How long do babies cluster feed for?

[lurcherlover]

DS is 7 weeks old now and doing well with breasfeeding - putting on loads of weight. He feeds every 2-3 hours in the day, then cluster feeds in the evening from 7ish through til midnight, when he falls asleep and I can put him down for the night. He will then sleep through til 9am. I'm really grateful for the sleep and not complaining at all - but if possible I would like him to sleep 10-7 rather than 9-midnight, and then obviously for his sleep to gradually increase at night until he's going to bed earlier. My HV said I should try bringing bedtime forward by 10 mins a night, but I don't see how I can as he is cluster feeding - he will fall asleep at the breast, but if I try and put him down he's wide awake ten minutes later and will feed again. There just comes a point when he seems to decide he's full and falls into deep sleep. I haven't tried leaving him alone while he's awake in the hope he falls asleep - I just pick him up and offer him more milk. Is this true cluster feeding, or do you think he's just sucking for comfort and would sleep if I left him? And if it is cluster feeding, how long will this generally continue - will I ever be able to establish an earlier bedtime routine? Don't get me wrong, I know I'm really lucky to have a baby who is a good sleeper and if this is just the way it has to be I don't mind - I'm just clueless and wondering if there is a way of getting him into a bedtime routine that I don't know about!

I'm no expert but mine's 12 weeks and exactly the same, starting at 4pm these days and settling between 9 and 11pm. It used to be later, but I think it's gradually moving earlier. I wouldn't bother trying to settle her earlier - if successful it might be at the cost of a night's sleep! It will gradually get easier. DS had colic for 5 months but once that passed we just made up a routine. Now he goes to bed beautifully. There's no rush!

It does get better: your DS sounds very like mine (except that mine woke for another feed at 2 and 5 - very envious of your 9 hours' uninterrupted!). He started to get a bit more predictable at about 12 weeks: we noticed that he was starting to fall asleep at about the same time each night (about 9.30 at that stage), and from then the cluster feeding really tailed off and we could move his bedtime gradually earlier. We had a bedtime routine from about 6 weeks, but geared to when he was ready to fall asleep rather than any particular time of night. Now we have feed - bath - feed - bed, and he's usually in bed by 7.30. He's still not sleeping through, though: you'll find me on the 4-month sleep regression hell thread at the moment!

My ds2 was like that, there was some kind of switch in his little brain that sent him into a really deep sleep and nothing I did could bring that forward. He stopped that at about 10 weeks, and is now 13 weeks and regularly going to bed between 6.30 and 8.30, depending on the day.

Ds1 didn't ever cluster feed so it was a bit of a shock!

It does stop, although it's all a bit hazy... I wish now I'd made a note of when stuff like this changed.

I do remember that at 3 weeks there was no point me going to bed before midnight, then 10pm was DS's bedtime from 6 to about 12 weeks, since then until recently (now 6 mo) it's been about 9pm.

TBH though I got so used to cluster feeding that for ages I just continued to feed him every hour or so in the evening anyway. It got easier when the feeds got shorter (about 10 weeks)