5 day old baby cluster feeding at night

[Slh122]

My 5 day old baby is breastfed and he feeds every 2-3 hours during the day. Except his first night, every night since is just a marathon cluster feeding starting about midnight. He's on and off every hour until about 5 or 6 am. In between feeds he falls asleep on me so I put him in his Moses basket and he starts screaming and rooting around and it all starts again.
DP refuses to co sleep as he thinks it's dangerous and says it's getting the baby into bad habits and that he'll never go down in his own bed - ok for him when he's getting stretches of sleep for more than an hour at a time :(
I feel like crying. DS seems to have started his cluster feeding at 7 tonight. Is there anything at all I can do or do I just have to go with it?

My ds is 6 weeks old so it's all very vivid in my memory.

What got me through was dp sleeping on the sofa for part of the night so we could co sleep. And the fact that there was no guarantee that switching to formula would be any easier.

I used to have my tea, a nice bath then some skin to skin with the baby in the bath with me. Just to remind me how beautiful he is and how only a few days ago he was inside me. And he never wanted to feed in the bath so it was nice to cuddle without feeling as though I was a dairy cow.

Then I would set up drinks, snacks and remote. Feed him on my bfing pillow until about 10pm then dp would come down to the sofa. I would then set up bed safely and feed laying down. Dp usually came back to bed about 4am and ds would sleep on his chest for a couple of hours so I got a block of sleep.

At 6 weeks our nights are usually pretty good. We have feeds every 3 hours. Goes in his crib between feeds. Daytime is rough lol. Made of velcro and currently asleep in his sling. But nights are ok.

Keep going. Every day is a bit easier.

Hi everyone,

This thread has saved my sanity! My DD is a week today (it now being 1am!)

She feeds and sleeps well during the day, then from about 10pm until 1am/2am/3am she bf, falls asleep at the breast, I put her down in the moses basket, she wakes soon after and feeds for 5-10 minutes and the process starts again.

I didn't really know about cluster feeding so I thought there was something wrong with me/baby/moses basket etc.

Reading this thread has made me realise that I am not alone in this and that this phase will pass.

Thanks! Xx

You're def not alone! My DD is 5 weeks on Tuesday and our nights are pretty horrific! She doesn't really go down at night and feeds, grumbles and fidgets all night long. Like tonight for instance! She went down at about 8pm for an hour so I are my tea. She then fed and fussed until 11:30ish when I laid down on the sofa with her and she magically settled down (finally), I managed to snooze until she woke again at 1:30. It's now 2:50 and I've tried to put her down twice and have given up so now sat up watching tv.

The only way I'm surviving is that I've agreed with my DH that I will get him up when I've finally had enough and he gives her a bottle of expressed milk which buys me between 3-4 hours unbroken sleep. I'd rather she wasn't having a bottle but with 2 other kids I simply can't function on 2 hours broken sleep a night.

My only saving grace is that having had 2 others I know that this won't last forever and that for now I just need to roll with it.

Fingers crossed we both start to get some sleep soon!

I used to prop myself up on pillows and let dd latch on and off as needed. She hit 8 weeks and then wouldn't cosleep anymore. You're doing fine. It's bonkers at the start and it will get easier. Try and enjoy the closeness your baby and you have. I loved that stage, it just felt so lovely. And with dh and dd2 snoring away made it feel like our special time. Because it was.
Keep going, you're doing brilliantly

Def try to encourage cluster feeds in the eve rather than night which helps hugely.

So clutter feed all eve 6pm-11pm. Then take him to bedroom with you and try to put in Moses basket. He might not want to continue feeding then as has had the chance before.

Day 5 is very young though, by week two it should slightly settle

If you have fed all eve and at 11pm he still doesn't want to settle then hand him to dh for 2 hrs whilst you sleep, he will be fine without a feed for 2 hrs as has fed all eve.

Pretty much any pattern of feeding is normal at 5 days.

Your milk supply is still being established so frequent feeding is to be expected and (IME anyway) that often happens in the middle of the night in the very early days.

It's very hard going. Especially if it's your first and you think it's going to last forever.

But it doesn't. It really doesn't. In a few days things will be different.

Honestly, nothing that's happening now is going to stay that way for long.

One of those things that might be happening is a massive rush of hormones that comes with your milk coming in and that makes you feel really emotional and unable to cope.

Hang in there. :)