Help with EASY in 2 1/2 week old (cluster feeding)

[Aglassick]

Hi! New Mom here. My baby boy is only 17 days old. He has been EBF since day six ( he had some latch issues that resolved). Anyways, we've been working on EASY since we came home. A few days ago he was going to bed at 11 after a feed and then we woke at 3 AM and 7 AM to feed. During the day he was eating every 2-3 hours. I was happy because I was getting breaks and he seemed to be slipping into the routine. Then, last night he is showing hunger cues every hour for a few hours. He slept okay. We got up at 2:30 AM and 6 AM, but this morning he is doing the same thing. He is wanting to eat almost every hour. He finally settled down for a good nap this afternoon. I'm just wondering what to do? Is this normal? Is he just in a growth spurt and I just need to feed him more often? How do you deal with cluster feeding and trying to do EASY? I know he is still so little. Any advice you have would be great?

[creations]

Hello and welcome to BW forums
And congratulations on the arrival of your new LO

The advice is to breast feed on demand and yes he is probably having a growth spurt, the regular feeding will let him have what he needs and also cue your body to produce to his requirements.
He will probably go back to eating a little more spaced out after the growth spurt.
With EASY you don't have to feed at every nap wake up (if it has been a short time since the last E and LO is not showing hunger signs) and you don't have to make LO wait for a feed, just aim not to feed to sleep to avoid a feed to sleep habit.  At this age though it is hard not to feed to sleep so when it happens don't beat yourself up about it.  Try not to worry about bad habits or props at this point, but instead feed on demand and see if you can get into something of a rhythm with sleep.
If LO falls to sleep on the breast you can put him down and tell him you are doing so and you can still shush/pat in the cot to help him settle, this can pave the way to sleep training in a gentle way.

hope this helps

[Katet]

In the first month to 6 weeks its very normal to have 8-12 Breastfeeds in 24 hours & there are lots of growth spurts early on.

It's absolutely fantastic that you are getting 3 + hours between feeds,

The most important thing at this point is just to bond with your baby & go with the flow & learn communication between you both. Closer to 3mo is when you really can work out a more predictable routine.

Hard as it is when "Social norms" think we should be superwomen with a newborn & do things while they sleep... it's unrealistic & really this is the time you should be feeding & sleeping much like your baby & spend the time connecting.