Growth Spurt

Everything was going well and I got plenty of sleep at night. The baby fed and felt content and then fell asleep for a full three hours and let me rest at night. At daytime she fed somewhat more frequently than the once-in-three-hours norm but it was already close to once in 2.5 hours.

And then it happened...

A GROWTH SPURT!!!!

The baby started to complain of hunger so I fed her. She took her sweet time to eat as much as she possibly could. 30 minutes later I just stopped her. Then she needed to be burped and her diaper changed and she fell asleep. A mere half an hour later she woke up in horrible distress - apparently she was hungry! AGAIN! Okay, if the baby is hungry, she needs to be fed. So I fed her for another good twenty minutes on the other side. Then I burped her, checked the diaper, put her in bed. Forty minutes later she suddenly woke up crying sadly and putting her hands in her mouth. This means she was HUNGRY!!!!

I hoped it was an anomaly. Maybe she hadn't really eaten properly or maybe she just had a hungry moment. But this went on for the entire day. And then it was nighttime. She woke up every 2 hours demanding food NOW! And then it was the next day and she was still non-stop hungry!

Of course my first serious thought was: maybe I don't have enough milk! But it made no sense whatsoever. She began feeding each time by sucking up so much milk so fast that she didn't manage to swallow it all! And then for a good many minutes she was going at a rapid pace, "GULP-GULP-GULP". That's definitely not a symptom of not having milk. And if lack of milk was the problem, I assume she'd just stay full for a shorter time after each meal but she never seems to be satisfied now. She'll have a good meal and she's still hungry.

The next theory just as unhelpful. I thought it's finally happened: she has a sucking need. Soon I'm gonna have no other choice than to give her a pacifier! But wait-a-minute... That makes no sense either! When a baby starts to breastfeed, there's a few seconds when the baby gets no milk yet. And now my baby has become so impatient that she'll actually let go and give me a sad cry as if she's saying, "there is no milk here! Why do you think you can fool me with an empty boob?! Give me FOOD!". Then she'll give it another try and as soon as she gets milk, she's busy trying to swallow it all at the same time. She won't accept anything as a substitute - e.g. she has no interest in sucking the knuckle of a finger because apparently it releases no milk! Who knew.

Then I remembered growth spurts. I googled it and found out more. Some call it a 2-week growth spurt, some call it a 3-week growth spurt. Nearly all babies have that but it's more obvious for some. All of a sudden the perfectly regular eating and sleeping patterns change. The baby wants to eat very often and will either sleep more or less depending on the baby. Web sites say, "Just feed the baby more often and expect it to pass in a few days". And another website so pleasantly advises not to be alarmed if baby becomes a ravenous locust at the growth spurts! That's one accurate description!

All is nice in theory. But the reality can be pretty darn exhausting. Last night was particularly bad. I fed her at 1 a.m. and swaddled her for a long nap. She woke up at 3 a.m. ready for a new feeding marathon. I fed her and swaddled her. She woke at 4 a.m., then at 5 a.m., and again at 6 a.m. Then I fell asleep with her still eating and briefly woke up at 7 realizing she's eating again. At 8 a.m. Erkki woke up and took the baby shift. He tried to console the baby without waking me but had no choice but to wake me up, "I'm sorry honey, she's hungry". And did that 4 times from 8 to 12. So I slept for only 20-minute to 2-hour stretches, which is too short a time to actually go into the deep sleep phase. I was pretty darn frustrated and sleepy. I was ready to tell Erkki, "Next time she wants food, give her formula milk.". Then I got up, had a shower, drank coffee and felt much better.

It's exhausting for me but it might actually be even worse for the baby. Since she wakes up so often she's constantly too tired to enjoy life. She's visibly putting on weight and sweating like a madman! Not to mention that she's really discovering the pros and cons of massive extended overeating. That's certainly the perfect recipe for a fussy baby.

It's the third day of this growth spurt and the last meal gave me hope that it might end soon. The baby finished eating, then let go and fell asleep absolutely stuffed. And now she's been sleeping for ALMOST two hours! It seems like it's good old days again. Please be good old days again...