Excessive Night Cluster Feeding

[MumGreen01]

Im a first time mum breastfeeding a 1 week old and really struggling with cluster feeding especially through the night.
She usually starts between 5 and 10 pm and will feed constantly (screaming as soon as she comes off) apart from the odd 10 minute gap until around 2 to 6 am - so around 8/9 hours!!
In the day she feeds around every half an hour apart from two or three 2 hour naps
Im absolutely exhausted and keep being told by my midwife and breastfeeding support team that this is completely normal and i just need to keep going.
My partner tries to take her in the quick gaps she gives me in the day so i can shut my eyes.
I haven’t been able to get milk from pumping so partner can’t help with taking any feeds.
Her weight gain is really good.

Does anyone have any advice to make this a bit easier please? Im scared to try the approach of keeping her awake during the day as thats my only chance of sleep. I barely make it out of my bedroom and have stopped visitors so i can make the most of the day sleeps.

Has anyone actually checked her latch?

Yes, get her latch checked and tongue tie too if you haven’t already

The first post I made on Mumsnet sounded exactly like this.

The only advice I can give is that this horrible cluster feed period doesn't last long. You will be on the other side soon.

Safe cosleeping helped us but ultimately we switched to formula as just couldn't give as much milk as was needed no matter what I produced. After that everything fell into place for us and was MUCH easier.

Big hugs and you've got this x

Yes they were happy with her latch

I have formula ready as a back up but really trying to keep going with breastfeeding. I just keep “trying to give it another few hours” but don’t know how much longer I can keep that up

Swap sides every 10–15 minutes. Feed lying down. It will pass in a few days.

If latch is ok and everything feels right for you, than this can be normal. It is incredibly hard.

One thing that might work, and I know some people find them wishy washy, is an osteopath. My daughter fed like that when she was a newborn, but a few sessions with an osteopath seemed to help. She had been engaged and stuck in my pelvis for the last few weeks and was just so tight and uncomfortable when she was born that some body work seemed to help her and make her more comfortable all round.
If you’re finding it really tough start introducing some formula to give yourself a break but it really does get easier very soon. You could always stop the formula again when things have settle and your supply starts to even out.

Thank you, she was in my pelvis for some time and i had a long labour

Is changing between bottle (preferably if i can pump) and breast easy enough? I was warned she would find the bottle easy and go off breastfeeding

Please don't worry about the amount you can pump. It's absolutely not an indication of how much you are producing.

As others have said, it could just be normal baby behaviour abs should get better.

Do ring one of the BFing Helplines if you're struggling

Babies who are Combi fed can start to show a clear preference for one method or another after a while. So she could start to refuse the breast or less often, start to refuse the bottle completely.

If you do want to supplement, have a look at alternative methods of feeding.

At that age, if I did want to supplement I'd be liking at during feeding or cup feeding personally.

At 2 weeks she'll probably need around 16 floz a day. So if you are supplementing I'd say probably 1 floz would be enough for a feed.