Cluster feeding..how long does it go on?

[mamacorner]

Hi , I have a 6 week old that I'm EBF.
She's a content baby generally, gaining weight and feeding is going well...BUT she starts a marathon of cluster feeding about 5pm every evening which goes on until about 9.30. I can barely put her down during this time, and is only content when being fed.

I know it's all quite normal and she does then settle and feed 3 hourly or so through the night so she's a little star on that front. However with two other children to feed and get to bed and a DH that works most evenings I'm finding it tiring and frustrating...any ideas how long this can go on for? any suggestions to improve things or do I just have to go with it?
Thanks for any help.

It varies - usually it improves by around 3 months (I know that feels like a long way away!), although some finish much earlier, and some later.

Do you have a decent sling so you can feed the baby at the same time as doing bedtime?

If you can manage it after your other DC go to bed, feeding lying down is the best way to cope IMO. :)

I meant to add: Kellymom has some info.

Thanks Angel, I have a baby carrier but not a sling that I could feed from, have you any suggestions for the best one? Could be a good solution especially if I could have another 6 weeks of it to go!!

I've got a Close baby carrier but I never tried feeding in it. It'd be worth checking what size baby it takes in the cradle hold.

Alternatively, a pouch sling (mine is a Hotslings adjustable one) or a ring sling would work - but might be less comfy as the weight is on one shoulder rather than both.

You could try asking on the MN slings & backpacks board where I'm sure there will be people with more experience than me.

And it's worth googling to find out if there's a sling library near you so you can try one out. Or you can hire slings - again, Google is your friend. :)

Congratulations on your DD, by the way.

I think ring slings are best for feeding - they're what Dr Sears and his wife recommend and their book is full of anecdotes or her feeding in the shopping queue, at posh dinners, etc. I have a Babasling - so same shape as a ring sling - which I have fed in but it isn't adjustable when on like a ring sling and I find that to be a problem.

I might get flamed for saying this on this thread (which is known to be a bit hysterical about EBFing) but what's your attitude to mix feeding? I found that introducing one bottle of formula (just one) at about 6pm satisfied DD and took a lot of pressure off me in the evenings in the early days. If you keep it to just one bottle a day it doesn't seem to interfere with milk supply, which is naturally lower in the evenings, and it gives you a bit of a rest. You can go back to EBF later on when things are a bit more settled.

Good luck

DD cluster fed 4/5 ish - 11 ish and nearly drove me insane. However, it stopped at 11 weeks and was easy from then on. That said, I didn't have any other DCs and I might find it much more difficult this time around. I did feed DD a few times in my Moby wrap but it wasn't that easy tbh. I have no useful advice, except there is light at the end of the tunnel and it will end. Good luck!

Lots of exlusively formula fed babies do have fussy evenings at this age too though, so formula isn't necessarily the answer. It's often to do with the baby needing to be close to you as well as just nutrition.