CLUSTER feeding--3 weeks old, 4 oz every 4 hours

[lacijane0101]

I tried to look through the posts to see if I could find more information on this but it won't allow me to search the forums. I just wondered how to cluster feed a formula fed baby. Our little guy is a little over 8lbs and wakes like a little alarm clock for his 4 hour feeds. He does frequently sleep 2 5 hour stretches at night. Meaning if he gets his bottle at 9pm he wakes at 2am, then he will sleep again until 7am. He's been doing this since he was born. I really believe we could eliminate the middle of the night feeding in the next couple of weeks if I knew how to cluster feed him appropriately. I've read the book but I'm not sure about how much to give him. Right now his feeding times are off during the day due to the fact that sometimes he goes 5 hrs (like I mentioned) at night and other times he goes 4. It's varying by about 2 hrs right now. So for instance some mornings we start at 7am others it may be closer to 9 or anytime in there. Same in the evening sometimes he goes down closer to 7pm and other times 9pm.

My husband has been home with me and will be until 4 weeks but once he goes back to work I would like to try and start eliminating that early morning (2ish am) feed by cluster feeding and dream feeding. However, I have no idea how to divy up the oz....I've done a lot of reading and can't really find anything that deals with FF babies only for BF babies.

If anyone can help I would appreciate it 

[Lolly]

Hi and welcome!

The way to cluster feed any baby is just to offer another feed at a shorter interval towards the end of the day. At 3 weeks BW babies are on 3 hourly feeds, which also helps to get more calories in them during the day rather than the night. If a baby wakes at 7 for example feeds would be 7, 10, 1, 4 and then to cluster you would feed at 6 then 8 and a dreamfeed between 10 and 11pm. My two never woke at a regular time so we just ran the day from their wake up time.

I will say though that expecting to drop the 2am feed in a couple of weeks may be a bit unrealistic. In reality, even with clusters (clusters are dropped for around 8 weeks anyway) and a dreamfeed most babies will need a nightfeed until they start solids around 6 months. The clusters and dreamfeed are meant to get you a longer stretch until the nightfeed not to allow them to sleep until morning without a feed when they are so little - in fact, sleeping through actually means a 5 hour stretch from the last feed. Some babies will naturally drop the nightfeed quite young and that's fine but as they have so many growth spurts in their first 6 months (3 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 4 months, 6 months) you really need to feed if they wake.

Formula takes longer to digest than breastmilk so it's common for FF babies to refuse cluster feeding, both of mine did so I would work on a 3 hour EASY pattern and try establishing a dreamfeed if he won't take a extra feed. Don't forget the DF is an asleep feed, just pick him up gently and lay him back down after!

Laura

[lacijane0101]

Thanks so much for responding Laura. So what you're saying is that cluster feeding means to feed them their normal feeding amount at 6 and 8? I assumed cluster may mean that if say he is taking 4 oz all day at his other feeding that I would feed him like 2 oz at 6 and 2 oz at 8? I'm wondering more about the breakdown of how much they're given for cluster feeds??

Tracy's book shows a typical EASY for a 4 week old and while she does show it with 3 hours between feeds we were going to attempt it with 4 hours between since that's what hes been doing on his own since we were in the hospital. The nurses started him on that while in the nursery and we hated to change him bc he's already so set in his ways!

Since he's already sleeping sometimes 5 hrs between feeds overnight that's why we were hoping to use Tracy's guidelines and maybe not have a middle of the night feed, use the cluster feed and dream feed and maybe he would sleep through until 4-5am.

[Lolly]

Thanks so much for responding Laura. So what you're saying is that cluster feeding means to feed them their normal feeding amount at 6 and 8? I assumed cluster may mean that if say he is taking 4 oz all day at his other feeding that I would feed him like 2 oz at 6 and 2 oz at 8? I'm wondering more about the breakdown of how much they're given for cluster feeds??

Yes, you offer a normal feed size as you want them to take more calories not just the usual feed split.

I get what you are saying about the 4 hour feeds but with such a young baby you won't be able to do the EASY routine until he gets to about 4 months. The purpose of 3 hour feeds is to get more calories in but also because they can't do the A time needed to space feeds to 4 hours and keep the EASY order. At 4 weeks you are looking at an A time of 1 hour so if he feeds at 7am he will be back to sleep at 8am, a nap is 1.5-2 hours so he will need to be back to sleep again by 11 when the next feed would be due. If you feed him just as he is due a sleep you could be heading for a feed to sleep prop which the EASY routine is set up to avoid as the E and S are separated by the A.

On a 3 hour EASY he would have feeds at 7,10, 1,4 and then clusters at 6 and 8 so at 4oz a feed that would be about 24oz plus a DF. On a 4 hour feed he gets fed at 7,11,3, and then cluster at 6 and 8 and a DF which is a feed less. With that extra feed, the clusters and the DF he may well be able to go until 4/5am earlier than some babies as he is doing so well already.

The only thing is that when they do feed at 4/5am they sometimes don't take a good feed at wake up as it hasn't been 3+ hours since the last feed which then impacts on the first EASY cycle and sometimes the day. I always preferred to feed around 2/3am, get them back to sleep quick and hope they slept until wake up!

Laura

[lacijane0101]

Okay, now I understand what you're saying. Sorry the first time I wasn't putting it together, trying to learn so much! We go to our pediatrician tomorrow so I am going to talk to her also and see what she has to say about all of it to

I think then, my last question would be about the dream feeds. It seems that if we lay him down too soon after he eats that he spits back up. If we keep him upright during A time and then he goes down there really hasn't been an issue with spit up. With the dream feed I understand that he goes right back down and I'm just worried about him spitting up on himself. Any tips or tricks there? He hasn't been in the crib yet we have him in a swing/bassinet style "bed" I can adjust the recline on it but I can't imagine sleeping upright would be too comfy!! haha. He's at a littttttle bit of an angle when he goes down but that hasn't helped his spitting up, like I said he has to be upright for awhile after his feed.

He does entertain himself to sleep so we are considering a move to the crib here soon, especially during the day to see how he does. Just didn't know if that was a common problem or maybe a tip on how to remedy that if it does happen during dream feed.

I so  much appreciate your time!! 

[Lolly]

I think then, my last question would be about the dream feeds.

I hope it's not your last question or post for ever

Spitting up after a feed can be an issue, you can elevate the cot which will help. If you do elevate it enough to help you may need to use a sleep positioner or rolled towels under the sheet to stop him slipping down. Both of mine were refluxers who wouldn't dreamfeed so I didn't bother and just let them wake when they were hungry and that caused less issues for us as we weren't over filling their tummies. The only thing you can do is try and see really, not all babies will dreamfeed anyway.

Laura