Is this a growth spurt?

[whittywan]

My 5week 2 day old DS (birth weight 3.15kg) who I'm EBF has fed very well since birth and has gained weight very well. He seemed to be starting to settle into a 2-3hr feed routine during the day and 3 hourly at night but all gone awry in past 2 days.

He now seems to want to feed every 1.5hrs during the day and becomes very unsettled in the evening from about 17H30. He takes a few sucks and then pulls off the breast, often screaming, only to want to feed again about 10mins later. This carries on until about 11pm at which time he settles, has a good feed and then wants to feed throughout the night.

Is this a growth spurt? or something else I should be worried about?

Bump

Try not to worry. It's such early days; you cannot spoil a baby at this age. Do whatever it takes to survive

Soothe to sleep on you and roll with it my lovely. They'll settle down again soon enough, there is a growth spurt at week 6 (I think).

It maybe wind of course as well, some people call it colic if the crying is in the evening. It?s because they're in pain (sorry I?m stating the obvious). You could try some infacol or gripe water at every feed for a while as that can help, if you're not using one or the other already. Make sure you wind them well and maybe wind them half way through every feed as well, if it helps? Make sure you're drinking plenty as well and eating lots, so that your milk supply is plentiful as well, just in case Worth trying all the avenues, just in case.

If you're co-sleeping they do latch on and off all night as well for comfort and also as they smell your milk. Although of course you may not be co-sleeping. But try not to worry either way, you're doing great x

My second child cried for 2 to 3 hours a night until aged 10 weeks and I spoke to my health visitor about it, she agreed it was probably colic and her tips to try were:

Warm bath covering tummy.
Lying him on his tummy with a warm (not hot) hot water bottle under him to soothe tummy.
Cycling his legs whilst he's on his back. Holding feet palm to palm and rocking legs sideways, whilst lying on floor or lap.
Or scooping with right hand down his right side whilst holding feet palm to palm.
Or rocking him face down well supported on legs.

She also said don't eat anything that gives you wind such as brocolli, cabbage, caffeine, cauliflower, garlic or other stimulants. She said if none of the above did work I could try buying Colief drops from a chemist and mixing in with feed by expressing it first, as she said sometimes colic is caused by a lactose intolerance.

I found that out of all of those the cycling the legs was particularly good. I also found that as he had trouble burping, the infacol made him cry harder as it coalesced the bubbles into one big one that still went downwards but hurt more. But giving him gripe water after every feed straight away really soothed his tummy. I had to do it every feed though without fail.

The warm bath in quiet room was also a real help. Every night at the time he started to get agitated I would put in the bath, in a bath cradle and keep putting warm water on his tummy and every now and then top the bath up with warm water, so it wouldn't get too cold for him. Once or twice he was in the bath for 2 hours in the early days as it was really calming for him. Once he started doing big yawns and it was bedtime, I'd take him out into a dark bedroom and change him and BF him quietly and then often he'd go to sleep straight away.

But let's face it all babies are different and these may not work for you but it's always worth a try!

Goodluck

Thanks Tea. We are co-sleeping as this is the only way I get any sleep.

Although I know that I don't have a supply problem (can easily express 150mls in one evening, and at least 3 poos per day) I am very worried that DS is not getting enough during his feeds and this that this is part of the problem. I feel like he is only taking a minute amount and then starts to scream and that it then becomes a vicious circle of screaming/feeding.

I think it is probably wind my love.

You could attend a BF clinic to see if your positioning is good. As sometimes they can take in more air if badly latched etc.

Try some of my multitude of tips as well. And speak to your HV too if things don't improve. They can be helpful.

Your letdown might be very fast and they're struggling to cope with that, you could express a teeny bit first until the initial rush has gone and then pop the baby on? See if that helps? Just a thought that crossed my mind.

It will get better my lovely.

Tea - the holding feet palm to palm and rocking sideways is brilliant he LOVES it.

Thanks

Aww that's good.

There are a lot of mums on here right now with similar problems. You're not alone and by 12 weeks old they'll be much more settled usually.

Keep me posted x

My mum has come to visit for a few days and suggested last night that DS is very over tired in the evenings (terrible daytime sleeper) and that we should 'force' him to have a nap. So last night we rocked, and sang to him and held him while he had a good 2 hour nap. It really seemed to make a differnce.

I had to bring him to the breast 3 hours after his last feed (was still lightly asleep) and he fed really well, was happily awake for about half an hour afterwards and then started getting crabby again. I repeated the process and he then woke again 2 hours later for a feed and went down to sleep at 9pm.

I am definitely gonna try this again tonight to see if it isn't the answer.

Ahhhh now your mum would be right there if he doesn't sleep well in the day. Babies at this age, the better they sleep in the day the better they sleep at night.

They need 14-16 hours of sleep in 24 hours.

A general rule of thumb is to keep them up no longer than 90 minutes to 2 hours at a time in the day. Watch him and when he does his second yawn in a row put him to bed for a nap. Some people put their baby in a buggy in the day to sleep and cot at night so they know the difference. Mine always went in their cots and learnt over time to sleep well in the day or night in their cots but I was always consistent.

Soothe to sleep the same way each time for a nap so he gets used to it. Nursing to almost asleep in a darkened room and then laying down maybe the way forward for you. It is natural at this age to not want to be away from mummy, they've spent 9 months in your tummy hearing your voice and heart beat but in my opinion it is important to teach them to learn to go to sleep, but at this age in a very GENTLE fashion, so no CC just be persistent and remain in room with them until they fall asleep for a nap, just don't leave them room with them. After literally 3 days of doing the same thing every time, he'll get it I promise.

But if they haven't slept properly all day they will be very distraught by night time.

But it may also be wind and being over tired?

I think you are right Tea. That is is both overtired and wind. I wonder if there is an element of silent reflux too as he HATES sleeping on his back, and only likes sleeping on top of me or DH in the day.

Six week check up is coming up so will discuss possibly trying Gaviscon with GP

My little man ended up being placed on his tummy as it was the only way he slept OK. I know this is not current best advice so obviously you shouldn't do this yourself. I only tried it as 2 people both said it was the only way their babies slept well and they were experienced mums with lots of children. So I decided to try it and just kept checking on him lots and lots. Before I knew it, he was rolling on his front anyway but he was always a big, strong baby. Anyway current cot death advice is not to do this, so best to ignore what I did here.

Whereas my daughter slept on her side best with blanket rolled up behind back.

You'll find over the coming weeks what makes your little one tick and what works best for them.

You're doing great x

I second the advice about sleeping in the day. My 8 week old goes down for quite a few long naps over the course of the day now, but in the early days it didn't occur to me and I just fed him each time he cried - which, of course, didn't deal with his sleep issues.

The Baby Whisperer book is very good on this. She gives tips about early sleep cues so that you can tell when they are tired and put them down without a fuss before they get grumpy.

I find too that when my little guy is windy, it helps to swaddle him before putting him down for a nap. It stops him wriggling about so much when he's trying to fart so it's more likely that he will go to sleep. Otherwise he keeps waking himself up.

Good luck!

Ooh, I also find the baby monitor invaluable to talk to my DS when it sounds as though he might be waking up mid-nap. I'll gently shush and talk to him in a low, hopefully reassuring voice, and often he'll go back to sleep pretty quickly.

If I go into his room, he seems to wake up a bit more sometimes (although obviously I do go in if it sounds as though he's getting properly upset as opposed to snuffling).

I like the sleep training in the baby whisperer book when your little one is bigger. Worked well for my two darlings