Cluster feeding

By Cordelia Uys, NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor, and Heather Kamps - October 2021

When babies cluster feed, that’s to say spend long periods of the day, often late afternoon and early evening, wanting to breastfeed almost non-stop, it’s really common for mothers to doubt their milk supply and worry their baby isn’t getting enough. If they then offer a bottle, the baby is likely to wolf it down, because unless a parent is practising paced bottle feeding, a combination of gravity and the baby’s sucking reflex means the baby can’t stop themselves from drinking from a bottle. And when the baby is full from the bottle, they feed less from the breast, resulting in genuine supply issues.

Here’s a message 2nd time mother Heather Kamps recently wrote to a 1st time mother of a newborn:

“The cluster feeding can feel so overwhelming can’t it?! I have a 4-week-old, he is my second baby, and the first couple of weeks I swear he seemed to barely go 15 minutes without wanting to feed again! I took it as an opportunity to relax on the sofa and have people bring me snacks in the day - I hope you have some support at home while going through this phase! At night I have been bedsharing following the Lullaby Trust safe sleep guidelines and he just feeds on and off in the side lying position all night and now he’s a bit older he does do a longer stretch at the start of the night (3.5-5 hrs) and then feeds more frequently after that. But I don’t have to get out of bed, so I don’t mind and am getting lots of rest.

All this to say - it’s tough but normal and the cluster feeding isn’t a bad sign (especially as it sounds as though weight gain and nappies are good!). Cluster feeding is what babies are designed to do. All that stimulation has meant that I now have a really good supply, and although we have some cluster feeding still (and this will continue, especially during growth spurts), it’s less intense and he goes for much longer in the day now than he did in the first week or so. So I have less excuse to sit on the sofa snuggling him all day, which I have mixed feelings about to be honest. 

Trust your little girl - she’s doing what she is meant to do!”

Links:

https://kellymom.com/parenting/parenting-faq/fussy-evening/

https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/co-sleeping/

https://www.cordeliauys.co.uk/in-praise-of-the-sidelying-position