determined to ex BF to 6 months - talk to me about the pre-six-month growth-spurt please!

[chiefcookandbottlewasher]

DD is 14 weeks and exclusively breast-fed. It has always been my intention to get to at least 6 months before starting to wean, but i keep being told horror stories by all and sundry about the 4/5 month growth spurt and how I'll never get through it without introducing some solids. Well I'm sorry but I just don't want to do that! So far, the growth spurts DD has had have been pretty intense, but I have learned to take the attitude that they are not forever and can be got through eventually without too much pain! How different can this one be? Can you please share your experiences with me to a)reassure me that it won't be all that bad and b) give me some ammo to fight back with! Thanks

I am still ex BF and my DD is almost 8mths - she got introduced to solids at 5 and a half months just cos I felt it was right then - not cos of huge growth spurt stuff. She is guzzling food now - but still loves milk time. I am now thinking we are closer to the end of BF rather than nearer the beginning and it's making me feel a little sad as this is MY special time with her. I would do it all over again (and intend to with next one if we go there!). Regarding ammo - just say that the HV has advised against it and start quoting some references about introducing solids too soon etc. I got pushed by mum to introduce solids at 3-mths and just said no.... The 4/5mth growth spurt basically never happened for us! If you do get a major spurt - remember the introduction of solids means you will gradually drop feeds and won 't get all those lovely milky cuddles x

Hi! I have a 19wk dd and i would say she is def feeding more, esp at night...

BUT it's manageable, she is my 1st and I'm not back at work yet, so i'm just trying to ride it out. the thought of getting organised for solids in this sleep-befuddled state is just far too much anyway!

this table is useful - look how many calories and how much fat breastmilk has in comparison to carrots etc - if anything will help fill
her up it'll be milk!

my other argument to people wanting me to get her onto solids early is that she can't sit up unaided in her highchair.

good luck!

Hi,

My DS is 19 weeks as well and seems ot be just settling down agian from his 4 month growth spurt. I would say it was much longer but lessintense than previous growth spurts. i think thye also often feed more at night at this age because they are so distracted during feeds in the day. DS is only waking once a night again now but who knows what is round the corner.

i would say who cares what anyone else says, she is your baby and you will feed her how you and she like. You donlt need any more ammo than that IMO. Also thinking she is only a baby for a very short time and you will never have this time agin might get you through the nights when she is up every hour!

Hi Caz10 - loved this table about fat content.... Really interesting and my friend has a baby who is OFF the chart with his weight and height and she has just started him on solids and is a little worried that he could gain even more weight. This will make her feel a littl ehappier I'm sure!

If you feel you aren't producing enough milk try taking feenugreek capsules and after a couple of days you'll really notice the difference. They helped me over a growth spurt at about 6 mo.

hi there, what are feenugreek capsules and where do you get them?

I exclusively BF until 7 months and there was no problem. I then started gentle BLW and we were still predominantly BF at 10 - 12 Months. She is fine and loves her food (perhaps because we took it so gently...) and has never had constipation! It's the way nature intended, IMO. Don't worry, you may not even notice a growth spurt, not everyone does...

Ex BF my 2nd DC until 6 months. Didn't find it a problem. If anything she was less settled with sleep etc after I started weaning (even though she would not take water for ages so was just being BF a lot as well as on solids), so I am glad that I didn't start sooner. As soon as she started eating solids she loved everything and has always been a good eater.

She was on 75th centile ish from just being BF and I didn't feel the need to move her onto solids just because she was bigger (she is now 20mths and below average weight but was a v chubby baby).

booblies - they are capsules with powdered fenugreek seeds in them. I got mine at a herbalist but you can probably get them online. I took 2 capsules 3 times a day. As i say it took a couple of days to notice a difference - i.e. breasts felt fuller. You will also smell of curry but this didnt seem to bother my DD! and no-one else noticed...

Sorry, that last bit was a bit too laid back and you clearly have noticed growth spurts before. There are loads of excellent BF and weaning threads on here and they will give you loads of info. There are so many weird myths about BF... you're doing brilliantly and there is no reason why you can't continue...

Horror stories?!?!!?

After a few days of worrying I stocked up on healthy (er....ish) snacks, drinks and TV/books/magazines and fed as much as possible. Treated first solids as play time and presumed milk had more calories than solids (wish I'd seen that Kelly mom chart - its fab!)

Trust in your body and in your baby. In a fw months you'll have a bit more freedom when dd is happy in her high chair and you have time to go to a nice bra shop!

I actually missed it when growth spurt settled!!!!

My husband has just reminded me that I had several dreams that I was a huge sow suckiling everyone we knew....

BF'd dd, who was at the top of the scale for weight and height when she was born, and stayed that way for about 9 months - think she started to move around a bit more then and got a bit skinnier. She had huge growth spurts, where I camped out on the sofa for days just feeding, and we got to 6 months just fine, despite the "oh, she's a big baby, she won't last" nonsense. Sometimes the growth spurts did feel quite draining, but no washing, no pureeing, no steaming, no cleaning up the mess until we started BLW at 6 months.

wow thanks all for your messages! Lol at ilovewashingnappies dream - it does feel a bit like that sometimes, doesn't it? So glad to hear people have succeeded with bigger babies, DD is on the 98th centile, but to me that just means that BFing is working so why should i start to give solids early?
Thanks for the table Caz10, I have found Kellymom really useful in the past but had not come across this before. Must go and stock up on snacks now!