that growth spurts happen at predicatable points, but it is certainly the case that babies have occasional periods when they need more comforting/feeding, and that they express this by crying and/or showing they want to be close and in or on the breast.

Mostly, going with the flow keeps babies from going into melt down and it does not last more than a couple of days or so.

If nipples are sore/damaged, you can get help with this .

EffiePerine · 04/02/2008 12:53

Yes, 3 week growth spurt common and it can make babies v v grumpy (DS was awful during growth spurts). They can last up to a week but a few days is more common. Theys eem to be thick and fast in teh first few months - anout at 6 weeks, then 12, then 20 - but it settles down

FioFio · 04/02/2008 12:55

This reply has been deleted

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chunkypudding · 04/02/2008 13:06

thanks everyone. things have been a bit tough, c section wasn't planned AT ALL though I'd always said I'd do whatever was necessary to deliver my baby safely.

I had no fluid at all by the time I was 12 days overdue, even when the mw ruptured my membranes (took 3 goes ouch ) no fluid came out.. then my boys heartbeat plummeted to 50 with every contraction and that was only ear;y labour...

so c section it had to be. has made things a bit tough physically (and emotionally tbh) but am proud that we've managed breastfeeding from the off (though I do really want to give up some days )

my health visitor reckons my little boy has pretty much been on a growth spurt since birth as he was skinnier than he should've been as my placenta was a bit buggered (she didn't say buggered tho)

guess I should be gald he's a hungry little monster, he hardly lost any weight at all and had gained a whole pound in less than 2 weeks (was 7.3 and a half at birth)

so this is an extra growth spurt on top of all that, or maybe he just wants attention and boobies...

he has been asleep for an hour and a half now, bit of a relief

sorry this seems to have turned into my birth announcment! first time back on mn since the big day you see.

btw his name is mani. and I keep wondering if I'm cut out to be a mum but somehow we get through it...

EffiePerine · 04/02/2008 13:40

Congratulations, you're obv doing a great job

weblette · 04/02/2008 14:46

Hey chunky, my ds3 is one day older than Mani and seems to have been on a very similar growth spurt since birth too

aurorec · 04/02/2008 17:10

Mani is such a cute name!!!
I had an unexpected C section as well, and it is not pleasant- they don't tell you how slow recovery actually is.
Seems like you're doing a terrific job though congratulations!

chunkypudding · 05/02/2008 18:45

well we saw the health visitor today and mani has gained well over a pound in the past week! apparently that's at least twice the 'normal rate'. he's gone from 7.3 at birth to 9.6 at one day off 3 weeks!!!

so the growth spurt contonues.. little monster!

hope your boobs haven't fallen off weblette bit all-consuming this constant guzzling isn't it??

good to know i'm doing the right thing by feeding him all the time - he's my first and its really hard to know whats right!!

chunkypudding · 05/02/2008 18:47

ps thanks again for the support everyone. it has all got a bit much a few times lately... really is relentless isn't it?

love him lots tho...

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