3 Week Old - Eating multiple times an hour

[xSamantha]

Hey girls!

So far breastfeeding has been great. Every 1.5-2 hrs. Baby has been happy and barely ever cried. But the past few days he's been wanting to eat nonstop and has had a couple of terrible crying fits. Crying as loud as he can. It kills me. I know he's not hungry as I offer him to eat and he just keeps crying. I offer him his pacifier - nope. I'm trying to figure out if it's just a growth spurt.. or if he's developing colic. When feeding I always hear his tummy gurgle, and he's very gassy. He's always been such a good baby until two days ago. The similarities between the two make it so hard. I'm praying that he, or we, don't have to deal with colic...

Anybody have any ideas?

 

[purplecupcake]

Newborns really start to wake up around 3 weeks and their entire pattern changes. I thought my 1 week old was such a good baby...he would only cry when he needed something, then immediately cease when his needs were met. That all changed in the next few weeks...he cried SO MUCH!

He may be nursing for comfort and the pacifier just isn't the same as warm, soft mommy. He may be cluster feeding due to a growth spurt. He may also need to be burped more often during feeds, perhaps he gets a bubble which makes him feel full which goes down in the next 20 mins, then he feels hungry again.

 

[xSamantha]

Thank you! So I guess this is just a phase we'll have to deal with.. :/ He was SO good. Lol. I better learn to not react to cries feeling bad that there's nothing I can do.. but it's so tough!

 

[noon_child]

Newborns really start to wake up around 3 weeks and their entire pattern changes. I thought my 1 week old was such a good baby...he would only cry when he needed something, then immediately cease when his needs were met. That all changed in the next few weeks...he cried SO MUCH!

He may be nursing for comfort and the pacifier just isn't the same as warm, soft mommy. He may be cluster feeding due to a growth spurt. He may also need to be burped more often during feeds, perhaps he gets a bubble which makes him feel full which goes down in the next 20 mins, then he feels hungry again.

Yup all this. My LO just couldn't shut herself off after 3 weeks old and fought all sleep. That plus being slow to gain weight so needing to feed very frequently for long stretches meant she just couldn't sleep as much as she needed and was always hungry. Three week growth spurt coinciding with this awakening adds to the constant cycle of "is she hungry, is it wind, is she tired…"

 

[CandyDay]

There is normally a growth spurt at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months.
So sounds normal to me. It usually lasts about 3 days. He is working on upping your supply to keep up with his growing needs.
Burp often to help with gas.

 

[staralfur]

Yep, normal, growth spurt. Just keep offering the boob. Mine used to eat for like 2 minutes, fall asleep, wake up 5 minutes later, eat for a minute, fall asleep for a minute, wake up, eat for 5 minutes, and repeat. Never more than 10 minutes between feeds for hours and hours on end and the feeds always seemed pointless... BUT it's so important to build up your supply in the early days. It will pass.