Baby awake for hours during cluster feeding

[Crazydiamond106]

My baby is nearly 6 weeks old and I think going through a growth spurt. She’s tending to want to breastfeed continuously from around 7pm to 11pm, then again from 4am till 7am. During this time she also gets very fussy, lots of crying and pulling off the boob etc...I think this is because she’s massively overtired from being awake for hours when newborns are apparently only meant to be awake an hour or so at a time...

Should I be taking her off the boob after an hour of feeding even if she wants more and thing to get her to sleep to avoid over tiredness? Or should be literally feeding on demand...even if she’s awake for a really long time?

It does sound all pretty normal but there are things you can do to help to cope with it better. If the evening feeding is getting too much, give her a really big feed, try using breast compressions, then get DH to have her. She may sleep against his chest or settle if he takes her out for a walk or drive.

In the early hours, have you tried feeding lying down?

All sounds perfectly normal. Both my dc did this. Thankfully it didn't last long but at the time it felt like an eternity so I can sympathise. She may be getting fussy because she's trying to stimulate another let down. Yes try breast compression and then try switching sides. My cluster feeds also lasted from 7pm until 11pm and I used to switch sides about 10 times or more during that time!! Try burping between sides as trapped wind can cause fussing. If she was tired, a baby that young should probably fall asleep at the breast so I wouldn't worry too much about her being tired. But this is just from my own personal experience, I'm no professional!! But yes, if all else fails, daddy's are brilliant for chesty snuggles (as well as lots of other things ).