Is there a 17-18 week growth spurt?

mbf124

My daughter is 4 months old and for the past few nights she's been waking to eat 3 times. She never has STTN, but she doesn't always want food. 

Last night she had 7 oz before bed at 6:45, and she was up again at 10 where she downed another 6oz. then she had another 5oz at 1 am and another 5oz  at 5am.  

If she's hungry, I'm going to feed her, but this seems a little crazy, right? What's your experience been? 

She does eat fairly well through the day. she'll take 4-5oz every 2-3 hours. 

lemonpoundcake

There is a big developmental leap around 19 weeks, which is what you might be causing this.  All of the changes in their brain often cause babies to wake up more often in the night around this time (the dreaded 4 month wakeful period), and it makes sense that they might need extra calories as their brains grow and change.

However, have you tried offering a pacifier first to see if that will get her back to sleep?  My DD sometimes will take a bottle at night even if she is not really hungry because the sucking is soothing, so now if it has only been a couple of hours since her last feed in the night I offer a pacifier instead.  She lets me know if she's actually hungry, because she will just keep spitting the pacifier back out at me.

EvenAngelsFall

Growth spurts can't really be predicted by looking at the calendar. Did you start puberty the morning of your 13th birthday? No, of course not. Likewise, babies just grow when they grow. Maybe your baby is going through a growth spurt, but that does not mean it is *THE* 17 week growth spurt.

eva1976

good ?.  my daughter is 12wks and still very small.  She is at a stage now where she is sleeping more than eating.  She has pretty much made her own eating schedule...she's the new boss.  Like you, I feed her on demand.  Like me when she eats, she eats (alot).  This is my first and sometimes I feel like I should put her back on the hospital schedule to get her weight up.