A baby can grow suddenly in a gap of 2-3 days and can be very annoying and irritating all the time during the growth spurt period. Human beings during their childhood grow at a very fast rate. Children, adolescents, and even elders grow during the whole lifetime. Babies experience a lot of growth spurts during the time when they are newborn. Newborn has a lot of growth spurts and this can continue till the time they reach preschool. During a growth spurt, the child needs a lot of nutrition and food. Babies require a lot of breastfeeding during their growth spurts. During a growth spurt, a child requires a lot of nutrition and the right food to help the body with nutritional values. Here are 7 signs of baby growth spurts that you can find out:
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What is a Growth Spurt?
Growth spurts are a rapid increase in weight and height. Growth spurts can occur during the first year of childhood and during puberty. During these times there is a rapid increase in the height and weight in a short period of time. A growth spurt is a sudden growth in the body. Growth spurts occur in newborn babies a lot. There can be a sudden growth spurt and the child can look tall suddenly. Growth spurts occur for about 2-3 days. During these growth spurts, a child may need a lot of nursing.
When do Babies Have Growth Spurts?
Babies can have growth spurts during the first two-six weeks, three months, four months, six months and nine months. Growth spurts occur a lot during the first year of the baby. Growth spurts don’t stop after the first year. Some mothers have noticed growth spurts in their child till the time they reach four years of age.
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7 Signs Your Baby is Going Through a Growth Spurt
The Appetite of the Baby Increases
During a growth spurt, the child can feel very hungry. This is because all the nutrients in the body are gone in making the energy which the body utilizes for growth. If all the energy is utilized at a fast rate then the child will feel hungry. This is one of the most common signs of a growth spurt. During a growth spurt, children need a lot of food and nutrition which will help the body to grow.
Changes in Behavior
During the growth spurt, the child may feel irritated. All the nutrients and energy are gone in helping the child’s body grown. Because of this the child has yo bear the growth spurt which might make him/her irritated, clingy and fussy all the time. There may be episodes in which the child starts to cry without any reason, is very annoyed all the time. This is also one of the most common signs of growth spurts. The child needs a lot of care and attention during a growth spurt.
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Developmental Changes
It is not only the crying, fussy and hunger part that can make you realize that your baby is having a growth spurt. During a growth spurt, the baby might have many developmental changes like crawling, trying to walk on two legs, increase in the rolling part, the agility of the baby will increase, your baby might want to scream and smile. These are the skills which babies acquire during a growth spurt. This is one of the signs that your baby is going through a growth spurt. Your Baby can become more accidental. During growth spurts, there are chances that your child crashes into everything. It has been found in a study that during growth spurts the child becomes very accidental prone and might face problems in dealing with body handling and balance.
Reference of the study-American Academy Of Paediatrics
The Sleep Pattern Changes
Growth spurts can lead to a change in the sleeping pattern of your baby. This is because when the body grows it needs a lot of sleep. It is known that during sleep the height grows the most of newborn. Your baby might sleep less or sleep more it can be either of the vice-versa. This is the reason why you can see that your child starts to sleep a lot. Increase in the sleeping hours of a baby is one of the signs that your child is going through a growth spurt.
The Baby Might Require a Lot of Breastfeeding
The baby is growing at a very fast route during the growth spurts. During growth spurts the child needs a lot of food and nutrition, also when the baby gets cranky breastfeeding is a good option to make the baby quiet. The baby might demand more breastfeeding than earlier during the growth spurts and the mother’s milk is one of the most important nutrients for the growth of the baby. Thus increase in the breastfeeding demand might be one of the signs of a growth spurt in the baby.
Changes in the Weight of Your Baby
When the baby has growth spurts there are chances that the weight changes. The weight of the baby can increase as well as decrease. During a growth spurt most of the time the weight of the baby increases at a fast rate. This is because there is a lot of food and nutrition intake by the baby. The other sign can be that there can be a decrease in weight because the baby is gaining height. These are the signs you can look for while thinking if your baby has a growth spurt.
Psychological Changes are One of the Signs of a Growth Spurt
Growth spurts result in many psychological and behavioral changes. During growth spurts, the child might become very fussy and may cry all the time. The child might feel the need to be with you all the time. During growth spurts, the child can have psychological changes that might make your child quiet and a bit introverted. If the child is playful and outgoing still the child might become very emotional and fussy. During this time period, the child might want to be with the mother. The parents especially the mother needs to be very caring, tolerating and understanding all the time. The child might require some emotional support and soothing of the mother.
How long do Growth Spurts Last?
The growth spurt in the baby can last from maximum three days. The growth spurts can also last for one to two days and the minimum twelve to twenty-four hours.
What is the Best Way to Handle a Growth Spurt?
There can be many ways that are just best for handling growth spurts. These are:
Free Your Whole Schedule of the Day
During growth spurts, the child can be fussy, cranky and might require the mother all the time. This is one of the reasons that you might require to keep your day a bit free for the handling of the baby. So it is advised that you keep most of the time free for the baby so that the baby does not get fussy all the time and this period of growth sports will become easy to handle.
Wear More of the Babywear
During growth spurts, the child might want to be next to you all the time. So it is advised to wear something in which your child can be with you all the time while you do other household work. Wear those garments in which it is easy for you to nurse and breastfeed the baby frequently.
Understanding the Fact that the Mother Needs to Be More with the Baby than Earlier Which Might Require the Sacrifice of Giving all the Time to the Baby and Ignoring Other Family Members.
This is a hard fact but growth spurts can be difficult to handle. The baby requires the mother all the time so it is possible that the mother is not able to take out time for other people in her life.
Nourishing and Taking Care of the Breasts.
During the growth spurts, children require a lot of breastfeeding so it is required that you take care of your breasts and increase the intake of calcium in your diet.
Self-Care is Very Important During Growth Spurts for the Mother.
During growth spurts, the child becomes very fussy and hungry all the time. The mother requires to breastfeed the child all the time. This makes it very important that the child has a good nutritional intake and for a good nutrition intake, the mother also requires to take care of her nutritional requirements and eat healthy full of protein and carbohydrates diet. The mother can make the baby and herself healthy. During growth spurts breastfeeding becomes frequent so the mother should eat well only then she would be able to give the baby a good breast milk supply.
References
https://www.mamanatural.com/baby-growth-spurts/
https://kellymom.com/hot-topics/growth-spurts/
