Signs of hunger? At 2 months still unable to see cues. Help!

My wife and I have an extremely difficult time figuring out when our baby is
hungry. She's now about 9 weeks old. She occasionally will bring her hand to
her cheek or mouth, but other than that... We found it very annoying that
most books just assume you can figure it out instinctually - it isn't
happening yet. Any tips? Signs to look for? She doesn't do the "rooting"
thing. She was also diagnosed with reflux (GERD) which we have been
dutifully giving her the medicine. She has greatly improved (spitting up
much less, seems to be in less pain, and is in overally better spirits).

Thanks,
SL

Gosh, without the rooting I'd have no idea! Rooting and sucking on the
hand are the two biggest cues ime. How often does she bring her hand
to her mouth? Does she ever open and close her mouth, without the
actual rooting?
Just about the only instinctual thing going on is protecting your
children and something being wrong. The rest is just left for you to
figure out )
Marie

On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 08:58:56 -0700, "Sam Lowry"
wrote:

My wife and I have an extremely difficult time figuring out when our baby is
hungry. She's now about 9 weeks old. She occasionally will bring her hand to
her cheek or mouth, but other than that... We found it very annoying that
most books just assume you can figure it out instinctually - it isn't
happening yet. Any tips? Signs to look for? She doesn't do the "rooting"
thing. She was also diagnosed with reflux (GERD) which we have been
dutifully giving her the medicine. She has greatly improved (spitting up
much less, seems to be in less pain, and is in overally better spirits).

Thanks,
SL

You may be able to tell different cries after awhile if you pay
attention. Both my dds have a cry that sounds like "hey" when they
are hungry. What the cry sounds like can vary from baby to baby
though.

KC

"Sam Lowry" wrote in message ...
My wife and I have an extremely difficult time figuring out when our baby is
hungry. She's now about 9 weeks old. She occasionally will bring her hand to
her cheek or mouth, but other than that... We found it very annoying that
most books just assume you can figure it out instinctually - it isn't
happening yet. Any tips? Signs to look for? She doesn't do the "rooting"
thing. She was also diagnosed with reflux (GERD) which we have been
dutifully giving her the medicine. She has greatly improved (spitting up
much less, seems to be in less pain, and is in overally better spirits).

Thanks,
SL

Zach really didn't show signs for hunger ever. So, I just offered it and if
he took it, fine, if he didn't want it, he would turn it away. I offered
every 2-3 hours at the point you're at---or more accurately, after waking
and before napping/sleeping. Early on, he'd be colicky in the evening, so
I'd marathon nurse then, too...as long as he had the boob in his mouth, he
wouldn't complain.

When he got older, I decided that I didn't want him to always nurse to sleep
(I didn't want that association), so I quit nursing to nap....but you're a
ways from that point)

Just recently does he tell me that he wants milk....he says "Num
Num".....it's so cute!

Annie
Zach, 6.19.02

"Sam Lowry" wrote in message
...
My wife and I have an extremely difficult time figuring out when our baby
is
hungry. She's now about 9 weeks old. She occasionally will bring her hand
to
her cheek or mouth, but other than that... We found it very annoying that
most books just assume you can figure it out instinctually - it isn't
happening yet. Any tips? Signs to look for? She doesn't do the "rooting"
thing. She was also diagnosed with reflux (GERD) which we have been
dutifully giving her the medicine. She has greatly improved (spitting up
much less, seems to be in less pain, and is in overally better spirits).

Thanks,
SL

My son is 5 months and I still usually don't know when he is hungry. If I am
watching the clock, I know that he'll be hungry about every 2 hours. But, if
I'm not paying any attention to the time, I have no idea when he is hungry
until he gets really crabby and nothing else will make him happy. I think I'm
just really bad at looking for his signals. I never really noticed him
rooting. Around 2-3 months old, he had his hand in his mouth constantly, so
that wasn't a good sign either. I've decided not to feel guilty about not
being able to figure out any possible signals he might be giving me.

In a month, I'm going to start doing baby signs with him, so hopefully in a few
months he'll start being able to use a baby sign to let me know when he is
hungry. If you're interested in this, look for the book 'Baby Signs' by Linda
Acredolo at one of the online booksellers.

Anna


Sam Lowry wrote:

My wife and I have an extremely difficult time figuring out when our baby is
hungry. She's now about 9 weeks old. She occasionally will bring her hand to
her cheek or mouth, but other than that... We found it very annoying that
most books just assume you can figure it out instinctually - it isn't
happening yet. Any tips? Signs to look for? She doesn't do the "rooting"
thing. She was also diagnosed with reflux (GERD) which we have been
dutifully giving her the medicine. She has greatly improved (spitting up
much less, seems to be in less pain, and is in overally better spirits).

Thanks,
SL

In article ,
"Sam Lowry" wrote:

My wife and I have an extremely difficult time figuring out when our baby is
hungry. She's now about 9 weeks old.

At that age you can assume that most of her crying is hunger-related! Look
for attempted sucking motions -- movement of jaw and tongue. The other sign
might well be your wife having let-downs or feeling over-full, particularly if
she has oversupply as I did.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"...children should continue to be breastfed... for up to two years of age
or beyond." -- Innocenti Declaration, Florence, 1 August 1990

"Sam Lowry" wrote in message
...
My wife and I have an extremely difficult time figuring out when our baby
is
hungry. She's now about 9 weeks old. She occasionally will bring her hand
to
her cheek or mouth, but other than that... We found it very annoying that
most books just assume you can figure it out instinctually - it isn't
happening yet. Any tips? Signs to look for? She doesn't do the "rooting"
thing. She was also diagnosed with reflux (GERD) which we have been
dutifully giving her the medicine. She has greatly improved (spitting up
much less, seems to be in less pain, and is in overally better spirits).

DS would make a kind of cry. It wasn't an all out cry, just a communicating
type cry, sounded like he was desparately saying, "Please hurry, I need
food". Hard to describe, but I noticed it when he was still in the hospital
and he made the same sound until he was over a year old, until he found that
lifting my shirt was easier. I've always associated that cry with hunger,
but when he was a year old, I realized how long he had been doing it for and
it amazed me how a newborn could find a way to communicate so quickly, this
cry being just so different from the other cries.

Also, I agree with Chookie. Most of his cries at that age were primarily
from hunger. At first, I thought maybe I shouldn't feed him whenever he
cried, maybe try finding out if it was his diaper or he was too cold or hot
or whatever, like the books say, but in the end, I think my instinct was
better. It was almost always hunger. DS is 2yo and has never cried from a
wet or dirty diaper. He never cried from being too cold or hot. He does
cry when he's too tired or sleepy, but when they're 9 wo, they usually nurse
to sleep, so you kill two birds with one stone. He cried from gas, but that
was a shrieking cry.

Good luck.

AnnaS wrote:

My son is 5 months and I still usually don't know when he is hungry. If I am
watching the clock, I know that he'll be hungry about every 2 hours. But, if
I'm not paying any attention to the time, I have no idea when he is hungry
until he gets really crabby and nothing else will make him happy. I think I'm
just really bad at looking for his signals. I never really noticed him
rooting. Around 2-3 months old, he had his hand in his mouth constantly, so
that wasn't a good sign either. I've decided not to feel guilty about not
being able to figure out any possible signals he might be giving me.

My dd used to have easy to read signs. She'd root or move her lips like
she was trying to suck. Now she's 4 months and her signs have changed! I
haven't figured out what the new ones are, yet, so I go by the clock. I
put her down for naps really regularly and have to actually make her
sleep sometimes (lots of rocking or nursing) so if I'm trying to get her
to sleep and she just completely refuses, I know she's still hungry.
Then she'll nurse to sleep.

--
Suzanne http://cshardie.tripod.com
sittin' on the dock of eBay, watching the bids roll away
--Richard Powers, "Literary Devices"

Hi everybody-
Thanks for all of the input! We have since talked to a couple of other
mothers who didn't figure out the hunger signs 'til at least 6 months. We no
longer feel alone.
SL


Thanks,
SL