If my maternal health nurse hadn’t warned me that Evie would have a growth spurt at 3 weeks old and what to expect, I probably would have taken her into emergency – and I’d like to think I’m not that dramatic.
Wendy said that she could be irritable, restless, want to feed all the time, sleep less and be generally needy. Tick, tick, tick. Come the day before the 3 week old mark, I suddenly found myself with super placid baby turned into devil spawn.
She cried – A LOT. She fed every 30-60 minutes. She wouldn’t settle without laying on top of me being rocked. She was just a very unhappy poorly little baby, who quite literally grew centimetres in the coming days!
She’s just going through her 6 weeks spurt at the moment, and so here are my tips to keeping your sanity. They may not work for everyone, but after the first growth spurt left me completely immobilised on the couch with her, sending Mum out to get cat food before they ate me, to yesterdays growth spurt being so much more manageable, it might just help you. If not, best of luck and it’ll be over soon – promise!
tip one
Evie loves being rocked. Whether in our arms, in her pram, or in the car. So even though it’ll literally seem like mission impossible, if your baby is similar then try to get out for a walk – even if it’s just around the block.
Yesterday after wheeling her around the house while I got ready (including taking her to the loo with me – don’t judge, it kept the crying at bay) we spent most of the day out walking to our errands instead of driving. She ended up sleeping for most of it, I just fed her up big before we left, fresh nappy and again when we got home. Time it with their normal feeding pattern, leaving yourself some space as they’ll probably be hungrier quicker. I ended up running the last two blocks home as I had one cranky, awake, crying and very hungry baby! But we made it – hoorah!
tip two
Download The Wonder Weeks App – I’ve only recently downloaded it myself (it’s next weeks APOT), however it’s supposed to be amazing, letting you know when to expect each spurt before hand so you’re prepared, and so far looks pretty easy and very educational.
tip three
If you’re breastfeeding, try expressing some milk as a back up prior – because they’re eating a lot and more than usual, is they can’t get it from your supply they’ll be crankier so if you have some extra milk it’ll help fill them and get them to sleep as normal.
tip four
Plan ahead – in that, don’t plan much (if possible) around the time you’re expecting a growth spurt because they can last for days with the irritability. Just be prepared for them to feel out of sorts, feed on demand, and having to carry them to the loo with you in a bid not to wake the demon!
tip five
Do whatever the heck gets you through it! #NoJudgement for the win mums, whatever helps you and bubs get through the day until it’s time to hand over to dad and get a wine into my STAT thank you very much, you do it. Yesterday my sister came around and let Evie sleep on top of her for about 3 hours so I could tidy the house, have a shower, wash my hair and I even put on some tanning moisturiser – LOOK OUT!
The Bean Bible 