My DS is now 8 weeks old. He was 8lbs 1oz when he was born and has always fed ferociously and last week weighed 13lbs 2oz - he's a (very cute) little tank.
He's generally been a happy chap and last week was feeding at 3 hourly intervals and over the weekend started sleeping for 6-7 hours at night.
For the last few days though, he has seemed a bit out of sorts. He's started waking early from naps and really shrieking if he isn't fed immediately. It seems different from his other cries - it gets high pitched very quickly which makes me think it is a pain cry. His feeding interval has dropped too - it's a bit random but is now roughly every 2 hours and sometimes an hour after his last feed, and last night he fed every 3 hours. There's also a lot of wriggling, writhing and straining going on.
Lots of possibilities keep going round and round in my mind. The easiest answer would be that this is a growth spurt and he's just really really hungry and gets frustrated quickly, hence the new cry.
I also wonder whether it is a consequence of him trying to sleep longer overnight - does it mean he's having less food and so is hungrier during the day? Has anyone else experienced a change in daytime feeding patterns when their DC is feeding less at night?
What worries me most though is that he is having some kind of reflux. Often when he cries he's happier vertical - to the extent that he can cry and cry, and then as soon as I hold him upright he will instantly fall asleep in that position. But not always - sometimes he lays flat quite happily after a feed. He's sick sometimes quite a long time after being fed which makes me wonder if the milk is just sitting there and not being digested. Also I've read that refluxers sometimes overeat because the milk acts as an antacid - given that he's put on a pound a week sometimes, I wonder if that is it? On the other hand he seems to have been quite comfortable in past weeks.
I guess my query is whether refluxers do act so inconsistently, or whether it's always obvious that they are in pain, or don't like to lie down, etc etc.
The mixed messages are driving me crazy and I keep going round and round in circles; I don't know what the best thing to do with him is and it's affecting my confidence.
Whadya think?