I’ve already written a little about cluster feeding in my posts about nursing a newborn baby and when does breastfeeding get easier.
I want to expand on those a bit and give some newborn cluster feeding tips for survival.
Many moms I know are also worried about how long cluster feeding lasts and wanting to know when it stops. Keep reading for my experience with this and more!
Cluster feeding is basically many feedings close together. Your baby may want to feed several times in a short period of time, or your baby might want to nurse nonstop for hours without ever letting go.
This can happen every day during the first several weeks of a newborn’s life or during growth spurts.
For many babies the cluster feeding stage starts early on, usually in the first two weeks of life ,and can go on until 3-4 months old. This may sound like a long time but it does eventually end.
Coinciding with a fussy time of day
Cluster feeding can occur any time but for newborns it is usually in the evening, and when your baby is fussy. It seems to be very common in the early evening your baby will start to get fussy and want to cluster feed on and off for hours.
This can go on until 9 or 10 PM and then your baby may have a longer period of sleep.
Some babies will cluster feed peacefully, but some may pull on and off the breast, cry and fuss in between feedings, and just generally seem unhappy.
Sometimes they will fall asleep in between the fussing and just when you think you can unlatch and move, oh no…they wake up and fuss to nurse some more.
This cycle can go on for a few hours.
Tips for survival
Remember it is most likely not your milk! Many women wonder if their baby is getting enough milk due to the fussiness and seemingly endless need to nurse.
All this nursing will automatically increase your supply as it is needed. Although supplementing can be tempting it can cause your milk supply to go down since breastfeeding is all about supply and demand.
I know when I was nursing my first baby the evening fussiness and cluster feeding demands caught me off guard. It’s easy to get worn down and wonder if you are doing something wrong, why is your baby so hungry, and if it would just be easier to offer a supplement.
Well meaning but possibly misinformed people (in laws, partner, parents) may also encourage you to supplement.
The best thing you can do is hang in there. This is temporary, and your baby is getting what he/she needs from you.
Try to accept it and plan for it as part of your day. My first instinct with my first baby was to really fight the cluster feeding. If my baby was fed I wanted to give her to my husband and have a little break. It was easy to get frustrated when she fussed as soon as I tried to move away for a few minutes and get anything accomplished.
Trying to go out or have outings during this time of day was not happening either. Once I accepted this new temporary schedule and worked with it I was a lot less stressed.
Use this time to relax and chill out. Find a comfortable spot. Get a nursing pillow.
Find something great to watch on tv, binge watch a series on Netflix, or watch movies. Once I thought of cluster feeding as a part of my day I set myself up on the couch with my baby each evening.
My husband brought me dinner, we watched tons of stuff, and I was able to feed my baby and keep her calm while enjoying myself.
And going along with that one above, utilize your partner. Have them bring you dinner, drinks, and whatever you need. I looked at it kind of like an extension of pregnancy. I could really use the help and he was happy to do it.
If you cannot stay still and need to move around or tend to other children try wearing your baby. Get a sling, wrap or baby carrier and wear your baby around the house.
This is especially helpful if you have other children and cannot just sit on the couch all evening. This is also helpful when your baby hates to be still and you need to keep moving.
Once I had my second baby I also had a toddler to take care of so this worked for me. I spent the early part of our evening with him in a wrap or sling so I could feed my toddler and take care of her.
Then, once she was in bed I was able to commence my cluster feeding on the couch.
If you need to work at home or want to sit at a computer use a nursing pillow and cluster feed at the same time.
Once I went back to work after my first baby I needed to work evening shifts (at home) occasionally. I was so worried about how I would get through cluster feeding and working at the same time.
I had read a tip to use a regular pillow on your lap, and put a nursing pillow on top of it. This brings your baby up to a better height so you can have your arms free to type.
Get a great book. If you are going to be spending a few hours sitting each evening having something great to read really helps. I got through two of Gillian Flynn’s books while nursing my son in the early days.
When your baby finally passes out for good go get some sleep!
Once your baby finishes cluster feeding in the evening they will usually have a longer sleep stretch. Rather than try to get other things done this is a good time to get some rest yourself.
Remember this period of time is temporary. Cluster feeding is hard and can be exhausting but it does come to an end. Most babies start to cluster feed less by 6-8 weeks and most have outgrown it by 3-4 months.
They may still cluster feed occasionally when going through a growth spurt, but it’s nothing like those early weeks.
Conclusion
While it is tiring, cluster feeding is totally normal and temporary. Try to accept it and enjoy the downtime with your baby.
I actually miss those early cluster feeding days now. Sure it’s nice to have my evenings somewhat normal again, but holding and snuggling with your baby for hours is kind of awesome too.
Let me know if you have any questions about cluster feeding and your survival tips for getting through this period!
Hi Jen
My baby is 4 weeks old and for the last couple weeks she has been feeding non stop throughout the day and evening.
She will feed until she pops off and is almost asleep. I will burp her and then she will be rooting and start to cry as she wants more milk.
She feeds constantly. We only stop for nappy changed or a short nap.. May be 20 to 30 mins 3 times a day.
It’s really wearing me down
Is this clusterfeeding or what could this be?
At night it’s the same story in the evenings but most nights I am able to put her down in her basinette and she sleeps for around 3 hours. Then again she might have another sleep for 2 or 3 hours if I am lucky.
But not every night.
Hi Margot,
This does sound like cluster feeding. It’s pretty exhausting. The good news is it does change quickly. While it will last awhile it should be not as constant after a few weeks. Even in a week or two I bet it will calm down a little. There are a lot of growth spurts where the babies nurse constantly to make more milk in the first couple of months. Maybe you can try wearing her in a baby carrier that allows nursing. Then you could walk around and do things at least. If you need any suggestions please let me know. I do have some reviews on my site of various carriers.
I am visiting my sister and her 2 week old baby and she’s been doing this cluster feeding all day since I arrived. It’s now just past midnight and she’s awake crying to be fed every hour.
I am not a mother so this is new to me. I feel terribly sorry for the exhaustion you guys must feel cuz I’m pretty tired and I’m not doing the work!
My question is, would pumping and bottle feeding be a good suggestion so mom can rest? Obviously she wants to breast feed but how long can one take this?! My sister says it’s been like this quite often.
Hats off to you parents cuz I’m just the Auntie, and OMG.
Hi, You are a great sister trying to find info to try and help your sister out! Those first few weeks are rough and I remember feeling like I didn’t know how I could take it anymore myself. She could try pumping and having someone else do a bottle feeding. I would definitely do pumped breastmilk rather than turning to formula. The only issue with this is that breastfeeding is all about supply and demand so you do not want to miss too many feedings (even during the crazy cluster feeding) bc it’s really bringing the breastmilk up to where it needs to be. There are growth spurts happening constantly in the first few weeks too where baby may cluster feed a lot to bring the milk supply up.
This is the stage of having a newborn and breastfeeding where I just did whatever I could to sleep including putting my baby in bed with me. While it is not medically recommended you will find many breastfeeding mothers do and the medical community is catching on that this can work. A great book about this is called Sweet Sleep
I also recommend this book Happiest Baby on the Block. This helped me get those cluster feeding evenings to wind down. Although I think my baby was a little older then – couple of months vs weeks. Good luck!!
Anyone have advice as far as pumping and cluster feeding goes? My older son would cluster feed at growth spurts. My younger son (3 weeks old Now) cluster feeds daily in the afternoons. I have to return to work in about a month, and I’m wondering how it will go if he is going to cluster feed and I’m going to need to pump to keep up…I’m a little worried becuase although I know I will be given time to pump at work, i certainly cannot spend my afternoon attached to it (I’m a teacher…just won’t work). Ideally I’d have more time at home but that isn’t in the cards for us financially. Any tips/advice? Thank you!
Hi Carlee,
When it comes to cluster feeding it lessens over time so I think you will be okay. I would pump what you can during the time you have at work and then try to move the cluster feeding more into the evening. Most of my babies did the most cluster feeding at that time, starting around 6 PM or so. And while that can be hard while working and making dinner etc I found wearing my babies in a baby carrier helps too. You may want to try and start a milk stash too so you have extra for bottles once at work. I found that if I nursed my baby in the morning and then pumped first thing after that nursing session I would get a lot of milk. I started a stash of milk that way. Good luck! I think whatever you do it will work out and evolve with time.
My little one has been cluster feeding for hours but it during the “typical” times. She’s pretty much fed every hour for the past 24 hours, but in less intense times she starts at night (like 11pm) and cluster feeds til morning. As she doesn’t always sleep much during the day I’m hardly sleeping!
Any suggestions?
Hi Sarah,
How old is she? I think trying to start the cluster feeding earlier in the evening might help. Try nursing her more frequently in the early evening to see if you can push it all earlier. I know it’s hard but hopefully temporary.