Blimey - this 17 week growth spurt is a killer - any advice for a mumsnet newbie?

[jop64]

My 2nd son is 17 weeks old now and seems to be having a mega growth spurt (like he needs it - he weighs 17lbs 12oz!!)
He's been feeding 2 hourly day and night for the past 4 days and I'm exhausted.
He's also decided not to take any ebm from a bottle for some reason which means not a lot of rest for me.
We had a nice little 3 hourly routine going before this with d sleeping through or sometimes waking just once a night.
How long is this likely to go on for - I don't remember it being like this with our first.

Cosleeping. Honestly, it's a lifesaver.

Unicef advice on safe bed sharing

ds2 (1yo) still wakes up 2 or 3 times in the night to bf and thanks to co-sleeping I (usually ) don't even feel dleep-deprived.

Can you get a sling or carrier? With a bit of practice it's often possible to feed while the baby is in there. I spend hours roaming around the otanic garden with ds1 running happily around and ds2 feeding in the sling.

I'm afraid there's no telling how long it will go on for. I can only advise going with the flow, and then when things settle down it will be a lovely surprise

sleep-deprived. Obviously.

And botanic garden. (An otanic one sounds interesting).

You are not going to believe my chirping 'oh yes, I sleep just fine' if I continue to type like this.

Second the bed sharing idea. My ds is 17 weeks tomorrow and I have co slept since the beginning. Makes it very easy to deal with the disturbed nights, as we just drift back to sleep, theres no dragging yourself from one room to the other. My ds is a fellow porker and people are always asking if he's good at night, to which I can honestly answer yes, as we are not really disturbed by his pretty much constant feeding. I would have lost it long ago any other way.

O and with the ebm- I expressed religiously with dd as I had to go back to uni when she was 8 weeks old so I gave her ebm every day from when we got home from hospital. With ds I am under no such pressure so haven't othered, so now he will not take a bottle at all Have you tried a cup? I have tried ds with a very basic one with a spout (Heinz iirc) with some success. The Tommee Tippee boob-like bottles were useless imo, Mam were the best, so might be worth trying a different teat?

We are co sleeping alot - I just seem to get so stiff lying in one position that I still sleep badly! Can you recommend a sling that is easy to bf in?

I have a Manduca which is a sort of improved (and ethical ) Ergo - only available in Germany atm afaik. I can also feed in a normal wrap sling. I am, however, small of nork, making it (I assume) a lot easier.

I can bf in my close carrier, although admittedly that is much harder to do now that he is bigger. I think you might struggle with doing it with a baby that size tbh, though I hope someone might come along and prove me wrong. Would a bedside cot be a possibility? Then you could still co sleep but be able to sleep more comfortably? You might be able to get a cheap second hand one? Or just take the side off the cot you have?

You need lots more pillows for co-sleeping if you are getting stiff.

My DS is 11 weeks and close to 20 pounds (he was premature as well, you wouldn't bloody know it!) So I do sympathise.

It will pass, my longest with DD lasted five days and I was practically dead by the end of it (mind you she must have been even more knackered because as a baby she needed more sleep than I did). She did gain four pounds that week though!

Berolina- yes, can vouch for big norks (G cup when feeding ) making sling feeds a bit harder!

I have ds2 in the cotbed minus one side, pushed against the (1.40m!) bed. That helps - in fact, makes it feasible in the first place.

wmmc- butting in, but what are you doing in the water in the pic on your profile????

Cleaning out the filters in our fishpond - I was eight months pregnant (obviously) and nesting.

Was admitted to hospital the next day and emerged about a month later with a baby! Overdid it somewhat

How many pillows do you have and where?? I have 2 for my head and one between my knees (I had awful spd this pg which hasn't fully resolved).
Blimey 4lbs in one week - what the hell am I moaning about!!!

I don't have pillows at all. I sleep better completely flat. Sorry about the SPD

I have twelve - I'm not exactly a big person either! I had bad SPD which is why they are still all there but I find then I have enough to sit up with them behind my back and have some on my lap to raise him to the right height to feed hands free!

Yes the 4lb week is etched into everyones memory round here. The HV actually sent her scales away convinced they were broken but noooo DD just decided to do all her growing one Tuesday!

bump for stretchmarkqueen

Oooooooh, ta!! Am reading!!

Hi!! I am having this too, although ds is 21 weeks.

Thanks everyone, I think things may be easing a bit, he's gone 2 1/2 hours a couple of times now!! Whoopee! He slept through for several weeks before this - I couldn't believe my luck but I'm not sure we'll get that back now until he's well weaned (which I'm not doing anytime soon and I don't want to get into that again!!!!!)