Newborn wants to feed literally every 5 minutes - HELP!!!

[KatO79]

So my son normally wants to feed every 2-3 hours which goes well. But sometimes he'll at night want to feed but will only feed for 5 minutes, then fall asleep and when I put him in his cradle where he'll sleep for a few minutes and then wake up and wants to feed again, just minutes after having fed. What's going on and what do I do? Sometimes this happens really late when I'm about to go to bed.

 

[October9]

Are you burping him when he falls asleep before you put him down? Could it be he's full of wind and getting confused with being full? Could also be a comfort thing in that he wants boob and cuddles x

 

[staralfur]

That's very normal for breastfed babies because they're trying to build your supply (it's called clusterfeeding). Just go with it and keep feeding on demand. My LO used to clusterfeed at the same time every day (10pm-7am) so I'd pull all-nighters and watch a bunch of movies/tv shows with snacks and water within reach at all times. It definitely messed with my sleep schedule for a while (with what little sleep I did get) but it gets better. They go through growth spurts every few weeks for the first while when it'll seem like he's feeding all the time again, but it doesn't last forever.

 

[KatO79]

October9 I probably haven't been good enough in burping him properly. How long do you normally try burping for before thinking baby doesn't have gas and let him sleep?

staralfur but wouldn't he be feeding for longer if it was cluster feeding? He's literally only feeding for a few minutes (3-5 minutes) before falling asleep. He'll be 2 weeks old on Wednesday so don't know if that's a bit early for cluster feeding yet? But I'm a FTM so don't know much about it

 

[noon_child]

October9 I probably haven't been good enough in burping him properly. How long do you normally try burping for before thinking baby doesn't have gas and let him sleep?

staralfur but wouldn't he be feeding for longer if it was cluster feeding? He's literally only feeding for a few minutes (3-5 minutes) before falling asleep. He'll be 2 weeks old on Wednesday so don't know if that's a bit early for cluster feeding yet? But I'm a FTM so don't know much about it

It sounds like classic cluster feeding. He'll be tired but also needing nutrition and to build your supply. Plus sucking releases a sleepy hormone, so put all those things together and you get feed, sleep, wake, cry, feed, sleep, wake, cry. I think the frustration comes from thinking you've settled them only for them to wake again - sometimes it is just easier not to try to put them down, just keep them on you till they wake again. I spent most of the first month being fed my dinner by family members as I couldn't put LO down to eat my own dinner, and watching box sets to try to stay awake while she did "feed, sleep, wake (and cry if I'd tried to put her down)" on repeat till about 1am. Cluster feeding happened from day three for me!

 

[staralfur]

October9 I probably haven't been good enough in burping him properly. How long do you normally try burping for before thinking baby doesn't have gas and let him sleep?

staralfur but wouldn't he be feeding for longer if it was cluster feeding? He's literally only feeding for a few minutes (3-5 minutes) before falling asleep. He'll be 2 weeks old on Wednesday so don't know if that's a bit early for cluster feeding yet? But I'm a FTM so don't know much about it

Nope! My LO would have super short feeds, fall asleep for a minute, have another tiny feed, sleep briefly, repeat. For hours and hours and hours. She also clusterfed from the time my milk came in.

 

[1nceUponATime]

My baby did that too during the first few weeks of life! It gets better!! I literally had meltdowns thinking she was starving and almost gave her formula several times.... she stopped doing it and then it became every hour and then 2, and now she does like 3 hours, once in a while five hours! Hang in there!

 

[DaisyDreamer]

I remember those days, its tough but it will get better and your supply will increase enough to meet the demands of the growth spurt. Just keep pushing mama!

 

[Uni tsi]

My baby tends to fall asleep a lot while eating anyway, even when she's not cluster feeding. I find switching sides helps wake her up. Also, if you have a sleepy baby try breast compressions. Sometimes having some milk squirted in can get them going again to finish feeding.

Has anyone had luck adjusting the timing of the cluster feeding by starting it slightly earlier every day, or did I just get amazingly lucky? My LO used to want to cluster feed just as I was so tired I was about to fall out, but I'm nervous about co-sleeping when I'm too exhausted. So, I did some planned all nighters which helped like Star suggested. But I also gradually started cluster feeding earlier and earlier every day till it fit better with when I wanted bedtime to be. Maybe something like that could help?