Newborn feeding

[Miss_Cellany]

I don't know if I'm stressing too much about my 3 day old's feeding. I'm trying to stick to the advice of feeding every 2-3 hours but he is sometimes cluster feeding,which is is fine, but should I still be trying to get him to feed 2-3 hours after the cluster feeding? He's just so sleepy after the cluster feeding that I find it really difficult to get him to have a decent feed.
I can't work out how many feeds he's having a day either because of the cluster feeding.
Second time mum but first time breastfeeding as it failed last time.

 

[Bevziibubble]

Just go with your baby's cues and feed on demand for now. They only have tiny tummies at first and because breastmilk is so easily digested they do need to feed very often. Plus they do cluster feed at first to bring your milk supply in.
I know neither of mine would have stuck to a routine of feeding every 2-3 hours, they were always much more often unless they had a super long nap.
Things will settle down soon but for now I would just follow your baby's cues and feed on demand

 

[ssarahh]

I can only echo what Bev said. For the first few weeks I was feeding Eddie a lot and very rarely would he go more than a couple of hours without a feed.

Cluster feeding is hard though - it seems like you do nothing but feed! Promise it gets easier though.

X

 

[luz]

If he cluster feeds and then goes 2-3 hours without eating, I would wake him and at least try to get him to eat

 

[noon_child]

I suppose it depends; are you worried about how efficiently he feeds, or are you pretty confident he's feeding well when he's at the breast? Also it might depend on the type of birth you had.

Frequent feeding is recommended because births with intervention and medication can interfere with newborn feeding behaviour and it protects against those newborns who haven't quite got latching perfected from going too long without hydration and mum's nipples from going too long without stimulation. If baby is actually feeding well, it is safer to leave it a bit longer between feeds if baby is really not going to feed.

It also depends how close he is to you when sleeping. The more separated you are from each other, the more likely he is to sleep through feeding cues, the closer you are the more attuned you will both be to when he needs to feed next.

 

[Miss_Cellany]

Thanks for the replies. He woke every 2 hours naturally through the night last night but he's back to sleeping more today. I'll keep waking him as although I think he's feeding OK I'm not 100% sure. I'm seeing midwife tomorrow so will ask her.