Newborn cluster feeding

[Lovethatjourneyforme]

How long does newborn cluster feeding last?? LO is 9 days old and cluster feeds for about 3 hours in the evening and then wakes every 1.5 hours ish through the night. I know it's early days still but I am exhausted and FF is looking so very very tempting right now. Any tips, advice or just reassurance would be greatly appreciated x

You have my 100% sympathy!!
My little one was cluster feeding from 7pm-11:30pm every night whilst I was also trying to get my 2 year old to bed.
She's now 13 weeks and sleeps from 11pm-7:30ish.
The end is in sight! Let them do their own little routine. They do so much growing within the first few months it's crazy!
Make sure you relax and sleep whenever you can!

DC1 I can't remember, a matter of days.
DC2 12 weeks
DC3 somewhere between but kept up the cluster feeding for
Much longer than the 90 minutes feed to feed.
It's very tiring , particularly if you have other DC to attend to but it is only for a short while.
My strong advice is to go along with your baby and never to look at the clock.

It all sounds pretty normal but I know it's very tiring.

There are a few things you can try though.

Try feeding every 2 hours in the day and use breast compressions, this should encourage him to get as many calories and cuddles as possible in the daytime.

Get him outside in day at least twice. They don't yet know the difference between day and night but getting them outside can help them to learn the difference, sunlight also aids sleep. If DH is still on PL, do the first feed then hand him over to DH to change and go out for a walk, even if it's just around the garden.

If the cluster feeding is getting to you in the evening, do some breast compressions, then hand him over to DH and get him to take LO out either in the pram, car or in a sling. My DD was always fast asleep before they got out of our street.

Use a T-shirt that DH has worn as the sheet in his Moses Basket. The smell of DH should be reassuring and help him to settle.

Don't be afraid to spend a couple of days in bed with LO either, just feeding and sleeping

It's very normal. It does settle down after 6-8 weeks until about 4m. Formula won't make them fuller for longer (though of course you can hand over feeding duty!). It's just plain exhausting isn't it. There is some guidance in the lullaby trust website for safe cosleeping - if done properly it can be a valuable way of getting some sleep. Neither partner can be a smoker, no alcohol or drugs and I took all blankets off the bed too other than one wrapped below my knees and booted DH onto the sofa. It was a great way to get some sleep whilst baby fed (still pretty frequently but I just latched and went back to sleep). I appreciate it's not for everyone and not the preferred recommended approach but if you're desparate for sleep it may help. They other thing you could try is to got to bed immediately after the cluster feed and have your partner hold the baby for a couple of hours.

It's not forever Op.
You can do this

Sleep whenever you can - don't worry about housework or laundry(make the OH do the vital stuff).

It's hard.

Formula fed babies cluster feed to though I'm afraid to say!

But this phase doesn't last long, it all goes so fast and before you know it you'll be having a different issue! But hopefully less tired x

Thank you all for your replies ☺️ it's definitely incredibly hard but everything you all said helped, its mostly just a mental adjustment I think - I've got to just go with it and stop trying to battle against it. Not watching the clock is good advice @yikes

Definitely just go with it, put your feet up, eat and drink some nice things and watch something good in tv. Much better than fighting like you said

It’s so hard! I felt like switching to formula but kept giving myself little goals to aim to, i.e. just make it to his due date, then just make it until he’s a month old. At some point, I stopped having to make these deals with myself. Having said that, there’s no shame in switching to formula if that’s what’s right for you and your baby.

With my dd now 3. She cluster fed so much. For the first 12 weeks, I basically sat down. 6 weeks is when it really peaks. That's when a lot give up! I bf her till she was 2.5 and she would wake up every 45 mins for BM regardless day and night.

I now have a 6 week old. And honestly I tried the whole formula thing last week while pumping to keep my supply up and he still fed every 2 hours and cluster fed! I find breastfeeding SOO much easier. Also try co sleeping! My DS last breastfeeds at 1am then he's awake around 9am. (If he is waking up to feed he's doing it himself and not waking me up lmao!)

It's normal and it does pass!

@Carbis that's exactly what I've started doing, working on making it to 2 weeks at the moment, then hopefully a month etc etc. I've felt like switching to formula so many times - I know they can still cluster feed but I can at least share the load then.

Still going at the moment though which is more than I thought I'd do when I wrote the original post 🎉

Well done @Lovethatjourneyforme! You are doing brilliantly!

@Lovethatjourneyforme how did you get on in the end? Did things calm down? My 4week old DS spends all his time feeding. Looking for some light at the of the tunnel. Also any advice from people on how to stay comfortable during the feeding marathons? My back and bum are killing me!

@Twodogsonebaby sorry, I don't check mumsnet much these days so I only just saw your message! Its obviously been nearly 2 weeks since you wrote, how're you getting on now?

This isn't going to be the boost of positivity you're after I'm afraid 😆 my LO is 14 months now, I stopped breastfeeding at 8 weeks. The cluster feeding escalated to about 3 hours in the morning and 5 hours every evening, every day until I starting supplementing her with formula. She slept much better on the formula and was more settled so I ended up falling down that trap and my supply dwindled too much to carry on (or not without some major pumping etc to up it again anyway). So at 8 weeks we moved fully to formula. She consistently from that point on drank far more than the recommended amount for her age so I think she was just a very hungry baby and I struggled to keep up.

I will say with hindsight I regret that I didn't persist for longer but when you're in the thick of it those weeks do just seem like forever sometimes.

Oh I remember the back and bum ache well. Try to move around a bit, some people BF whilst wearing their baby in a sling which if you can master would be amazing, both physically and mentally I'd imagine (I loathed being pinned to a seat for that many hours a day).