4 mo growth spurt?

[haydn'smommy]

Is there such a thing? Little man seems very hungry the past couple of days. He even got really frustrated at the breast this morning and kept switching sides. i think my supply if fine. he's peeing and pooping normally. he just seems hungrier than usual.

[PatioGardener]

Sounds like a growth spurt to me! Plus you may get some 4 month old sleep regression, so he may wake more at night too. Great to hear your supply is doing well

[haydn'smommy]

yeah, he's waking every 2-3 hrs again. i've worried that my supply might be dipping since he was waking more, but he's just soaking diapers and having huge yellow, runny poops every 2-3 days (usually more than one a day on the day that he has them) and after a feeding he often spits up milk and sometimes a lot of that. also, i'm still able to pump 3 oz every 2-2.5hrs when i'm at work.
he has slowed a bit on his weight gain and has dropped from being at 1 standard deviation above normal on the WHO chart to closer to the middle line on that chart, but his height and head circumference are great and he's hitting all the milestones early. he's also been very sick (ear infection, then stomach virus, and now RSV....gee, thanks, daycare) so i attributed his slower gain to that.
wonder how long this will last this time? he's so pitiful popping on and off and his little forehead wrinkling and giving me that little pitiful whine.

[PatioGardener]

The poops and pees tell you that he's getting enough - I bet you are right with the dip on the growth curve being from sickness - he should bounce back in a month or so. sounds like the start of winter has been rough!

The popping on and off and suck may be a 4 month thing more than just a growth spurt issue. Usually growth spurts settle after 3-4 days, but if the 'nurse a little look around a little' continues, you know that you've reached a new nursing milestone - the distracted nurser! Congratulations!

[haydn'smommy]

Yeah, winter's not been kind to us so far. Luckily, most of the illness he's had has been fairly mild compared to how bad most of the kids in his daycare class have had it.
I do think he's starting to get really distracted. By yesterday afternoon, my left breast was throbbing and sore from him not emptying it. I finally took him to his room, turned the lights off and the sound machine on, swaddled him and got him to really nurse. Then I felt much better and he seemed a little happier. Guess all the stuff going on around him is just too exciting!!! Of course, I do love the way he will now pop off and just grin a big ol' silly gummy grin at me before diving back on. He's really adorable.