6 mo seems SUPER hungry!

[Casey44]

DD has not been sleeping well for the past 2 weeks. She didn't used to eat in the middle of the night until recently she started up again which is fine. But that used to just easily put her back to sleep and it no longer does. I've had several nights where I am up with for 2 to 3 hours at a time. Last night was just the absolute worst. She woke up screaming and starving every 3 hours. Even after I fed her she would not fall back asleep- she would just cry and fuss or lay there and just babble. We were up from 1 to 3 and then from 4 to 6.

So I would like to go ahead and stat solids, but I know you are supposed to take it slow. I guess my question is... if she's really hungry but we are having to take it slow, how is it going to fill her up? I will try to nurse her all I can during the day but that just doesn't seem to be helping!

I'm kind of wishing we had started "practicing" with solids before now so that she would actually be ready to eat now that she seems so hungry.

(PS... I know that many people will probably say that she can get all she needs from breastmilk for right now, but I just can not feed her constantly day and night like this. After all we've been through with breastfeeding, I'm just thankful that we are still breastfeeding. So I would really like to go ahead and start solids.)

Thank you!

[craft_media_hero]

6mo old is a normal period to expect a major growth spurt, and it will seem like she wants to eat all.the.time! Lots of moms hit this spot and experience a period of frustration or doubting that the babe is getting enough to eat--don't worry, as long as you're nursing on demand, then she is getting what she needs!

The good news is that this period will not last very long, maybe a week or two at the max, and your milk supply will catch up and she will settle back into her more usual eating patterns. So although it will be challenging to keep up with her day and night feedings--this will be short lived.

Some things you can do: primarily nurse lots and lots! The more you nurse, the more milk you'll make, and the quicker your supply will catch up with her demand and the sooner she'll settle back into a regular routine. Have a couple in bed skin-to-skin days and let her nurse constantly to give your milk a big boost. Persevere! You can do it! And it will be over in the blink of an eye!

Since she's not already doing solids, I wouldn't rely on them to get you through this patch. Nothing wrong with letting her play or taste to explore, but she probably won't settle into eating "real food" enough to satisfy her before this short growth spurt is over.

Good luck, mama!

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by craft_media_hero

6mo old is a normal period to expect a major growth spurt, and it will seem like she wants to eat all.the.time! Lots of moms hit this spot and experience a period of frustration or doubting that the babe is getting enough to eat--don't worry, as long as you're nursing on demand, then she is getting what she needs!

The good news is that this period will not last very long, maybe a week or two at the max, and your milk supply will catch up and she will settle back into her more usual eating patterns. So although it will be challenging to keep up with her day and night feedings--this will be short lived.

Some things you can do: primarily nurse lots and lots! The more you nurse, the more milk you'll make, and the quicker your supply will catch up with her demand and the sooner she'll settle back into a regular routine. Have a couple in bed skin-to-skin days and let her nurse constantly to give your milk a big boost. Persevere! You can do it! And it will be over in the blink of an eye!

Since she's not already doing solids, I wouldn't rely on them to get you through this patch. Nothing wrong with letting her play or taste to explore, but she probably won't settle into eating "real food" enough to satisfy her before this short growth spurt is over.

Good luck, mama!

This is very good advice!
Does sound like a growth spurt. Starting solids right now is fine, but i don't think it will help with your current issue. Like you said, she will just being trying things now, not having full on meals, so she will still need to nurse.
You'll get through it!

[Casey44]

Thank you both for the advice! I ended up feeding her like every hour yesterday afternoon even though she didn't necessarily act like she needed it. I just wanted to fill her up during the day as much as possible because she was napping a lot instead of eating a lot! I would definitely rather have the sleep come at night instead! But it seemed to work- she still ate twice in the night but went right back to sleep after the first one and slept for 6 hours! (which is now considered a ling time... I feel like we are back to life with a newborn!)

Thank you also for giving me some perspective! I feel like we've had maybe a month or her actually sleeping well and everything else has just been so chaotic. But she will get there at some point! Also, I decided to spoon feed her the avocado yesterday and she went nuts for it!! I know she needs to learn and play with it too, but if she's hungry I'm going to help her eat it. Her hunger seems more important to me right now than her learning to pick up foods on her own. What do you think??

Thanks again!!

[Tattooed Hand]

DD woke ate every 90 minutes around the clock for 4-5 days around 6 months. It will pass. I don't think it necessarily means she wants solids, not unless there are other signs.

[Kmama2]

could be teething too. Lots of babies increase their nursing to help sooth their gums during teething. Or a growth spurt. Just go with the flow. My son did something similar around 6 months and I got worried about my supply.. He was always hungry. I think he just using me as a teething toy...

[Pookietooth]

Yeah, I was going to say it could be teething. The nursing is more than for hunger, it's also a comfort measure. Breast milk is very soothing.

[craft_media_hero]

So glad you are working this out!!

Nursing like crazy during the day seems to be allowing you that long block of sleep at night, which is pretty important for both of you good job, mama!

I'm glad to hear that she enjoyed the avocado, too. Sounds like the two of you are adjusting well to this rough patch.

I didn't think about teething, duh! But that's possibly affecting her desire to nurse so much, too. This too will pass!