Cluster feeding
July 15, 2007
It is 1:10 in the morning and we are in the midst of cluster feeding as Cory works through his first growth spurt. Babies tend to nurse every two or three hours. Except when they don’t. Sometimes they do “cluster feeding.” This is more frequent nursing, up to and including continuous nursing.
The “lactivist” says:
Follow your baby’s cue. Sit down, get a drink of water, grab a book and relax. Your baby knows that both of you can use the down time after a hectic day. Let your baby use “evening cluster feeds” to stock up for the night and to keep your supply flowing freely. Prepare for this time so you can truly relax. Take this time to let the stress of the day go. Let those mothering hormones flow. Think of this time not as a time of inactivity but as a gift of relaxation that your baby gives you each evening. [ Evening Cluster Feeds ]
OK, yeah, that sounds sweet. “Your baby knows that both of you can use the down time…” and “…a gift of relaxation that your baby gives you each evening.” Right. Forgive me for being skeptical, but it’s past midnight and I don’t think our son gives a flying flip about our relaxation.
Perhaps more realistic is the Kelly Mom site:
Baby will nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry… on and on… for hours. This can be VERY frustrating, and mom starts wondering if baby is getting enough milk, if something she is eating is bothering baby, if EVERYTHING she is doing is bothering baby… It can really ruin your confidence, particularly if there is someone else around asking the same questions (your mother, your husband, your mother-in-law). [ Cluster Feedings and Fussy Evenings ]
That’s fine. Not much you can do, after all — even formula-fed babies have this issue. So I guess we’ll just have to push on through.
But why couldn’t it be the actual evening and not late, so late at night?
Posted in Daddyblog
content rss
July 15th, 2007 at 8:29 am
In our experience, this type of thing completely passed after about two, two-and-a-half months, with really the worst of it (if you could use the word “worst” — perhaps “most tiring” is more appropriate?) over in six weeks.
July 15th, 2007 at 9:29 am
[...] night was the Night of Nonstop Eating. He ate most of the way through the Mists of Avalon miniseries. When he was finally done, he went [...]
July 16th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Ouch … I remember those days well. Actually, I don’t remember them well at all, probably due to the sleep deprivation. :\ But as GLS noted, “this too shall pass.” And that’s actually a good chant for many things in parenting. ;)
Belated congratulations on the birth of your son!
July 16th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Yes, I’d have to agree with the kelly mom. Now that our darling has moved her wake-up time from 7 am (though that only lasted a week or so) to 2am-4am… I am thinking about moving my bed time from 2am, to 11pm, to insure that I get some sleep before she wakes up… It’s quite unnerving to have her wake-up right after one tiredly heads off to sleep.
It certainly is a worthwhile experience, just sometimes not in the moment…
July 16th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
I’m careful with the “this too shall pass” because that goes for the fun stuff as well. And I’m with you there, Ashley; sometimes trying to look on the sunny side of everything makes you just feel like a bad person because you don’t really believe it. I’d much rather acknowledge the difficulty and annoyance at these late-night episodes than try to pretend it’s a “special time.”
July 16th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
“I’m careful with the ‘this too shall pass’ because that goes for the fun stuff as well.”
It goes without saying, but I will anyway: the fun stuff never passes — it just gets replaced by newer, sometimes funn(i)er stuff. And really, the “hard” stuff never really passes either. It all just slowly morphs into new joys and new challenges — and “morph” is the perfect word, because there are no clear boundaries. In fact, I remember about two months ago realizing, “Hey, L has stopped waking up four or five times a night. She’s waking up regularly twice a night.” I hadn’t even noticed. That’s scary in some sense, but it speaks more to my acclimation to no sleep than anything else.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:28 am
my baby is cluster feeding EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR! He had me spoiled sleeping through the night and then came the whammy! I just hope “this too shall pass” is a lot sooner than later. I have to be honest though, the bonding is great! Just maybe with a little more sleep!
July 15th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Wow, Gelia, I really feel for you! We had a run of these and then it tapered off, but until then you just have to persevere!