Cluster feeding 10pm - 2am!!!!

[TallRedhead]

Help me!
Newborn bf cluster feeding for hours!
Sore nips!
Feel like I'm going mad only consolation he will then sleep for 5hrs. dd wasn't like this.
Tell me it gets better!!??

[ipswichwitch]

It gets better! Although it seems like it goes on forever. DS1 used to cluster feed from around 8pm til 2am (sob!)
Thankfully DS2 is only doing it from 8-10 or 10-12.

[TallRedhead]

he has just settled. now to grab some sleep.

[TallRedhead]

3hrs sleep. That'll teach me for showing off about 5!

[TallRedhead]

ipswich
How long did it go on for?

[ems1910]

I hated cluster feeding. My son used to do 6pm until around midnight :/

Hope it eases for you soon

[TallRedhead]

I suppose it's best it is in the night so I'm at home. I've had a day in town, first feed in Starbucks 2nd in Costa!! Suppose it would be hard to get out & about if he cluster fed in the day.
I am clutching a straws for positives

[ipswichwitch]

Iirc DS1 cluster fed until about 4 months then had a spell from 6 to 7 months (probably a growth spurt there), so there is some light at the end of the tunnel!

It's not the cluster feeding itself I get fed up with - it's the bloody faffing on and off, screaming, pulling off with nipple still in mouth I can't stand! If DS1 had kept doing that much beyond 7 months I would never have carried on bf until 14 mo!

[TallRedhead]

It is the faffing isn't it? So that's part of cluster feeding? Not reflux or anything to worry about? My nipples just get sore and I'm sure my boobs are empty after a while!!

As I said before dd did none of this. Boys - I should have known he'd be a pain.

[ZenNudist]

Ds2 (7wo) on and off from 8pm to 2am usually! Tonight he fell asleep by 1130 and I just woke him to feed as he's been ill and unusually sleepy.

Also wondering how long he'll go on cluster feeding for. Ds1 did similar for months.

Yy to fussing and pulling, makes me feel I've got no milk left. Nice to know its normal.

[KipT77]

It gets better.... It does it does it does (eventually) x

[BotBotticelli]

My DS cluster fed from 11pm - 5am every night from 3 days old until 14 days old when i finally gave in and gave up :( Put him on bottles in the end it just was killing me.

No-one I asked (and believe me, I asked everyone! MW, HV, NCT BFing consultant) could tell me why he was doing this and when/if it would end. People kept saying, oh that's unusual, babies usually clusterfeed in the evenings, not at night.

He wasn't just feeding every hour in the night like I believe newborn babies can. He would literally do 30 mins left boob, 10 minute break, 40 mins right boob, 12 minute break, 45 mins left boob, 5 min break, 30 mins right boob.....etc etc etc. ALL FECKING NIGHT!!!

He had a good latch but my nips were in shreds due to the constant feeding all night. And I was hallucinating like a guatanamo bay inmate after 16 nights with no sleep at all.

Sorry not a helpful post!

[TallRedhead]

Well here I am again, thought he'd cracked it as went off at 1130 last night!
Just going from one boob to the other, surely they are empty now?
He does seem better with the faffing/fussing and nipples are holding out so far!!

[spinnergeologist]

Hi, you have my sympathy. At 1 wk my bb would feed constantly all day and night. It is agony on the nipples. In the end I gave in and started topping up with a bottle as I was completely convinced that my production wasn't high enough. I was eventually told by a doctor that my bb was getting 3 times what he needed. It would have helped if every other health professional I spoke to hadnt just called it a growth spurt that he would get over. At 9 wks he is still feeding for long periods but if he goes over 30 mins on each side I give a small amount of formula then let him comfort on a finger until he sleeps. Most of the time this has him off for long enough to grab a hours nap a couple of times a night.hope you get it sorted soon

[Chocolateteabag]

Tall - your boobs won't be "empty" - just probably a slower and slower supply.
dS2 (13weeks) has been doing this 1-2 evenings every couple of weeks. It's them stimulating your milk and having a growth spurt, can mean that introducing a bottle will affect your supply as your boobs miss out on the stimulation to make more milk.

Having said that, I do now have him on a bottle of formula at 7pm after his bath. I try to "tank" him up on the boob as much as I can through the day up to 5pm then distract him up to bath time (I has 3 year old Ds so can feed him constantly)

Tonight he had 3oz at 7pm, woke up ravenous at 8.30, had the rest of the ff bottle (2oz) and another 3oz which DH had to make up vv quickly. He has then woken at 2 like clockwork (yup formula does not make him sleep any longer)

Hth

[TallRedhead]

I'm plodding on! Last night was a good night, sleep at 2330 feed 0230 & 0530. happy with that. Fingers crossed for tonight. But every night since I posted he has either fed until 3 at the worst, half 1 at best!!
Nipples holding up & latch improving. Ds is 4 weeks now so we are over the hump and starting to feel human

[TallRedhead]

He slept from 11pm until 5.20am!
Wow. Longest sleep in nearly 6 weeks! But then I didn't go back to sleep! Damn. He slept until 0845 and has just fallen back to sleep on me after boob, it's alright for some