Advice on cluster feeding

Newborns & Infants Breastfeeding & Lactation
1

Hello all. My little girl just turned two weeks today and I am exclusively breastfeeding. I am over the initial engorgement and my nipple tenderness has pretty much subsided. She is gaining weight well and has a pretty good latch. I nursed my now 27 month old for 8 months but it was never easy. I have a couple of questions/concerns. My daughter seems to be falling into a pattern of cluster feeding in the late afternoon early evening hours ( 4 to 6:30 pm) I pick my 2 year old up from day care at 4, so this has been very trying on us. My son never cluster fed. I can't get anything done during this time b/c as soon as I lay her down she starts showing signs of wanting to nurse again. Last night she actually slept 5 hours afterwords which they say is normal after cluster feeding and was great for me to catch up on some rest, but I feel awful for my two year old who needs some time with mom. He is a very active spirited little guy and so far he is handling the role of big brother pretty well. Dad is very involved and takes over when he gets home, but most nights he doesn't get home until 6 or 6:30. So my question is how long does cluster feeding last and I would love some tips to keep my 2 year old happy during this time.

Also, I have a very fast let down and it was a problem with my son. He would get fussy at the breast and often get choked on my milk b/c it was coming down so fast and furious. I went back to work when he was 3 months and will do so this time also. So, with my son, once he started getting several bottles/day he began to prefer them. And he would go through periods when he refused to nurse and I finally gave it up around 8 months. My daughter choked yesterday and it just reminded me of all the hard times with my son. I desperately want to nurse for as long as possible. I love the bonding and the health benefits it provides (as well as the 500 cal./day). Anyways, I know they say to pump a little off before you nurse, but honestly who has time for that when you have an infant nursing 8 to 12 times/day and cluster feeding. My question is have any of you experienced this and did anything help?

THanks in advance to all of your responses.

2

I can't give you any advice regarding the breastfeeding, but my twins did cluster feed. The good news is that it doesn't seem to be a permanent thing. My boys only did it for a few weeks. By the time they were about 4 weeks old and had packed on some weight, it slowed down a lot. At that point they were pretty scheduled through the day and only wanted extra at 8pm, 10pm and 12pm. Then back they went to every 4 hours or so. They did it again for a week or so around 2 1/2-3 months and then it just stopped for good. Probably because their stomachs could hold more at that point.

3

I used to read books to my toddler when I was nursing his baby sister. You could also watch Baby Einstein or other videos together and talk about them or sing along as you watch them, or play a game if you have one you could easily play one-handed.
As for cluster-feeding, it often seemed to me that I my babies nursed a lot more when they were going through a little growth spurt. It usually only lasted a couple of weeks and then things would slow down.
Good luck with the nursing. I nursed all three of my kids (21 months, 17 months, and still going at 18 months), but aside from the initial soreness I never had a really difficult time, so I feel really lucky and really admire those who breastfeed even when it's not as easy to do so.

4

Cluster Feeding: Honey, this is soooo normal! I wish I could tell you differently, but it is. It's also VERY possible she's going through her 3 week growth spurt a little early. They typically have growth spurts at 3, 6, and 9 weeks, and 3, 6 and 9 months, and these are periods of time where they cluster feed, and even nurse when it seems there is nothing there! But they do this to help up your supply to meet their demands. It's a trying time, yes, but necessary. I LOVE kellymom.com for the evidence based information she provides on breastfeeding. This is an article about growth spurts http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurt.html and this is one about cluster feeding http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html so you can understand the normal course of things!

As for the overactive letdown, I am with you. My son "powered through" them, but my daughter would pop off, become upset, and not want to nurse (she's still nursing, though at 16 months). The best and most time-efficient method I found was having a cloth nearby (cloth diaper/prefold or burp cloth) and when that crazy let down begins, I would clamp the cloth over and absorb a little of it, then latch her back on when it was calmer. I hated the thought of losing that milk and would have loved for it to be stored, but you're right - who has time for the pump? I did manage to pump it sometimes too, but that's because with my second I bought a manual pump, the Avent Isis (HOnestly, it worked as well and gave me just as much output as my Medela PIS, just one breast at a time!), and it made it much easier to pump off a little.

If your letdown is REALLY over active, you might need to do what I had to do with my daughter. It's called "block nursing". Basically, instead of feeding on both sides at one feeding (like my son required) or feeding off the left, then feeding off the right next time, I fed off the left, then when she nursed again, fed off the left again. However many times they nurse in that 2-3 hour block, you do it on that one side, then switch for the next block. This should probably be used only if you are sure that oversupply is a problem, because it WILL adjust your supply (down). Block feeding really helped with my letdown, and helped my baby. She nursed for 8 months exclusively (absolutely no solids nor formula, nothing but BM), and slowly started solids....not even really eating them until almost 12 months old. NOw she's 16 months and still nursing. So it helped control that oversupply I had and led to a wonderful nursing relationship. THis is an excellent page of good ideas for having a forceful letdown, and it explains (better than I did!) about block feeding: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html
Eventually, your body will become accustomed to her demands, and you won't have that overactive letdown as much.

I hope all this helps, and was not overwhelming! With my son, I went back to work when he was 3.5 months old, but he nursed until 2, right before his sister was born, having nothing but BM for the first 7 months of his life, and never had a drop of formula. I feel like I dealt with sooo many things, from cluster feeding (esp. after I went back to work) to the struggle to get him to take a bottle (not until the 2nd day after I went back to work would he take it from my mom), to night waking again in order to get the calories he was missing during the day (he hated the bottle and would only take about 8 oz while I was gone, and made up for it in the afternoon, evening, and over night!). Feel free to message me if you have any other questions! Kellymom.com is an excellent source, though, and one I generally quote (can you tell I wnat to be a lactation consultant one day?!?)

Good luck!

5

Hi Cheryl
Congratulations on your little girl! My daughter is 9 months old and she did the cluster feeding when she was about 4 months old. It was right after I had returned to work. She would suck from about 7-9 every night. She did this for about 2 weeks. I think it was b/c she missed me and wanted some one on one time.

Would it be possible to pick up your son a little early so that you could spend some time with him before she starts to cluster feed? As far as the milk let down I never had that problem. But pumping before is next to impossible as you said. Have you talked to the lactation people in your area? I know that Scott and White has excellent lactation nurses and they might have advice about the let down and cluster feeding.

Good luck and congratulations!

6

I have a 2 month old and a 2 year old, and this sounds all too familiar. It does seem like the 2 month old likes to nurse constantly from 6-9PM! Or at least for a few weeks it seemed that way. Most recently, it has gotten a little better, allowing me time in between feedings to feed my little girl, make dinner, eat. :-) During cluster feeding times during the day, I read books with my little one, help with puzzles and other one-handed activities. I'm noticing that the 2 month old nurses shorter periods but more often. This is a little difficult for me, but it does allow me to tend to my 2 year old in between. (And sometimes I get a shower too!)

7

As for advice, first she is 2 weeks, doing a lot of growing and still getting night and day sorted out. Her schedule will change soon. She may still cluster feed (both my boys did in the evening just before bed for the entire time I nursed them - both up to 14 months) but hopefully her timing will be closer to your bed time so you can reap the benefits :)

I also had fast let down, especially in the newborn staged. My son would pull off the breast when it came down too fast and milk would shoot across the room. Be glad your supply is so good. Even though it seems she is choking, my guess is it is more like when you swallow "down the wrong pipe." Just lift her upright for a moment to let her calm down. Lift her hands above her head and it will open up her chest cavity and help her breathe. Then put her back on the breast. You can also try feeding her in a more "upright" position then laying down - let the rearend be lower than the head when nursing her. Plus, her muscles that could help her moderate how much she takes are still developing and will catch up. It did for my boys.

Good luck.

8

Hi, I have a 7 month old who i"m still bfeeding and i think I cluster fed until he was about 8 weeks old. He was sleeping through the night at 5 weeks old but wouldn't if i didn't cluster feed in the evenings. He ate every 2.5 hours during the day and every 2 from 4 p.m. until he went to bed at 8. If she's eating more often I'd wonder if she's just snacking/grazing rather than really feeding and if maybe you can space them out a little more. Good luck!

9

When my daughter was young we learned to nurse in a sling. It might not be an immediate solution since your baby is so young, but once she has better head control it might work for you. If you google it, there are lots of sights with how to instructions. We always called the late afternoon/early evening the witching hours because my daughter would cry nonstop if she wasn't nursing. I'm pregnant with #2 right now and can see myself having this same problem in the near future. Good luck to you.

10

Hi Cheryl,

Good on you for wanting to breastfeed in the first place. As one of the parents said "the witching hour" She is so right. Most babies go through a fussy period during the late afternoon evening, and it is perfectly normal for them to be crying on and off. They have had so much stimulation during the day they are basically letting off steam. As for the let down, went through this with both my girl and my boy she didn't like it so I pumped off a little bit, just be aware if you do go this route that you will produce more milk (as it is a supply and demand thing). So I gave excess milk to the Mothers Milk Bank. but as you said who has time. You could try nursing on your back or propping him up on a pillow and nursing on your side so that the let down has to work against gravity. Or when he is due to feed hand express a little before he latches. Also another thing that could be happening is you have less milk in the afternoon as you have been busy all day and your body just doesn't produce as much in the afternoon. So she is probably legitimately hungery.
If you have andy questions you can email me at [email protected]

Kathy

11

I know this might be cold comfort, but cluster feeding for a 2 week old is pretty normal, at least according to the lactation consultant I met with. My daughter is 7 weeks now and she would cluster feed about 5 to 7 hours a day (in the morning and again in the late afternoon/evening) when she was about one week old to 5 weeks old. The consultant told me that lots of babies get out of this habit and stretch out their feedings around 6 weeks. I started to try to stretch out her feedings a little and only nurse about every hour and a half or so, and she started being able to stretch them out herself right around 6 weeks (just like the consultant said).

I don't have great ideas for how to make time for your 2 year old for the next month. I read to my 3 year old while nursing or watch noggin. Sometimes I'll try to nurse outside when my son plays outside.

The only thing I've heard helps with oversupply is doing a little pumping before nursing to address the fast letdown. A friend of mine with oversupply would use a nipple shield but I don't know if that was about nipple pain or the big letdown.

12

Cheryl - you are amazing! I am so happy to hear that you didn't give up nursing your son despite some troubles. The heavy let down will get a little less heavy as time goes on. A couple of suggestions are maybe jump in the shower right before nursing her - I remember always leaking during and after the shower. Also as you said, pumping just a few minutes could really help. If you have a GOOD hand pump you can use that, otherwise just use the Medela Pump In Style for a few minutes. The upside too is that whatever you pump can be frozen and saved for when you return to work.

About the cluster feeding. It too will stop. I can't say when, but I remember a few tough weeks with my daughter where she did the exact same thing. In fact hers lasted over an hour and a half on one session and I told her pediatrician to suggested I limit her feedings to something shorter. Anyway I DID NOT follow that unwise advice. There is so much good that comes out of nursing. Your daughter must have a need for the milk and or the comfort because she's not smart enough yet to be manipuating you!

Anyway please feel free to contact me directly if you need any more info or advice. As you can tell I am very passionate about breast feeding and plan to someday pursue a lactation consultant cetification. I nursed my daughter for 2.5 years, and with a full time career, that was a big accomplishment! Best of luck to you and please let us know how things work out.

13

Could you pump once or twice right before or mid that cluster feeding time? You could also pump earlier in the day and save it for cluster time. Then you could give her a bottle or two during that time and spend some time with your boy. It would at least make a little less hectic.

14

Cluster feeding is very common, in fact my 6 months old tends to do this late afternoon. For her it is more about comfort b/c that seems to be when our day gets hectic, right before Daddy gets home. (I also have a 2 and 3 year old) Before I sit down the nurse, I usually put some art supplies on the table for the 2 kids and sit at the table with them while they make their creations. It gives us a chance to talk about what they are doing and work on color recognition with my 2 year old. Other days, I have the kids pick out books and we sit on the couch and read together or I will make up stories to tell them...all while I am nursing. Just be creative!