Breastfeeding dilemma - pls help!

[TOJ123]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone out there could offer any advice or if going through the same thing.

Our baby girl is now 8 weeks old (she was born via c-section at 36+4) and breastfed really well straight away. Because she was premature the hospital gave her top up formula which we’ve always stuck with and do 1/2 bottles at night only and the rest breastfed.

The last 4 weeks she has been constantly on my breast from 4pm right through until 8pm or when she is tired enough and then goes to sleep. She gets really frantic and just wont let up. It’s really getting me down as I can’t see it ending anytime soon. Also, the last few days she hasn’t been sleeping as much in the day and is now constantly on the breast pretty much all day long. It’s like she’s either asleep or when she’s awake she just wants to feed/comfort?!

I really don’t know what I can do to stop this and get her into feeding less often. She also won’t take a dummy.

Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks in advance!

Congratulations on your baby 💐

The early days are bloody hard so do what you can to get through but just to reassure you that this is completely normal! Around 8 weeks they have a bit of a growth spurt and their stomach can accommodate more so it seems like they're snacking constantly - reading up on cluster feeding might help put your mind at rest.

Do you have a sling? My youngest was an absolute leech and I couldn't put her down or even have her to DH but she would settle on me in there and I could get on with whatever I needed to do. I would've gone crazy without it!

Sounds like a growth spurt (normally around 6 weeks but might be later for her as she was a bit early). A bit of advice from the baby whisperer book (whilst quite outdated on breast feeding overall) was to pump in the morning if you get a chance and give her a bottle of expressed when she's fussy. The milk in evening is slower to come and more fatty also you're exhausted so it may affect supply slightly. However she's 'putting in an order' so you should produce more soon and it will just be a phase. Hang in there! maybe give some formula if it gets too much, sounds like you're doing great anyway

No advice I'm afraid but I'm following as I have a 16 day old who is very similar. Mine seems to feed pretty much constantly from 7am to 3/4pm when he finally goes to sleep for a bit. Then is also up twice a night for 1-2 hours at a time. Spoke to HV today who said his latch seemed good and it sounded normal and to just preservere but I'm shattered so you have my sympathy OP.

Just to reassure you it's normal, every few weeks be prepared for growth spurts and development leaps. I found downloading the wonder weeks app reassuring as it told me when to expect when baby was going to be more fussy etc

This cluster feeding, theres a leap & a growth spurt between 6-8 weeks. She’s basically putting in her order for the next day.

Over the next few weeks there will be bouts of cluster feeding with growth spurts, leaps & 4 month sleep regression.

Normal growth spurt behaviour to up your supply. If you feed her at night this helps with supply as the night feeds are quite important to sending the signal to your body to produce more milk. Breastmilk is more quickly digested than formula so there are going to be times partic growth spurts when you will be surprised how often they feed, but you can’t over feed a breastfed baby you’ve got to follow their cues. With my daughter it settled down from 4 months and by the time she went into solids at 6 months she wasn’t feeding all that many times day or night. My son always loved his milk, nuff said!

Hi everyone, thank you so much for all your replies!!

I did think growth spurt but then it’s been going on for about 4 weeks and it’s like clock work at pretty much exavtly 4pm onwards each evening?

Also, so if we give her a bottle of formula she still needs me after and will still want to constantly be on my breast? Example I ended up giving her a bottle of formula at 6pm as she has been on me for the last hour but even though she gulped down the bottle she still crying to be on my boob? Xx

Does she use a dummy OP? It might give you some rest. Those early days are hard!

@LatteLover12 she won’t take one 😩 I’ve tried so many.

My little boy cluster fed every evening for weeks and weeks when he was little. It's totally normal, but knowing that doesn't make it easier! I think if you're expecting it each night and so are prepared for it you'll find it easier. In the evening get ready on the sofa with a hot drink in a flask and something nice to eat, and something to read or Netflix to watch. She WILL grow out of it eventually, it just seems like forever at the moment!

This Kellymom article goes into more detail:

kellymom.com/parenting/parenting-faq/fussy-evening/

This is cluster feeding, she's both feeding and helping your body to increase supply to meet her needs as she grows.

I promise it won't last forever, in a few weeks everything will be different and in a few months this will be a distant memory.

Have a read of the Kellymom article, it explains it perfectly.

Thank you so much everyone - will have a read

Sound completely normal, ds use to feed all the time and at 7 months now feed for shorter periods, maybe 10 mins 4/5 times a days. It does get easier.
He would never take a dummy and he does use breast feeding as a comfort. Have you read about the forth trimester? I found it help and made me see everything was normal.

@Happywith2

Thank you, did it stop at 7 months?

No still breast feeding, plan to carry on as long as he wants to.