Typical Baby Growth Spurts

Typical Growth Spurt Periods

• Babies typically grow in five short, intense spurts during the first year. While this can happen at any time, most experts believe these bursts usually occur one at a time for two to seven day periods between one and three weeks, between six and eight weeks, at three months, at six months and at nine months.

Signs of Growth Spurts

• Babies often experience intense periods of hunger during or right before growth spurts, feeding more often and wanting more volume of milk or other solid foods, states the Seton Healthcare Family website. For example, a baby that typically breastfeeds every three hours may suddenly want a snack every one to two hours.

  Fussiness, including repeatedly latching on and letting go during nursing sessions, and awakening more often during the night to eat are common signs of infant growth bursts, as is a period of unusually sound sleep after days of heavy feeding.

Coping Strategies

• Sleeping less and dealing with a cranky, hungry baby that wants to constantly eat̵2;particularly for breastfeeding women̵2;can be difficult. Recruit help to keep up with housework, work duties, sleep requirements or anything else that may need to be done. Drink plenty of water if you're breast feeding, to help keep up with demand. While it may be frustrating for a few days, milk supply will catch up with baby's needs.

Considerations

• Fussiness, frequent waking during the night and excessive hunger are not necessarily signs of a growth spurt. Changing caregivers or normal routines can make a baby cranky. Infants coming down with an infection (such as a cold) or teething may also display all of the signs associated with growing bursts, plus more sleeping. Visit a pediatrician if you suspect any problems, particularly if the baby is not growing or if she does not wet at least five diapers a day.

Brain Growth

• Brain growth is one area of impressive growth during the first year of life, according to The Urban Child Institute. During the first year, a baby's brain doubles in size. The brain is also busy creating synapses during this time, actually about twice as many as the brain will need in adulthood. These extra synapses will disappear throughout childhood.