>Oh we can have an interesting debate about this!  I've found growth spurts
>in a FT baby to be fairly predictable over the years.
>About 3 weeks, 6 weeks and 3 mo. Have also seen these vary a few days or
>week in either direction.

That's my point!

So (on observation only)  if a growth spurt can vary in timing by up to a
week in either direction, this means they can happen at 2 wks, 3 wks, 4
wks, 6 wks, 7 wks, and at any stage in between these times.  I'm sure you
have also seen babies who start demanding more feeds at just about any time
at all....

>Have found it to be reassuring to tell mom what
>is probably going on so she can go with the flow :-)  Once most moms have
>an explanation , they calm down and cope.  What do others believe?

I agree - but I say babies do vary in their needs at times and I don't pin
it down to any particular phenomenon occuring at any particular time. I am
sure if a mother calls you and says her baby is needing to feed more, you
check out the usual things with her and if all is ok, you reassure her,
too, in a similar way - even if her baby is 10 weeks and therefore not in a
growth spurt!
>
>An aside, so many of the things LLLI has said since the beginning have been
>later proved by research.  Why would this be any different than 6-8 wet
>diapers, no solids before 4 mo etc.?

It could be very different. We do not bf physiologically in this
culture...or at least very few of us do. We count the feeds, we watch the
clock, we resist night feeds, we try and 'get them into a routine', we
express and give EBM, or ABM....for me to 'believe' in growth spurts
occuring at *predictable* intervals, I would need to see research done on a
large number of babies in a population that feeds physiologically.

I accept babies have growth spurts, which logically get reflected in more
cues to feed. I also accept that babies may want to feed more often for
other reasons - impending illness that's being fought off, need for comfort
and reassurance, teething, thirst in hot weather...whatever.

I find it hard to believe that any of this can take place at *predictable*
times.

I have to say, too, that in 20 years of doing this work, my observations do
not tell me any different. Growth spurts and extra feeding can happen at
any time at all!

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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