Cluster feeding

[justamum98]

Hi. Can anyone shed some light on cluster feeding?

my little one is 6 days old. I’m breastfeeding. She’s been latched onto me for hours. Is that normal?

my partner is off work so luckily I can sit and feed all the time but is this excessive? I’ve been feeding non stop for hours. From one boob to the other with no break. My boobs do feel like they’re empty but I’ve read they never are and to not think that way so I won’t.

im fully committed to breastfeeding so I will do what it takes but just want to make sure this isn’t excessive. From what I’ve read cluster feeding is time specific? Mine is 24/7. I feel like she works so hard to get the tiniest drops out that it makes her hungrier in the process and I sometimes had to give her formula to settle down.

Does feeding feel comfortable for you? How was her weight at the five day check? Is she falling asleep at the breast?

It can be pretty relentless at the start as she’s working hard to get your supply right for her, but she might also be struggling with something like a tongue tie (midwives are often not sufficiently trained to identify one!) so that’s something to consider too. If she’s having plenty of wet/dirty nappies and it’s comfortable for you both, chances are it’s physically fine (but this takes its toll mentally for you, so look after yourself!)

My son is 3 weeks and he is the same, on my boob 24/7, although getting much better at longer sleep stretches in the night, during the day I just put him in a carrier now and let him feed as much as he wants. I was a lot more unsure with my 1st DS, I always thought he was hungry, unsettled etc. But they're cluster feeding 1, for comfort, 2, to help establish our milk supply, and 3, because there isn't a lot of colostrum/milk in the beginning and it takes a lot of effort to feed.
I would encourage you to stop topping her up with formula if you can, if she's hungry enough to drink it, she needs to be suckling on you to tell your body how much milk he needs, without that suckling your supply won't increase to meet her demand! Its absolutely exhausting the first few weeks. I'm in the thick of it now with a toddler to look after as well. But after the first maybe 4-6 weeks ish, it does get easier and better !
Good luck, you're doing great. Just let her feed however much she wants 🫶🥰
Edited to say make sure you eat plenty and drink lots of water !
Babies also feed off us more in the heat as they need their fluids.

Don't give formula unless there are health concerns (i.e. if weight is ok, no jaundice, and plenty of wet nappies -seek help immediately if that is not the case). You risk teaching her that milk can come from somewhere else more quickly and she'll give up on BF.

This is the time babies build up your supply. And also until your milk comes in properly, she really has to work hard for the little bits of milk. My baby would cluster feed for 12 hours at a time. I was delirious with sleep deprivation in those first 10 days. But my milk supply was great after that and I'm still EBF at 8 months. I now have my own issues relating to pumping and going back to work but that's a separate issue. If I were able to not work, BF would be the simplest thing ever right now and I am happy I persevered.

Hi, thank you for your replies.

today she is so settled. She’ll breastfeed for about 10-30mins at a time. Fall asleep then feed again about 1 - 1 1/2hr later.

my current milk supply seems to be perfect for her today so I have not used formula.

ive heard cluster feeding lasts days or weeks even so I’m surprised she’s so settled after 2-3 days of cluster feeding. ☺️☺️

Amazing, glad to hear today is going better! The first 6 weeks are sort of up and down, that's not the end of cluster feeding.

They do it around a growth spurt too, there's quite a few in the first 3 months.

And once things settled a bit, around 3 weeks, my baby knew day/night difference so he started cluster feeding every evening. So from 6pm to 10pm, I'd be tied to the sofa. But it meant he would then go for 5-6 hours, even 7-8 hours around the 7 weeks mark.

(His sleep went to pot around 10 weeks but then got better around 5 months, it's a rollercoaster!!)

That’s probably not the end of cluster feeding. I don’t say that to be a negative doom monger, but more so you don’t worry if it comes back. Feeding will be varied for a few weeks before settling into a more stable pattern. But it can be lovely really - a box set, snacks and a drink within reach, I got through so many films I’d been meaning to watch for ages!

I used to find that a couple of days cluster feeding did the trick of upping my supply.

Definitely try to avoid formula top ups at this stage unless there’s other signs.

she is putting in her order for the next week! The more she cluster feeds, the more you will produce over the next few days. If you stop and give her a bottle, you didn’t get the full order so create a self fulfilling cycle where your supply won’t meet demand.

her stomach is expanding at an alarming rate as she grows so she will need to ‘encourage’ you to keep up by regular bursts of cluster feeding.

its rough but surrender to porridge (oats are supposed to be good for milk production), gallons of water and the sofa and Netflix

My baby was exactly the same. She could feed the WHOLE DAY. It got better!!! She was a big baby so trying the build my milk supply I guess. I went with it and watched tons of box sets and she ended up settling down after a few weeks. I EBF successfully.

Don’t top up with formula, it’ll just reduce your supply.

Oh and expect this to happen again. It goes in phases like this until they’re about 6 weeks old IME.