BABY
All About Baby Growth Spurts
Is your baby suddenly super-hungry, a bit grouchy, and shunning sleep? It could be a growth spurt!
Written by
Dr. Harvey Karp
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BABY
Written by
Dr. Harvey Karp
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Remember that out-of-nowhere surge in growth you experienced during your teen years, when all of a sudden, your pants were too short and there was never enough food in the refrigerator? Well, babies go through the same thing—over and over again during their first year of life! Learn what baby growth spurts are, how they affect your baby, and what you can do to ride the storm—and settle the rocky seas!
Your little one will go through many growth spurts during their first year of life. In fact, your baby will grow about 25.4 centimeters and triple their weight by their first birthday! But don’t confuse these growth spurts with developmental milestones. While they can sometimes coincide—and result in sleep-loss—developmental milestones revolve around acquiring cognitive, language, social/emotional, and motor skills. But a growth spurt is all about quickly occurring physical changes. Growth spurts can happen at almost any time, but babies generally experience their very first growth spurt at around seven to 10 days old. The next one usually strikes between 3 and 6 weeks, followed by another at 8 weeks. After that, many babies follow an every-three-month pattern of a growth spurt at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.
While every precious baby is a bit different, this is generally when baby growth spurts occur:
While your baby’s growth spurts may feel like they stretch on for an eternity, they do not last very long at all! For babies, you are looking at maybe three days per growth spurt. And for toddlers, a growth spurt can continue for up to a week.
Some of the biggest telltales that your baby is going through a growth spurt are changes in their appetite, fussiness, and sleep patterns. Here are some growth spurt signs to look for:
Just like the hungry teen they will become, babies have massive appetites when they are going through a growth spurt. Here are a few strategies for satisfying your baby’s ravenous appetite:
The 5 S’s—swaddling, shushing (white noise), swinging, sucking, and holding Baby in the side/stomach positions—are proven ways to activate a young baby’s natural calming reflex, which is a primal neurological response deep in the brain that acts like an “off switch” for fussing and an “on switch” for sweet slumber. These simple helpers work like magic…even during a growth spurt! In fact, regularly using the 5 S’s from the start can help prevent sleep problems triggered by growth spurts. While it is true that a newborn’s innate calming reflex fades about four months after birth, older babies continue to respond to the sleep- and calm-inducing lull of the 5 S’s due to something called “learned expectations.” So, your baby now expects to feel calm or sleepy when they, say, get rocked or listen to white noise. That means when your baby—who is no longer swaddled—goes through their 9-month growth spurt, low, rumbly white noise will become your child’s key calming and sleepytime cue to help little ones (and you!) weather any sleep disruption, including growth spurts.
Growth spurts can often bring about sleep issues, but sleep regression and growth spurts are not exactly the same thing. While growth spurts are centered around physical growth, sleep regression is about cognitive and mental growth. Learn more about the common 3- or 4-month sleep regression, the 8- or 9-month sleep regression, and even toddler sleep regression.
Disclaimer: The information on our site is NOT medical advice for any specific person or condition. It is only meant as general information. If you have any medical questions and concerns about your child or yourself, please contact your health provider. Breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for babies. It is important that, in preparation for and during breastfeeding, mothers eat a healthy, balanced diet. Combined breast- and bottle-feeding in the first weeks of life may reduce the supply of a mother's breastmilk and reversing the decision not to breastfeed is difficult. If you do decide to use infant formula, you should follow instructions carefully.
