Help me please! How long will this last??

[bambino156]

Ds is 6 days old and he wants to feed almost constantly, no lie. During the day I am lucky if he goes 2 hours between feeds, which is just about bearable. But nights are awful, i'm at my wits end, i've heard of cluster feeding but I thought it was usually three or four hours feeding, not the whole night. The last two days he has started at around 3pm and fed (with a 10min breather in between) until about 1.30am - its insane.
He's feeding well, he has plenty of wet and dirty nappies and he's gaining weight well too - he only lost 4% and when weighed yesterday he's already up above birth weight. So boobies have done a great job - I just don't know how much longer I can go on with so little sleep and then being stuck on the sofa so much too when I also have a toddler that needs and deserves me too.

Why is he doing this? How long does it usually last?

Any help/advice/similar stories much appreciated, thanks!

 

[Rachel_C]

He's doing this because BF is a supply and demand thing so at the moment he is telling your boobs that he needs LOADS of milk to grow big and strong Night time is the best time to do this due to your hormones, so 6 hours of nursing overnight will increase your supply more than 6 hours of daytime nursing, if that makes sense.

Have you tried co-sleeping? A great midwife showed me how to feed LO lying down - she literally saved my sanity at around the same point you're at now. I also had a toddler so I know how difficult it is. Once we got that sorted and made sure we were following safe co-sleeping guidelines (such as no loose or heavy bedding/pillows near LO, use a bed rail/co-sleeping cot/push the bed against the wall, no drugs, no smoking etc) the nights actually became easier than the days because I would lie in bed feeding LO and go to sleep with her still feeding. She would wake to relatch and that would wake me, but it's not as bad when you don't have to get out of bed.

The feeding all night thing didn't last much longer than the first week or two, so have hope, it may end very soon, but until then I'd definitely learn to feed lying down if you can.

 

[superfrizbee]

My DD cluster fed for 8 hours straight three days in a row. OMG it was hard, and I didn't have a toddler to deal with. It got better after 3 weeks though, which seemed looooong at the time, but looking back it did go quickly. Those days are just a hazy memory now... Hang in there hun, I hope others can give you better advice, because all I did was ride it out.

 

[Feebie]

My son was like this for the first couple of months, it was completely exhausting. He would go no longer than 20 mins between feeds and i would spend pretty much the whole day glued to the couch with him on my lap feeding. I know its not for everyone but co sleeping helped us so much and meant that we both had better sleep. Good luck, It does get easier!

 

[1stTimeOct.12]

My suggestion is to get a pillow/ boppy, or what every is comfortable and safe, proper baby up to your boob and try to sleep while your lo is nursing. I still do this with my lo being six months. Eli is having teething issues so he doesn't sleep well. I spent most of the night sleeping in my chair with lo attached just so I can get more then 30 minutes of sleep at a time. Just know you are not along in this "no quality sleep" club.

Good luck!

 

[joo]

Mine did this in the 1st week. Cluster feeding alllll night for about a week. It was awful & I cried a lot. It started again at 6 weeks but wasn't as bad. I'd also started feeding in the side lying position so I just slept through a lot of it (please look up safe cosleeping). I get about 1.5 hours between feeds as baby feeds every 2hrs, take away time for nappy change, play time & settling baby to sleep then that only leaves time for a toilet break! I don't have any other kids so goodness knows how you cope! But I do use a sling during the day now so I can get normal stuff done, like EATING & vacuuming! Lol ( haven't managed the bathroom yet though ) so if you get a sling or carrier, especially one you can breastfeed in, you should be able to play with toddler too & get stuff done x

 

[staralfur]

My LO used to go 10pm-7am like clockwork. I'm not sure how long it lasted... I think a few weeks. Cosleeping absolutely saved my sanity!