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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Cluster feeding or something else? (bit long sorry!)

7 replies

AmandaWJ · 24/01/2012 13:22

DD is almost 3 weeks old and for the last couple of evenings/nights she has been feeding somewhat differently, between about 9pm-2am she has been constantly wanting to be at the breast and is being very wriggly, fussy, making odd straining/grunting noises and coming off all the time when i give it to her but crying when she's not on it, whereas during the day (and previously all through the day and night) she would always do a nice cycle of wake up, feed on one breast, change, feed on the other breast, sleep.

She also looks very unsettled and frustrated during this time and goes to latch frantically like she must be starving when in fact she has drained both breasts! I was worrying that i wasn't producing enough milk for her but even after several feeds it was still coming out so hoping that's not the issue.

Last night we resorted to rocking her for an hour or so to some nice music, she looked knackered and looked like she wanted to go to sleep but was fighting it. She did calm down somewhat but every time she stirred and woke up she would instantly root and cry but when i tried to feed her she would start doing all of the above all over again. She did eventually go to sleep rather suddenly as i was about to try and feed her again and she settled for a good 3 and a half hours or so. Then by about 6am she was back to the nice usual cycle.

Is this normal behaviour, is this just the cluster feeding i've read about or is it something else? could she just be over tired, over stimulated or having some kind of growth spurt? could there be something up with my BF-ing technique? Any advice is much appreciated :)

OP posts:
duvet · 24/01/2012 16:45

Sounds familiar, quite common ime around 3 weeks the routine does start to change and will probably change again by around 12 weeks. That fussing at the breast is quite common the best I can advice is to look on Kellymom.com for some tips and moral support, sounds like you are doing great. Be confident in your ability to feed your baby, you can do this but yeah it's not easy, especially cluster feeding at those times, mine would usually be from 7 -10/11pm

fhdl34 · 24/01/2012 17:21

My DD is also 3 weeks and is doing the same thing. I think it's cluster feeding. Last night she must have spent 4-5hrs either feeding or fussing at the breast then at 2am she finally went down and stayed down for about 6hrs so was able to get some sleep before DH's alarm went off at 6.30am. It's not the first night she's done it either. I too was worried I wasn't producing enough but it's still coming out lol.

MigGril · 24/01/2012 17:38

It does sound like fairly normal cluster feeding, have a read hear for more info www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

Witchofthenorth · 24/01/2012 19:38

Oh wow!!! Thank god it's not just me:) I am watching his thread with interest. Ds4 is 3 weeks and doing this exact thing till around 4am from about midnight.

showtunesgirl · 24/01/2012 23:01

Yup, it's cluster feeding. It can drive you almost insane but it passes. :)

AmandaWJ · 25/01/2012 14:21

Thanks everyone, feel much better knowing its normal! that kellymom article is really helpful too, cheers MigGril! :)
We had a slightly better night last night as i kept her close to the breast for a couple of hours which seemed to help her settle off in a better mood, (ie not crying!) still at 2am though. Looks like this will be the norm for a while if it does last till 3-4 months...

OP posts:
kritur · 26/01/2012 15:30

Completely normal cluster feeding just annoying that it's at that time. My DD was exactly the same, cluster feeding from 10pm-2am! She's 7 weeks old now and that has shifted to earlier in the evening and is now 7-10pm ish.

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