Cluster feeding getting me down

[Sugarcoma]

I've posted on here before about my struggles to bf after a very difficult start. I finally - finally! - cracked it and have managed to wean 9-week-old DS off formula and we even had our first day of EBF the other day.

However - from afternoon to middle of the night he cluster feeds and it is driving me insane. I feel terrible but towards the evening it really irritates me and a couple of times I have cracked and gone back to the bottle to give him EBM to give myself a break.

During the day the feeding is making sense with half an hour feeds followed by a 1.5 hour gap but he is insatiable from about 8pm every night and I don't know what to do. It's not a growth spurt because it's always been like this.

I worked so hard to keep my supply up and be able to BF and I just can't enjoy it in the evenings at all.

He has a mild tongue tie which a few lactation consultants/MWs have said isn't worth getting snipped.

Any advice?

Hi, didn't want to read and run.

I'm not sure what to say re the tongue tie; have you been to see midwives who help with breast feeding eg at your hospital? You must have worked so hard to get your supply going- kudos to you!

I'm currently bfing a 7 week old and they have been feeding hourly all day for nearly 2 weeks. I get one 3 hour stretch at night and then it drops to 2, then 1, come morning time. It is driving me around the bend and last night I started to consider giving up altogether, which I can't do as I'll probably get mastitis or something. I'm starting to feel a little trapped and the constant feeding is making me tired and miserable. From what I've read, "normal" in a breast fed baby can mean a lot of things! I'd also be grateful for any advice. Seriously considering giving up now.

It sounds like he is feeding a lot to me. Is he getting enough sleep?

Cluster feeding is normal in breastfed babies. Does he do a longer stretch of sleep once he's finished?

DS1 did this and it drove me insane. I collapsed in tears quite a few times! Looking back, I should have just given him a bottle when it got too much. I was glad he was finally feeding from the breast and terrified of affecting my supply, so I didn't dare give a bottle, not even ebm. The truth is, a bottle - especially ebm - won't affect your supply if it's well established, which it is after two months.

In my DS's case, I think the cluster feeding was due to him being too tired to feed efficiently in the evenings. So a bottle would have benefitted him to. This may be the case with your baby too, especially if he wasn't an unsettled baby in the evenings when he was bottle fed.

You could also try a dummy and see if he just suckling fit comfort or actually feeding. But again, if he was a happy baby before being ebf, I'd assume he's is too tired to feed well at the end of the day.

It's great that you've managed to switch to the breast, but please remember that your mental health is very important not only for your own but also for your baby's wellbeing!