How are you surviving cluster feedings?

[rosegarden620]

Hi everyone!
My LO is 8 days old. We are exclusively breastfeeding. She was born at 38w1d with no issues latching on. She took quickly and my milk came in on day 2/3.

All is well, she is giving me plenty of dirty/wet diapers. She feeds every 2.5-3hrs in the day time and sometimes more frequently.

My only frustration, stemming from exhaustion, is her cluster feeding. I know it's normal but I'm wondering how you all managed/are managing. Her cluster feeding time is between 12am-7am for a 4-5hr stretch. She does the typical nurse, fuss, nurse, fuss, nurse, fuss for that time frame with occasional 30 minute stretches of sleep. During this time I'm nursing, changing her diapers, burping her, co-sleeping when I can and rocking her in hopes that will deter her for a small moment.

It's nearly 5am and I just wanna know I'm not alone! It's tiring and lonely this time of night!

 

[AK89]

You're not alone! Well.. I can't say I'm going through it anymore but I did for the first few months. And there will be plenty of other ladies that are going through it now I can assure you! But wow.. 12-7am?? Mine cluster fed from around 5/6-11pm so I definitely got off lightly in comparison! You must be exhausted! But you're doing amazing, hang in there it gets SO much easier. You'll be so glad you stuck with it further down the line. It's so much easier than bottle feeding and you have such a lovely bond. I look forward to my breastfeeding sessions now! I either chill in front of the telly or do some knitting or I go and lie down with her in bed (me on my side, her lay on the bed alongside me) and sometimes have a nap! I'm also cosleeping at the moment cos my DD is going through a phase of waking up a lot in the night (growth spurt I think) and all I have to do is whap my boob out and drift back off! She's very good at latching herself back on these days

If you've not already got one I'd HIGHLY recommend a nursing pillow. They make life so much easier, especially in the earlier days when they're so diddy and need lots of support, you can just rest your arms on it. And later on you can just rest THEM on it and you're hands free! That's how I used to get through cluster feeding! I'd just put my feet up and have my OH running round getting things for me haha.. but if it's the middle of the night I'd just set everything up next to you (drink, phone, book, etc), have a dim lamp on and just try and relax.

I still use my pregnancy pillow in bed too. Not only does it just make sleeping SO MUCH COMFIER it also helps with feeding in 2 ways:
* When you're sat up feeding you can just sit inside it and rest the nursing pillow on top of it then you don't have to support the baby at all and you're hands free
* later on when you can feed lying down it's great for putting behind your back so you're supported and comfortable.

So all in all, get a pregnancy pillow and a nursing pillow, kick back and relax!

 

[rosegarden620]

Exactly what I was hoping to hear!

In my research of cluster feeding I read that late evenings are most common for them to occur, that sounds heavenly in comparison to my LO cluster feeding times. Luck of the draw I suppose. I can time it well for the most part... Meaning at about 8-9 I wake her up for a feeding and done in a timely fashion I can usually get three hours of sleep before midnight when she starts (give or take 15 minutes). If I miss that window I'm screwed and am up all night.

The night before last was our best night yet, it was a normal "nurse and sleep 2-3 hours" night....but I know it was just luck. Lol

I've been keeping my water and my phone on hand. My phone works as a movie player too so it's helped me a lot. I know what you mean about having a pillow to support my back- when dh works late hours his pillow is always stationed behind me for that reason.

The only thing I am contemplating is moving our sessions to the living room. Side lying is fine until we switch sides, which I do a lot during our cluster feeding times to give my poor boobies a break. Switching sides a lot is not really ideal for side lying. I'm just worried if I go to the living room I will lose more sleep bc I'm not in bed. I have a nursing pillow too and would be able to get myself more comfy in the living room...something to consider I suppose.

The key to this all is, relaxing. You are very right... I'll get into the swing of things soon enough!!

Thank you!

 

[staralfur]

There were a couple of weeks where my LO went from 10pm-7am, like clockwork, so I totally understand what you're going through! I basically just treated it like a night shift and would stay up all night and then sleep while she napped during the day. There were days where I got maybe 3 hours of broken sleep in total and it was totally brutal, but it doesn't last forever! I actually have really fond memories of sitting with her, watching movies all night, reading books on my phone, a pile of snacks and drinks surrounding me.

Just hang in there and try to make the most of it. Towards the end I found a couple of TV shows that I really liked and would binge watch overnight, and I actually looked forward to it!

 

[AK89]

Exactly what I was hoping to hear!

In my research of cluster feeding I read that late evenings are most common for them to occur, that sounds heavenly in comparison to my LO cluster feeding times. Luck of the draw I suppose. I can time it well for the most part... Meaning at about 8-9 I wake her up for a feeding and done in a timely fashion I can usually get three hours of sleep before midnight when she starts (give or take 15 minutes). If I miss that window I'm screwed and am up all night.

The night before last was our best night yet, it was a normal "nurse and sleep 2-3 hours" night....but I know it was just luck. Lol

I've been keeping my water and my phone on hand. My phone works as a movie player too so it's helped me a lot. I know what you mean about having a pillow to support my back- when dh works late hours his pillow is always stationed behind me for that reason.

The only thing I am contemplating is moving our sessions to the living room. Side lying is fine until we switch sides, which I do a lot during our cluster feeding times to give my poor boobies a break. Switching sides a lot is not really ideal for side lying. I'm just worried if I go to the living room I will lose more sleep bc I'm not in bed. I have a nursing pillow too and would be able to get myself more comfy in the living room...something to consider I suppose.

The key to this all is, relaxing. You are very right... I'll get into the swing of things soon enough!!

Thank you!

Well that's what I mean about the pregnancy pillow- I use that when I'm in bed as well as my two normal pillows all stacked up behind me and then obviously the pregnancy pillow comes out round my sides and my nursing pillow fits perfectly on top of that so I'm super comfy! I got mine off eBay for a tenner. Definitely worth a try! Like I said it's good for supporting your back when you're side lying too

But yeah, being downstairs might just be a bit less boring if you're not actually gonna snooze! Invest in Netflix

 

[luna_19]

Like others have said I would just get super comfy completely surrounded by pillows so I could doze while baby cluster fed, soon these days will be a distant memory

 

[rosegarden620]

You girls are so encouraging! It's such a great feeling to not be or feel alone. The cluster feedings are intense but it definitely helps to know what your dealing with and accepting it.

I have found my fav tv show on netflix and have been binge watching. Haven't eaten to much during these episodes but I plan on re-upping on some snacks tomorrow. Being comfortable is key and accepting sleep deprivation. Good thing being pregnant helped me wit that!!

 

[AK89]

Aww I know, that's what I love about this site! There's almost always someone else who's been through/is going through the same thing and can offer some pearls of wisdom, or sometimes just sympathy! When I first started BF I hadn't even heard of cluster feeding, so I didn't understand why she was feeding so much, was worried she wasn't getting enough, getting frustrated with the pain and exhaustion. When I found out it was normal it just somehow all felt loads better!

Oh god, I couldn't STOP eating at first! I was like a machine!