Growth Spurts - What to expect when breast feeding

Hey all,

I hope you are well, Matilda is approaching 10 weeks old on Wednesday and recently gone through what I feel is her biggest growth spurt so far! I remember these well with Harry and for a lot of new mummies (including me when Harry used to have them!) I would really question/doubt myself especially if breast feeding...

All sorts of things would go through my mind...

Is baby ok?

Why isn't he/she napping for as long as they usually do?

Is she/he having enough milk?

Is my breast milk no longer enough for her/him?

The list really is endless!

Before I begin, let me put some of those to bed just in case you've thought/thinking them!

Is baby ok? - As long as baby doesn't have a temp, seems to be feeding normal and just generally fussing then all is good however if you ever feel something doesn't feel quite right it is always best to get medical advice.

Why isn't he/sleeping for as long as they usually do? All part of the growth spurt process, if they're sleeping a lot more, baby's produce a hormone called HGH - Human growth hormone, this happens when they're sleeping - Again very very normal.

Is she/he having enough milk? As long as you follow your baby's lead and feed on demand, then yes they will be having enough milk. Keep doing what your doing and follow their signals, it is known baby's can literally grow over night during a growth spurt in length and weight!

Is my breast milk no longer enough for her/him? YES YOUR MILK IS ALWAYS ENOUGH! The female body is such an amazing one, your breasts will NEVER be completely empty, your body will be able to give your baby all it needs and your milk supply will catch up in order to meet those needs.  Keep baby on the breast to encourage those signals for more milk supply! Do not panic and feel you aren't fulfilling their hunger, soft breasts and constant feeding is very common during growth spurts. 

If you have any other concerns or questions on Breast feeding and growths spurts then feel free to email me on thehappybalancemum@gmail.com

I am putting this blog together because 9 times out of 10, your babies behaviour is completely normal. In growth spurts babies can become fussy, clingy, they want feeding constantly, lots of cuddles, some sleep more, some sleep less - Matilda definitely napped less today! Yet her growth spurt a couple of weeks ago she slept tons and my boobs felt as if they was going to burst! 

I want to give you mummies some reassurance and to tell you do not worry. For me growth spurts for both my children last around a day or 2, although I have read they can last up to a week and for my 2 they usually happen in the day time. My best tip is if you feel/sense a growth spurt coming then to cancel your plans and keep that day free (obviously within reason!) For me luckily today I had zero plans and boy am I glad because I literally would of been no good to anyone other than Matilda :) if you try and attempt different you will only feel frustrated and be working against your baby rather than with, and that is no good for your stress levels and most definitely not baby's. They are clever little things and are very in tune with their mummies moods/feelings. Follow your baby's lead and feed on demand as much as you can to keep them happy, content and growing. It will pass I promise.

Growth spurt days need to be a day to relax and feed on demand.... Literally.  Matilda's recent growth spurt was from waking at 7.30am she was feeding and sleeping every hour and half literally on repeat. How do I know this? Because although I feed on demand anyway's I follow the EASY routine which I have found works more so as a guidance for us, it has allowed me to establish what her cries mean, so a I want to sleep cry, I am hungry cry, wet nappy cry and so on. Anyways back to what the EASY means... E - EAT - A - ACTIVITY (so play mat, rattle, sing song) S - SLEEP and Y - YOU. Growth spurts for us the A and Y definitely doesn't happen for her, she won't want to sit in her chair or lay on her mat and watch her brother play, well from what I can tell so far. And the YOU doesn't happen in growth spurts because us mummies are there like a machine for them. So its iust lots of the E and the S!!!! & the S in this recent growth spurt was lasting around 40 mins, she would literally close her eyes have a quick power nap and open her eyes again and repeat!

I was lucky to get a shower today and wash/blow dry my hair and do one lot of washing and tumble dry  - Not bad going for a growth spurt day eh! But a lot of new mummy's will stress/doubt themselves just like I did the first time round and almost feel as if they've gone back wards but as I say this is all completely normal and there are definitely a few more ahead for sure so bare with them and hang in there. Growth spurts can be confusing, they can be exhausting but grab your self your favourite biscuits, keep hydrated, iPhone charger, watch your favourite tv programmes and just roll with it! Once you actually know why and when they're happening I promise you, you will feel much more at ease.

Lots of Love x

BREAST FEEDING A NEWBORN WITH A TODDLER ON YOUR HANDS - TOP TIPS

Hey everyone!

Welcome to my latest blog, for those visiting for the first time, my name is Laura, I am 29 and married to Chris. We have 2 lovely children, Harry (2yrs 7 months) and Matilda (6 weeks!)

I have been blogging since August 2017, still fairly new to me, but loving the journey so far and have met so many lovely followers, supporters and fellow mummies! I blog about motherhood, beauty and lifestyle!

So Matilda is almost approaching 6 weeks old, and its been full on since she's arrived, keeping routine for our 2 year old, and still trying to spend as much one on one time with him has been such a priority for me. So I haven't been as blogging as much as I would like but all you mummies with 2 or more kiddies will know exactly what its like. 

Below are my tips for breast feeding a baby with a toddler on your hands! - I hope you find them helpful :)

Leave the potty out! So Harry has been dry in the day time the month after he turned 2 (I have another post on this so if you want to know how we got him dry at 2 years then head over and have a read!) and dry at night time 6 months after we got him dry in the day. As you can imagine I need to help him get his trousers down especially when wearing a belt, and even funnier, wipe his bum once he's done a poo! So we have a infant mini seat downstairs which when Chris is home or if I am free we will lift him and pop him on there, but if I'm home alone or breast feeding Matilda I will tell Harry to go upstairs and use the potty. (You could bring it downstairs if you want too but I just keep ours upstairs as when Harry wakes in the morning he goes straight on the potty) Also make life easier and ensure you have access to everything you need I.e. Spare pants if they don't make it in time, wipes etc So you can get toilet time done quickly and get back to the baby if need be!

Once you have established a rough idea of how often your newborn feeds, or if you know baby is on a cluster feed, then I try and plan ahead in regards to play times with my toddler. So for example if I know Matilda is going to need a feed or routing I will quickly say to Harry Right! What are we playing with now.. Shall we play downstairs? In your bedroom upstairs? And try and guide them in choosing what they want to play with as I know a 'new' interest will give me plenty of time to feed. For me if I didn't have this approach with Harry, I can guarantee I would get comfy ready to feed Matilda and Harry would start to say play mummy play mummy, bedroom mummy and then the mum guilt would kick in as I can't feed standing or kneeling/walking so I would have to keep saying in a minute!!! So I really found suggesting he choose where he was wanting to play and also changing up what he was playing with to something new so a puzzle, or colouring books, cars etc before I fed made my feeding time so much easier.

Any spare time I get, I play with him and get down to his level, the house work can wait. I find this really works for us in him understanding that mummy has to share her time with him and his baby sister. Once Matilda wakes and needs a feed, I explain I have to see Matilda now and he seems to go with the flow! And trust me, don't think I am full of energy in getting down to his level and playing with fireman sam and all else boyish... I am not! But it makes my day much easier with them both. For example right now Matilda is sleeping and as I am writing this blog I am in his bedroom with him and he is building a den, as I am typing I am also going through a line of bears asking them have they seen our torch! Lol!!!!!

When you have hubby at home feed elsewhere; so when Chris is home, I will often take Matilda up stairs and feed her, I don't have too. But 1) Harry doesn't see or feel what he may think that I am always feeding and 2) He gets time with daddy just them two! When Matilda and I come back downstairs he can't wait to tell us what he's been doing.. Even though its only been 20 minutes lol! 

Offer them food before you sit down to feed! Quick Snacks!!! Fruit, crackers, yogurts, raisens anything thats going to be quick for you to grab. I explain Harry mummy is going to feed Matilda her food now, do you want some food too? 9 times out of 10... Its a YES! He eats as I feed, it works for us!

Sing song time! Finally another good one that works for me is putting Harry's songs on, I use youtube thats linked to our TV in the living room, it comes with little interactive videos and will have everything from wheels on the bus to Johnny Johnny! We sing along and he still feels he gets all my time whilst I am feeding.

Lots of Love x