Cluster Feeding

[Lush17]

My baby is now 8 weeks old I have been EBF from birth and only recently trying to introduce a bottle to her, she has taken the odd oz but then won't take anymore! We have tried breast milk and 3 different types of formula, 4 different makes of bottles, and a sippy cup. Does anybody have any other ideas?
She will not take a dummy either which am not bothered about apart from I think she is using me as a comfort.
Some days I feel like I am constantly feeding her, sometimes she will go a couple of hours between each feed, but an example like today she was awake at 6 this morning and I think over the day there has only been about a couple of hours I wasn't feeding her! She finally fell asleep about 9. Am lucky through the night as am only up a couple of times, whether she has cluster fed or not.
Am finding it difficult to get out of the house!!
This is my first child so am not sure if this is all normal.

Sounds very normal for an 8 week old baby. Your very lucky with the sleep which is probably one of the reasons she's feeding so much in the day. This will charm down a she gets older.

A note on the bottle stick with one type and one formula or better expressed milk to start with, switching will only confuse things for her. Taking one Oz is actually quit good they only have small tummies and her breastfeeds with probably only be about 3-4 Oz anyway. Note the volume of milk a breastfed baby takes from one mouth old to six months doesn't change as the consistency of your milk changes over time.

A for getting out the house just grab a few nappies and go if she needs feeding at some point just stop and feed. Nice coffee shops are good for this. Often babies will feed a little less while our and about as they are distracted or asleep from the motion of the car/pram/sling.

Your doing a good job.

Didn't want to read and run, I'm sure better advice will be along shortly. Can't really advise about the bottle unfortunately as my dd at the moment seems happy to accept one. Just wanted to say I have an 8 week old as well and am experiencing the same frequency regarding feeds. During the day I rarely experience more than a couple of hours between feeds unless we're out and about and there are enough distractions for us both to allow the time between feeds to be longer. That's what I find key tbh, if we're at home and she's unsettled it's the easiest thing to give her a boob and settle her again so it does feel like I'm feeding her all the time on some days.

How long does she feed each time? Is she falling asleep at the breast? Are you happy that she's latched on enough as if she's on too shallow she may not be feeding as efficiently as she could be. However, at the end of the day I believe bf babies do feed more often than ff babies and it can feel like it's literally all you're doing some days!
Do you have a breast feeding cafe or support group you could get to? Personally I have found that confidence with breastfeeding has really helped me this time (2nd baby) as I'm much more comfortable with feeding in public so don't need to worry about bottles. With my first I was paranoid that everyone must be watching me and catch a flash of the boob (!) and ultimately breast feeding wasn't successful for me. This time around I just fling a muslin over my shoulder and get her on, no one notices it, she's happy, no faff with a bottle!
Hope all the above makes sense, am a teeny bit sleep deprived!

Thank you both for your support and advice. I think going out is more a confidence thing that am going to have to overcome
Last week I did go to our local Breastfeeding meeting which I did find helpful, so I shall make myself go next week as well
We are going out today so hopefully it will be a day where she goes about 2 hours in between each feed, could yesterday possibly be a growth spurt?
As for the bottle situation I think am getting my self more worked up than anything and think we will leave it for a while.

My ds wouldn't take one either, found out at 9 months he had a upper kip tie, so was actually that he couldn't. Did find a very narrow bottle which he could take.

Worth double checking for lip and/tongue ties though just in case.

I could have written your post op!! Ds (1st baby) is exactly the same, he had three days of feeding non stop and I thought I was going to go a bit deranged, I've never understood the expression tearing your hair out until I was sat with the baby at nine at night still feeding and I had my hands in my hair feeling totally drained. Yesterday was totally different and he slept for a large part of the day and then had a really good night, I posted on here and all the responses said growth spurt, I have noticed a huge difference in my milk supply so he has increased it.

I also have a bottle refuser so whilst I'm staying with my parents for a few days my mum is sitting with him whilst he's calm and not that hungry and getting him used to the bottle, he hasn't quite got the hang of sucking but it's a huge step in the right direction and he's not freaked out by it anymore, no idea if this will work though!!

Re going out I've noticed a difference when I don't take him out in his pram he definitely wants to feed more, have you looked at getting a bf cover up thing, can't remember what there called but my friend had one and would just pop it over her head whenever she needed to feed in public.

Ds is 8 weeks on Tuesday, bf is so much harder than I thought it was going to be!!!

Thanks susieloo, am new to this site and now know am not the only one that sits for hours feeding on certain days.
They like to drill it into you how good Breastfeeding is for you both, which don't get me wrong I love feeding her and the bond between us, but they don't tell you about how hard it can be, draining and emotional sometimes. Haha yes I think the phrase tearing your hair out sums it up.
She fell asleep about 9 last night, woke up about 3 for about half hour feed, woke up again at half 5, cuddled her and she's gone back to sleep, tried to put her back down but she woke up until I cuddled her again, so we are still sat having cuddles

There's a really helpful thread in breast and bottle feeding called bf in the middle of the night how to stay awake or something similar that I've found really helpful, both for staying awake and finding out more about others experiences

Op, I could have written your post as well! Mine is 5 weeks old and feeds solidly through the day. I was also struggling to leave the house.
In the end last wkd I decided to just go for it and go out for a short while every day, maybe a walk, maybe a trip to the shop, maybe a wander round the garden centre.
I still find it hard but it does get easier with practise.
Good luck and dont worry!

Well yesterday we went out had to feed her a couple of times, but she still was unsettled, I think she fights her sleep sometimes during the day. We came home and she cluster fed from 5 until 9, about 7 we bathed her. But she slept until just after 4 this morning. Today has been totally different feeding for no more than an hour, sleeping for 1 - 2 hours and we have been playing without her seeming crabby.

Yay!! That's great news, I have a very sleepy baby after horrible cluster feed days which is such a relief so glad you got out too

Thanks Susieloo, happy 8 week old birthday for tomorrow, we will be 9 weeks tomorrow!
Not sure if her been a bit crabby the past few days has anything to do with her injections, yesterday a couple of people wanted to cuddle her but she cried straight away and then stopped when I took her back (mummy's girl), hopefully it's just a phase as she cried when daddy picked her up too and I don't want that !!!

I found bf in a park was a good way to build up confidence about being outside the house