continuous BF by 4wk old, increasing milk supply or comfort feeding?

[PavlovtheChristmasCat]

My DS is just over 4 wks old. He has, from the beginning, fed around 1-2 hourly, and this is now around 2 hourly, with the very occasional 3 hourly, however, of an evening/night he can feed as much as hourly, or less.

He clearly does this to help him to sleep, sometimes he drinks and drinks and drinks, other times he falls asleep after a small amount but wants the nipple close by/in his mouth. However, I am unsure whether as well as this helping him sleep, he is also needing this milk.

What I would like to know is whether this continuous feeding is necessary or whether I can wean him off this back to 2-3hourly so I can get some sleep? I have absolutely no problem with him feeding constantly if he needs it, but I do not want to get him into a habit of needing to suckle to fall asleep, as he hates his moses basket and prefers my chest as it is.

How do I tell for sure when he really needs it, when he is using it as a comforter, and if he is just using it as a comforter, is that ok? How do I stop it without stressing DS?

It sounds like your ds is cluster feeding - completely normal behaviour for his age. They tend to do this in the evenings (my dd would feed almost non stop from about 7 pm to 10 pm at that age).

It can be a sign of a growth spurt.

It sounds like he does comfort feed too, if he just likes being near the nipple. I think whether this is a bad thing or not is down to personal preference. My 16 month dd still comfort feeds and I don't have a problem with it. I'm just glad to have such a convenient and lovely way to comfort her. It gives a great security and strengthens our bond.

Thanks Mrssawdust. DD cluster fed, for about 4 weeks, but her feeding pattern was very different to DS, and he is a very calm baby even when feeding constantly.

The thing is with DD, for personal reasons I needed/choise to feed her to sleep when she was between 3-7 months, at night time, and i then found she would wake 1.5hourly through the night as she got used to it being that way and it took a long time to get out of that habit, and was exhausting.

i am exhuasted now too, but will be happy for that to be so if it is needed, but if not, would prefer not to use it as a comforter just so he can sleep.

I think i started to suspect he was a couple of nights ago, as he was rooting as normal and instead of feeding him, i lay him beside me, with my hand on his chest and hand holding his head close to me, he grumbled and went to sleep, a nice long sleep (this was about middnight).

In that case, keep on trying the cuddling method you used for getting him to sleep the other night. (According to that wonderful book 'The No Cry Sleep Solution', you should try to have as many different methods for getting baby to sleep as possible. If you don't have this book I highly recommend it) Of course, if he really needs the milk he will keep grumbling and rooting until he gets it, so you will soon know the difference. But if he doesn't need the milk he will be learning to fall asleep without the nipple and you can then try the 'gradual withdrawal' method of getting him to go to sleep by himself.

HTH but hopefully someone with more advice will be along soon.

oh i shall get that book, heard lots about it.

He is definitely not settling this evening, feeding constantly since about 6pm, and fussing when not being fed. Not always crying, but kicking legs in frustration, and when I pick him up he is rooting and bucking his legs, kicking me. Seems a bit uncomfortable, won't sleep on his back, but that is not unusual for him, he prefers his side/front (of course he does not sleep on his front unless he is on me).