Newborn sleeping

[LLH15]

Just looking for some advice, my 11 day old baby boy seems to breastfeed for hours in the evening until he eventuall falls asleep about 11pm - 12am. I have to set an alarm to wake him wake after 4 hours as advised by midwife, its quite hard to feed him becuase he's sleepy and I feel guilty waking him. Is this normal, has anyone got any advice they could give me?
Thanks

Totally normal for babies to cluster feed in the evenings, helps boost your supply, im told.

Not sure about the waking after 4 hours, someone else may be able to help with that. I always thought it best to wait and see what time they woke naturally, but as I FF'd after a few days Im not best placed to advise on that.

I know we used to give DD a dreamfeed, so pick her up asleep and offer her milk and more often than not she took it whilst still sleeping.

Cluster feeding in the evenings is absolutly normal.

In regard to waking as long as they are putting on weight ok and nappies are full then i wouldn't bother waking them. I always follow the 'let sleeping babies lie' rule :)

Get a second opinion on that night waking (unless there's a clear reason for it). The cluster feeding in the evening is to give them supplies for a longer nighttime sleep before the next feed.

I was told in hospital to wake every few hours until my milk came in and after that to stop watching the clock if baby is gaining fine.

I was told to feed every 3 hours, including waking up at night, untill LO had regained his birth weight (which happened on day 12)

Ditto on cluster feeding - totally normal, and draining for you but I find I miss it now so enjoy the chance to sit and cuddle!

Our DS would often do a long sleep stretch after a cluster feed - once at about 9 days he slept five or six hours, and we texted midwife to find out if we should have woken him (we were both sound asleep as he slept). She said that once or twice ok, as long as he wakes up and has a good feed it won't harm him, esp if he is feeding well otherwise and gaining weight
It is good for your supply to feed often but since he has been cluster feeding that will help supply.
i'd let him sleep and see how long he goes; if it's only five hours or so then it's hardly worth waking him

BF co-ordinator at the hospital told me to wake DD every 3 hours (no more than a 4 hour gap) to feed.

First night at home after DD was discharged, DD slept for 5 hrs straight.

2 days later, I saw the recently (within the last year) retired HV who runs the local BF support group who said leave sleeping babies lie so you get the sleep YOU NEED, and cluster feeding in the evening is extremely normal.

Oh, and watch out for the 3 week growth spurt - DD was almost permanently attached to my boobs for a week and I had to resort to FF top ups once a day to convince myself she was eating enough, but she did put on 11oz that week!

Cluster feeding is totally normal & helps the sleep a bit longer.

There's no need to wake them if the have regained their birth weight & are gaining weight ok (hard to know at 11 days). Enjoy the sleep while you can!

I would focus on regular feeding during the day (don't let them sleep through a feed). This, plus the cluster feeding then sets them up for a good nighttime sleep and helps you with your energy levels (also important for maintaining good milk supply).

As everyone has said, the evening cluster feed is normal. Just get a glass of wine, some chocolate cake and plonk yourself in front of the TV. This period of time is very short in the big scheme of things and you will have your evenings back before you know it, and probably, if you're like me, miss these evening when your baby fell asleep in your arms.

The best thing I did, which took be about a week to figure out, was to get the clock out of the bedroom so I didn't know if DD had slept for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 hours between feeds. I just went on her cue. If he's hungry he'll just feed more in the day.

If there are lots of wet nappies with the occasional pooey one (some bf babies don't poo every day) then unless there are weight gain issues, just trust your baby to do what millions of babies have done throughout history.