growthspurt or time for weaning - how do you know?

[bodenbetty]

dd is 18 weeks & exclusively breastfed. at night she used to wake around 10ish & 3 ish which I could handle. teh lastfew nights it has been 9/12/3 & ;ast night was 8.30/11.30/ 7 a few more times I can't remember.

how long do growth spurts last? she's feeding stil every 3 hours in the day but isn't intersted in her 7am feed as presumably too full from the night.

my mum keeps telling me she;s feeding too oftenat night & I should let her cry....... no point expressing as I'on my own with a 3yr old too.

any ideas gratefuly received before I go mad through lack of sleep!

BB, the pattern you describe is normal for a baby of this age, though I can see you could find it irksome when she has been waking less!

Waking is simply not a sign a baby is ready for weaning - despite what out-of-date leaflets and HVs might say. Early solids are not meant to fill a calorie deficit, but to introduce the baby to a range of tastes and textures....babies can actually grow very well on breastmilk alone for a long time, but they do start needing the experience of solids and the extra iron they cn provide from about 6 mths or so.

This phase is likely to go by itself, or you could think of ways to make it easier for yourself. I hope others will come on with some ideas for this - co-sleeping is one, of course.

My personal view is that leaving a baby of 18 weeks to cry in the night is cruel. What are you 'saying' to her by not attending to her? That no matter how distressed she gets, no one will take her need for comfort seriously?
Nice - not.

I agree with Tiktok (as always).
My DD2 is just over 7 months and has gone from one feed a night to at least three. She was weaned a week before 6 months and this has made not one jot of difference. TBH I didn't expect it to but a little part of me was hoping for a miracle!
Definately co-sleep (we do after the midnight feed) and remember that it won't last forever.

cheers girls - guess I willjust have to live with it for a while longer! co-sleeping is not for me & neither is crying it out so we'll soldier on!

I've got a 19 week old who went from waking once a twice a night to currently every 2 to 3 hours! From reading lots of different threads this seems to be really normal for this age. I'm sure I read somewhere that this is period in their life is a big transition and that is why they need lots more feeds and are not as settled at night. I just hope it is not too long a phase as the last couple of nights I only had about 4 hours sleep in 1 or 2 hour stretches. Hoping for a longer stretch tonight!