Cluster feeding between 5 and 7am

[apachepony]

My 12 wo seems to have got into the habit of clusterfeeding between 5 and 7am every night. He's not quiet while he does it either - lots of wriggling around and fussing, and complaining if I take my nipple out of his mouth. What on earth could be causing this?

I don't really have any answers as to why, other than because he feels hungry then. My DS was pretty much an all night nurser for a long time. It gradually changed over time. I co-slept with him and fed him while lying down. This made it much easier as I could pretty much sleep (almost!) while he fed. My maternal instincts kept me in a rigid position and I never squashed him in any way.
If cluster feeds at this time are a sudden development it could just be a growth spurt. It will pass in a few days. At 12 weeks you are reaching the point where bf gets easier and easier. You are doing a great job! Best of luck.

I cosleep too but the wriggling and fussing means I can't sleep. He w

I cosleep too but the wriggling and fussing means I can't sleep. He woke up fully for the day at 7am and now is in a complete grouch and refusing to go down for a nap - he is always grouchy after an initial half hour of smiles if he wakes up so early whereas sometimes he will doze with us until 9 and be in better form. He takes his longest nap in the evening - might this be affecting his sleeping?

I have a book called The No Cry Sleep Solution. I started using the tips in it from about 12 months when I reached the end of my rope. 12 weeks is still very early.

Could it be wind or acid reflux that's making him fussy? My sister had a baby who cried and cried almost constantly for a year due to colic. Even though my boy like to feed a lot during the night, I counted my blessings that he didn't cry much.

If you desperately need some sleep yourself could you get DP to feed him some expressed milk in the early morning? If you don't want to use a bottle you could use a special feeding device. The one I used was medela, perhaps other brands do them too, I don't know. Here's a link to the soft cup one I used.
www.medela.com/IW/en/breastfeeding/products/breastmilk-feeding/special-feeding-devices.html

I hope this is just a short phase that he's going through. Have you looked at the kellymom website for advice. It's by far the best online resource for bf mammas. Good luck!

He does take bottles though it'll be a fight to get dh to get up to give an early morning bottle! He did rock him to sleep just after my op and we put him in the carrycot where he slept for almost 25 mins - a record as usually he'll only sleep on me, or at night beside me, or if I'm lucky, in the pram if it's moving and beside a busy road. He really is being grouchy today - I thought the next growth spurt was around 12 weeks - can it come early?
I have no cry sleep solution - but have been lazy about implementing it, particularly as if he doesn't sleep he's so grouchy - so I end up trying to get him to sleep in any way possible

Oh also it might be wind in the early morning - but I never seem to be able to get any up and then he ends up waking up fully

i co-sleep with my 5 week old dd due to her refusing moses basket, we were sleeping/feeding peacefully together until the past couple of nights where she has been wriggling and whining and latching on and off all the time. She sometimes gets like this in the day too and have just figured out the pattern that it all settles as soon as she has done a big poo so her tummy must be bothering her... i'm going to try and start massaging her tummy/bicycling her legs etc next time and see if it helps. perhaps its the same problem with your little one