oh. think i may be doing something wrong.......

[ilovealgreen]

hello.
i have a 17 week old bf ds and for the last week he has gone from sleeping through to four to getting up at 12,2,4 and six.

last night i gave him some baby rice, he slept through til 3.30 so this morning i thought that i would give him some more tonight but NOW after reading all the threads feel i may be doing something wrong..... am I?

he is rather a big baby.....

I don't think he needs baby rice, just more milk.

When he gets up you must be very business like with him, so you are not entertaining him. Can you BF lying down? was my saving grace.

Classic growth spurt...my advice would be feed, feed, feed. Is cosleeping and feeding an option? He needs the milk not just a full tummy.

Size has nothing to do with gut maturity and readiness for solids

Babies need the calories/nutrition that milk provides. Giving baby rice may well fill their tummies, but its just bulk. It doesn't fulfil their energy/nutritional needs at this age, and can cause them to take less milk as they are full of starch. This can lead to supply issues if you are BF, and to a drop in calorie intake too.

He's at a classic growth spurt age, and to increase your supply to meet his needs he will need feeding more often for a while. He should settle back down again soon

Sounds, as others have said, like a classic growth spurt. I second learning to feed lying down - makes a big difference. And yes, milk just now - size really doesn't matter in this case (though many people, including my HV, will say otherwise - dd was huge!). Changes in sleep patterns are a PITA, though - I do sympathise.

Hello folks.

Thank you for the advice.
We do already co-sleep and he does feed lying down.
I have just been soooooooo tired, poor me!!!
I wasn't going to wean until six months
And you are all so right I need to remain calm and focused!!!

Not so easy when you have to be up at the crack of to get your six yo dd to school as well and then walk dog etc etc. Ack I'm feeling sorry for myself again.

So anyway, thanks again, issue resolved, I am going to hang back on the weaning......

Post and moan when it gets tough. Sleep deprivation is a bugger.