8 week old baby cluster feeding for hours every evening since birth

[ChairmumMiaow]

My DS turned 8 weeks old today and cluster feeds for between 2 and 6 hours every evening since he was born. He sleeps for about 10-15 minutes between feeds of about the same length, even when I try to wake him to keep feeding.

At first I presumed it was a growth spurt as he was putting on weight really quickly. Now his weight gain has slowed but his cluster feeding continues.

In the day he normally averages about 2 hours from the end of one feed to the start of the next, which I'm finding easy enough to deal with (I can get stuff done)

I started expressing at about 4 weeks and once or twice a week DH lets me go to bed early and does the late evening feed with expressed milk. We found that with the bottle feed he stopped asking for milk so frequently after the feed, so I've been giving him a small bottle (1-2 ounces) when I want him to go to sleep (normally around 9.30)

Whether he goes to bed at 10 or 11.30 - 12 (which is when he would finish cluster feeding on his own normally) he wakes twice in the night.

I'm reasonably happy to keep going with the bottle at night (its the same stuff after all) but I'm wondering if its my milk supply that's making him take so long to get full enough to sleep for more than a few minutes in the evening.

I don't express easily - to start with I was getting an ounce from both breasts in half an hour. Now if I express before I feed I can get around 60ml from both in half an hour - and that's only in the morning (I can only get a dribble in the evening as DS doesn't stop feeding for long enough!)

Its not really a major problem - I'm not at the end of my tether (yet), he's gaining weight well and I'm getting enough sleep, but I'd like to think I can do something to allow myself to leave the sofa sometime each evening!

Sorry for such a long post but I'd be really grateful for some advice!

[Monkeybird]

The evening cluster feeding pattern is a normal one. Not always what you need to hear but if you think about it, it makes sense: your milk supply is lower in the evening and babies often learn to 'stoke' themselves up a bit before a longer sleep at night. At that age, it is not at all unusual to be sofa bound for some weeks in the evenings...

It will probably stretch out a bit - perhaps if he has another big growth spurt soon - but I wouldn't expect a dramatic change.

If he will accept it without protest (mine wouldn't!) you could try and start the cluster feeding process a bit earlier to see if you can shift the timescale earlier and if necessary shorten the gap slightly between the early evening feeds? So for example if you can get him to fit in a 4pm, 6pm and 8pm feed, perhaps then he'll have had enough? Or at least then perhaps just need one more feed at 9-10 to get him through till 1-2am?

It might not work though and it might also cheese him off...! Good luck.

[Caz10]

hi! my dd is 13wks and has been cluster feeding for what seems like forever, i think it's been a month or so?

anyway she used to feed on and off like that 5pm - 1am, then she'd sleep till 5am-ish. i always put her down between the feeds but she'd only sleep for 5-10 mins at a time till 1am.

then one night she stayed asleep from 12, then it was 11.30, now she will go down for the night about 10.30! very occasionally she then wakes at 3-4am, but mostly it's still 5am, and i am pretty chuffed to be getting 10.30pm - 5am from such a wee one!

anyway my point is it will get better! i still don't have my evenings back but i cam cope with that for the time being, and i'm hoping the stopping time will get earlier and earlier - i suppose my goal is to split it into 2 feeds like 8pm and 11pm or whatever, instead of going continuously through!

[BroccoliSpears]

Mine was the same at that age.

If it's not really a major problem for you, the only advice I'd give is to sit it out and it will pass. It doesn't last forever.

I used to get myself some snacks, some drinks, assume sole control of the remote (breastfeeding privileges - it's in the charter ) or stick a film on, prop myself every which way with cushions and pillows and just settle in for the evening or however long it took. Books, magazines and a phone handy. It's a lovely excuse not to be able to do anything else at all!

[Bouncingturtle]

Yes my 11 wo ds is doing the same, tends to be late afternoon/early evening, he is starting to have 4 hour stretches of sleep during the night (yey!) so can only assume it is typical stocking up feeding Gives me an excuse to do naff all in the afternoon lol