Things I wish I knew: Growth spurts

This adorable little face ate 14 times in 13 hours. 

Growth spurts.  Feeding frenzies.  Wet diapers. Screaming baby.  Tired mommy.

This has been my life since Friday, when Cillian started his growth spurt.  I'm pooped, and wondering when Mary Poppins is going to arrive so mommy can go off and have a glass of wine, please and thank you.

When Cillian was six weeks old

he had his first growth spurt, right on time.  He must have had a growth spurt at three weeks too, but I was still so new to breastfeeding
I probably didn't notice.  Overnight he just started to eat once an hour.  It was a very confusing thing, because he had been eating consistently every two and a half hours, so I was mistaking hunger cries for gas cries, wet diaper cries and tired cries.  I would change his diaper, try to burp him and rock him to sleep,  until I tried feeding him and he would settle down.  No one had explained growth spurts to me and I felt like I must not be making enough milk for him.

I was told by one of my lactation consultants that at three weeks, when babies have their first major growth spurt,  a lot of new moms stop breastfeeding because no one properly explains what happens during a growth spurt.  They think their baby needs more milk than their body can make.  What actually happens during a growth spurt is a baby cluster feeds.  As the baby is feeding and sucking near constantly, it is sending signals to the mom's body that it needs to produce more milk for this growing baby. It's truly an amazing thing that the human body can do.  Unless you're knee deep in it, and you can't see past the hourly, or more than hourly in my case, feeds.

The good news? A growth spurt typically only lasts a few days and then your baby is back to normal, with their increased milk supply keeping them nice and full for longer. And mommy can go back to her usually nap time activities.  Like blogging. Please cross your fingers for me.

Happy Wednesday!