Help - cluster feeding and think I've run out of milk

[Dreemagurl]

My 11 day old DD has been cluster feeding (I think) and tonight has been particularly bad - she's been permanently hungry since about 4pm and hasn't slept at all. I'm sure she's not getting any more milk out of me as she doesn't seem satisfied and starts head bobbing and finger sucking while my DP burps her. Help! What can I do? She needs to sleep (as do I!) but she won't stop wanting food!

You can't run out of milk - as some wise person on here once said, boobs are like rivers, not buckets! She'll be getting milk, but she's probably having a growth spurt so needing more than usual. All the feeding will be encouraging your supply to keep up. What about taking her to bed to feed lying down so you can get some rest? Well done and congratulations!

yep, I agree, she is doing a clever thing-sending a message to your body to make more milk. Keeping her close will help.

There is a growth spurt at 10 days and I think this is what you are dealing with. She is stimulating your body to make more milk. Eat oats and chocolate (really!), drink lots, feed on demand and it will pass.
Evening cluster feeding can go on for quite a while so plan your evenings around it - demand feeding will help max out your supply as quickly as possible and limit the duration.

There is another growth spurt at 21 days, and a really bad one at 6 weeks.
Hang in there!

no, you can't run out of milk but you can have so.little coming out they are burning more calories sucking then they are taking in. I'm not saying this is happening to you, but it happened to me and I am now working on increasing my supply.
I give my dd formula top ups when she doesn't seem to get enough from breast, let's us both sleep and me refill.
I'm not advising you to do the same, just sharing what I do as advised by bf consultant.

Im afraid cluster feedings are normal in the evenings. It doesnt mean you dont have enough milk. Its quite common for young babies to feed almost constantly from 4ish till v late in the evening. Im afraid you may have experienced a kind of honeymoon period in the first 10 days when the baby was fairly settled.

Its also normal for babies to have a growth spurt at around 2 weeks. This is their way of increasing your milk supply by feeding very often for a few days. Although it is very tiring it should ease off after a few days. If it doesnt, its worth getting some support via a breastfeeding clinic or support group so you can just check your latch to make sure you are comfortable and your daughter is feeding efficiently.

There are various things you can do to cope with cluster feeding/growth spurt demands. The main thing is to sleep -or at least rest - when the baby sleeps even if that is mainly during the day. Unfortunately very young babies dont know the difference between day and night and can quite easily be fairly settled during the day and then much more active at night.

I coped with these difficult times by stretching my night out so that I slept in with the baby in the mornings until about 10am. Sometimes I had a proper afternoon nap too! The other tip is to delay/cancel as many other activities as possible. If your DP can do some household stuff/change nappies/give baths/babysit for an hour to give you a break that can help too.

One way to increase your milk supply and give you a rest too is to spend lots of time (eg at least 2 hours at a time) skin to skin with your baby in bed.

Good luck! It does get easier gradually - Honest!

Best wishes

chilli but if baby stops sucking then the supply will never catch up? basics on how milk production works

theidsalright- I was feeding on demand, 3 hour cluster feeds, and she was not gaining.
I don't have enough milk, no matter what I do, though I am on a program trying to increase it which includes shorter feeding times followed by pumping and topping up. she is now gaining almost a pound a week so its working better than on demand was.
not all boobs do what they should, I'm one of the unlucky ones.

Chilli your circumstances are specific to you, and likewise the advice you were given isn't suitable generic advice to hand out to new mums whose babies are behaving normally. I hope you haven't alarmed the OP, whose baby is unlikely to be experiencing any problems.

Thanks for all the replies. Will try and hang in there. Don't want to have to resort to formula but will try it if she carries on - I'm sure she's not getting all she needs. Plus my nipples do seem misshapen when she comes off and I heard this could mean her latch isn't right, but I don't know how to correct it. She also seems to be getting quite a bit of wind - legs pushing down and up and crying like she's straining. Have tried infacol but it's not helping.

I was very specific that my advice was not advice, just sharing what I had been told.
OP - please go to your nearest bf support clinic, especially if you think your latch is not right. I wad advised to give formula but you may not have to if a latch problem could be what's keeping your lo from getting enough.

oh, and the wind could be from her fussing at the breast and swallowing air.
my dd likes being burped by holding her on my chest, with her head on my shoulder. even if she doesn't burp, she finds the position comforting when she seems gassy.

I found as well hard to distinguish between cluster feeding (as hungry) and a need to suck for comfort. Also I generally pulled baby off at 11pm or so (provided had feed for more than say 2-3 hours) and went to bed and got DH to rock DS2 to sleep. Each time both me and DS2 slept for around 2-3 hours giving me time to rest. Each time we did this I woke up really full, so not sure its really necessary to let baby to continue to feed regardless if the milk flow is that slow. He then took another good feed (2-3 hours later) which knocked him out again.
If the baby has been feeding for several hours already and milk is slowing down then baby has already sent a message to make more milk. Sometimes its more important for the mum to get some sleep.
Do not agree that formula tops ups are necessary but DH with good rocking skills helped me!

Just wanted to add cluster feeding completely normal at this (very young) age and all my 3 have done it. It's very easy to lose your confidence as they can appear so unsettled and hungry. I wouldn't bother with expressing or trying to space out feeds and giving formula will only reduce your own supply (as I found out to my cost with DS2). Are you able to feed lying down because this "skill" has saved my sanity at times.

Well had to stop at about midnight as was just exhausted. DP rocked and cuddled for an hour and although neither she or I went to sleep, it gave me some rest and my breasts time to refill, so fed again at 1am and then 2am - she finally went down at about half 2 and slept till about half 5. Fed again at 6 but only for 10 mins so I was worried she'd want more although she had fallen asleep at the breast and I couldn't get her interested in more. She slept for another couple of hours and is now fussing slightly so will feed again now. Should I be trying to get her into a day/night routine already and if so, how? Thanks again for all the helpful replies

I differentiated between day and night with ds just by doing night time feeds in the darkened, quiet bedroom with as little stimulation as possible. During the day I put ds down for naps in his moses basket in the brightly lit living room with lots of people and noise around. They get it eventually!

That sounds like normal behaviour at that age. I think most people experience feeling like they've run out of milk at clusterfeeds but it doesn't mean you don't have enough and it won't last forever. I know it's hard though! (dreading the next growth spurt here) Hope things settle down soon, feeding lying down can really help if you can do it :)

I wouldn't be worrying about routine as such. Just as suggested, avoid lights and noise at night. I have a little LED

oops! ... battery operated light which hangs on the headboard and lets me see to get her latched on without waking any of us up too much.

the best way I found of coping with cluster feeds was chocolate digestives, cups of tea and mumsnet

seriously, as everyone else has said, cluster feeding is normal and will probably continue fir some time. my ds2 is 15 weeks and I spend every evening on the sofa with him cluster feeding - great excuse to get out of making dinner/cleaning the kitchen/doing the ironing it makes it much easier if you accept cluster feeding as an opportunity to catch up on tv/mumsnet/dvd box sets.

but if you think your latch isn't great, please see a bf counsellor asap