growth spurt question

rbtrumpet

I know I'm a month behind most of you, but hopefully that just means you all have the experience I need .

L is acting crazy right now.  I'm 99% sure we've hit the 3-month growth spurt.  She has been awake since 6am, and has been eating non-stop (including bottles and breast).  She is absolutely fighting sleep right now. She falls asleep within a minute or two of being put on the breast, but the moment I take her off, she cries herself into a frenzy and acts hungry.  I've been feeding her for 8 hours!!

Should I let her keep eating, and forgo the sleep she needs, or should I go for a drive, ignore the hunger cues, and "force" her to sleep? (I say "force" because I know going for a drive will put her to sleep, even if she is legitimately hungry)

I hate feeling like I'm not giving her what she needs, but I don't know if sleep or food is the bigger "need" right now.

cagoldi

She'll fall asleep when she's ready. I'd keep feeding her. I know it's really, really hard when you're BF.

The 6 week GS was pretty non-existent for us, but the 3 month GS was nuts. Reminded me a lot of the 3 week GS. Just fussy and wanting to eat constantly. We FF.

LittleNan

I don't have any advice because I've been thinking we are hitting a 3m gs as well. If you're able to, maybe just let her sleep on your boob. That way she's falling asleep on her own but able to eat of she's truly hungry.
Good luck!

rbtrumpet

wedding06 said:

I FF so GS haven't affected me quite so much but my understanding is for BF babes they are trying to build up mom's supply to meet their needs so I would let her keep eating. Sorry >:D<

no need for sorry!  I wanted to go to Costco today, but I'm fine if I don't get out of the house.  I don't mind feeding all day, I was just legitimately worried that she wasn't getting the sleep she needs!

I hope this is the growth spurt - I'd really like to get through the 3-month spurt before I go back to work next week!

barista411

Let her eat. It will help increase your milk which is the whole point of the growth spurt. Fortunately it only last a few days so enjoy the cuddles and use lanolin if you nipples start to get shredded. 

rbtrumpet

LizB8943 said:

We haven't hit it yet, but I can sympathize. The 3-week one was horrible...round-the-clock nursing, fussiness, and no sleep (while at my IL's for the holidays...ugh). Didn't noticed anything unusual at 6 weeks and hoping the 3 month GS will pass us by. Hang in there!

3-week for us was about 3 days of eating more - noticeable, but not horrible.  The 6-week one only lasted for one day.  I'm due for a terrible growth spurt :-p

We *just* finished a "wonder week" 2 days ago (not exceptionally hungry, but fussy and went from sleeping 5-6 hrs at night to up every 1.5-3 hrs - after about 5 days of that all of a sudden, she exploded with new abilities - new pitches in her voice, started grabbing at and playing with toys, interlocks her fingers, and loves looking at pictures on the walls/in books.  She's also much more awake and aware during her "awake" times now  ETA: even DH noticed how much she changed!  He kept saying how he didn't recognize his own baby!).

fitmama418

Jumping in here and may be hijacking a bit...sorry trumpet!

Sophia is FF and she is just over 3 months old. She just got back from daycare and she went almost 6 HOURS between bottles today! Ummmm...she usually doesn't last more than 3 and a half between feeds. Now...yesterday she was very fussy and hungry; ate about 35 ounces. She slept from roughly 7:30-6 and woke up twice just crying a bit (stopped when I put her paci back in her mouth). She also took a 3 hour nap at daycare today during that stretch of not eating. Do you think she just stuffed herself up yesterday and just felt like sleeping more today? She also woke up this morning with a runny nose so maybe she's getting a cold? Anyone with insight?

TOO MANY POTENTIAL ANSWERS. Ugh.

Karadee1

@nciesla sounds like a growth spurt. We FF as well. I know when my LO is going through a GS he will go between being really hungry and really tired for a few days. Usually the days he is hungry he won't sleep much, and the days he sleeps a ton he will only finish just over half his bottles.

When G gets a cold (he's had two since starting daycare), the first few days he will dramatically drop the number of ounces he's eating every single feeding. He also didn't sleep well for a few days, and was very restless at night. We talked to our ped and he said it was fine as long as G was still having wet diapers and not showing signs of dehydration. Ped said they usually make up for any weight lost during that time when they start feeling better. Sure enough, after a few days he went right back to eating 5-6 oz per feeding.

fitmama418

Thanks @caradi and @wedding06! That makes me feel better. She was so restless yet again last night and was such a little snot bucket again this morning. Breaks my heart.

tisunge602

rbtrumpet said:

LizB8943 said:

We haven't hit it yet, but I can sympathize. The 3-week one was horrible...round-the-clock nursing, fussiness, and no sleep (while at my IL's for the holidays...ugh). Didn't noticed anything unusual at 6 weeks and hoping the 3 month GS will pass us by. Hang in there!

3-week for us was about 3 days of eating more - noticeable, but not horrible.  The 6-week one only lasted for one day.  I'm due for a terrible growth spurt :-p

We *just* finished a "wonder week" 2 days ago (not exceptionally hungry, but fussy and went from sleeping 5-6 hrs at night to up every 1.5-3 hrs - after about 5 days of that all of a sudden, she exploded with new abilities - new pitches in her voice, started grabbing at and playing with toys, interlocks her fingers, and loves looking at pictures on the walls/in books.  She's also much more awake and aware during her "awake" times now  ETA: even DH noticed how much she changed!  He kept saying how he didn't recognize his own baby!).

@rbtrumpet The exact same thing happened to us... wonder week and growth spurt back to back. He had been STTN from about 9-11 weeks old, then all of a sudden was up 4-5x a night! That was about two weeks ago and we are just now coming out of the GS... he is back down to 1-2x a night. The new abilities are so fun though, they make it (almost) worth it!

Karadee1

nciesla said:

Thanks @caradi and @wedding06! That makes me feel better. She was so restless yet again last night and was such a little snot bucket again this morning. Breaks my heart.

Ugh sorry to hear about the snot. We use saline spray and the nose frieda, that thing is AMAZING at getting those boogers out.