Is this cluster feeding?

[GreenCar]

Or a growth spurt? Or something else? And more importantly, is this normal?

DS is 10 days old. until a couple of days ago he was eating regularly and suckling well at each feed (at some feeds he was doing almost constant deep sucks and swallowing and at other feeds he was pausing a lot between swallowing) and I felt confident I knew when he had finished and could settle him down easily. He was sleeping well between feeds.

For the last couple of days, he has started doing "feeds" where he spends most his time shallow sucking or just holding my nipple in his mouth and barely doing any swallowing (even when I do breast compressions and keep swappIng breasts). Sometimes he is wide awake with eyes open when he does this. These "feeds" are at times when I would expect him to be hungry and eating properly. They can last an hour and a half and I really can't tell most of the time when he's done (he either falls asleep with nipple on mouth or spits it out and sleeps but when I put him down to sleep, he starts stirring and rooting so I put him back on breast).

I read about cluster feeding and they all say it's early evening but DS has behaved like this at a morning feed, a 2am feed and a 4am feed (not all on same day).

Otherwise he has lots of wet and dirty nappies and gaining weight. Latch fine and no nipple pain.

Does anyone have any ideas?? Thank you!

He could be comfort sucking? Will he suck something else (dummy or your little finger for example) at these times? My dd never comfort sucked at the breast but always liked to suck to get to sleep, and now sucks her thumb when she's falling asleep.

To be honest I haven't tried a dummy as was told not to introduce one for the first 6 weeks while I'm establishing my milk supply. I guess I could try my finger though! Up to now though DS has only been eating at breast and not staying on for hours just to suck. V confused... Plus of course questioning myself and starting to lose confidence.

Thanks for responding.

If he has lots of wet and dirty nappies, is gaining weight, then you are doing just great :) babies change how they feed on a whim frequently. they can get comfort as well as nutrition, both of which they need. at this age, if you just go with what your baby tells you he wants, and you follow his cues, you will be doing fine. understanding why he wants what he wants will probably come with hindsight (or at least it does in my case :))

It is very difficult not to lose confidence when they feed for ages and never seem satisfied! You just need to have faith that your body will adjust your supply to provide for ds if it is cluster feeding. I went through so many phases of doubting my supply when dd fed for hours on and off all evening, but actually it turned out to be fine. Completely agree with Mama, as long as you have lots of nappies and weight gain is fine, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about (apart from lack of sleep it it's happening in the middle of the night!).

Everything is a phase and I'm sure this'll pass soon!!

I agree sounds like you are doing very well! Don't fret about trying to work out WHY they are doing something, just get on and give them what they want. He is still so young.

I think MissRed was probably suggesting a dummy in case you wanted to get a break from the sucking. Sounds like he just wants to be close to you

Thank you all! You've def made me feel better. Just generally anxious about all this. And keep thinking that if he doesn't feed properly then my supply will drop.

Plus mil (who is generally lovely and whom I'm close to) on hearing yesterday morning that DS was unsettled, started telling me that I probably don't have enough milk and will prob have to give formula. I know I should have ignored her but with all my hormones I just got all upset and started questioning things. Why are people ao quick to undermine mothers trying to bf??

But the good news is that after my sleepless night, DS had a really good feed this morning. Settled really well afterwards and has been asleep ever since (and it's 2 1/2 hours since start of last feed!).

I think the 'not having enough milk' thing is very common reaction to constant nursing, especially with older generations. But think about it, if they weren't getting enough milk, how could they be producing so much poo and wee? Where would they get their extra weight from?

Did mil bf? She may have been told the same thing and had to give up so is now reinforcing what she believes. Also I'm sure she just wants the best for her grandchild, even if she is misguided.

Mil has told me before that she didn't have enough milk and had to bottle feed (although she does believe that best to bf until baby is 2 or 2 1/2 years old). Plus all DH's cousins who had babies recently didn't bf (again told not enough milk).

Got to weigh DS later too. Do other people get anxious before they have to
Weigh baby? I'll go crazy if I worry his much all the way through my bf !!

Shallow sucking does mean that you have a latch issue, even if it starts off fine.

AFAIK cluster feeding is just that - frequent feeds clustered together in a short space of time. It doesn't mean the baby isn't feeding properly then.

Generations of women over the last 100 years have been told they didn't have enough milk because it didn't used to be understood that breastfeeding works on a supply & demand basis.

If you don't have enough milk, feed more enough. That's actually partly what real cluster feeding is about - the baby upping your supply to meet their needs.

Mil has told me before that she didn't have enough milk and had to bottle feed (although she does believe that best to bf until baby is 2 or 2 1/2 years old). Plus all DH's cousins who had babies recently didn't bf (again told not enough milk).

Got to weigh DS later too. Do other people get anxious before they have to
Weigh baby? I'll go crazy if I worry his much all the way through my bf !!

Yes, weighing was hugely stressful for us, but then DD had to spend 3 days in SCBU and lost 15% of her birth weight!

Once you get to 4 weeks you should only weigh them every month at most though. And bfing typically gets a lot easier from 4-6 weeks. So you've only got a few more weeks of breastfeeding boot camp to get through!