question about clusterfeeding at night

[micah'smom]

hi everyone,

i'm trying to switch my 15 wk old from a 3hr to a 4hr easy. he's been waking up a lot at night to make up for short feeds throughout the day, and once i kept him up almost 2hrs and he took a 2hr nap instead of his usual 45  :shock:  so i figured it was time for the switch.

ANYWAY. my question is - i'd like to clusterfeed him at night since he is still young, to get him through the night. do i just wake him up to feed? how do you clusterfeed without getting baby into the habit of waking up at that time after he doesn't need the clusterfeed anymore?

also, how many times a day should an avg 15 wk old feed? (EBF)

thanks!

[Angel Face]

Hi,
I found for my DD cluster feeding worked best in the evening before bed time. When I moved her to the 4 hour schedule in the evening she would eat twice 2 hours apart (ie once at 3 pm, then 7pm, 9pm then to bed). You want to "tank up" the baby before bed time so they will have more to make it through. Was he making it through before you moved him to 4 hours? I liked the "tank up" thing and it did help my DD to make it longer at night.
As far as how much, hard to say because each child is different, I know that doesn't help you much... Good luck

[annamum]

When you clusterfeed, you do this before your baby goes to sleep. As Rebecca said, you can feed your lo every 2 hours prior to sleeptime. You probably confused clusterfeed with a dreamfeed. Dreamfeed is a feed when you have to slightly rouse but not wake your baby.

A 15 week old should nurse at least 6 times in 24 hours, in my opinion. I know babies who nursed more often, like 7 or even 8 times.

If you are planning to switch to 4 hours, you should do this rather gradually and observe if your lo is getting enough (diapers) and if he is content and happy. Some los are able to go 4 hours and gain well early but some are not, especially that yours is still too young for solids. My Anna didn't do a 3 hour schedule till she was 4.5 months. So it really depends on a baby. Just be careful as switching to 4 hours can also impact your supply.

[micah'smom]

hi rebecca,

i like your psalm quote - it's one of my favorites 

ds was sleeping from 8-4am, feeding, then sleeping until about 7am. then he got crazy and ate short spurts during the day and woke up ravenous twice each night!  i'll try the clusterfeeding before bed... thanks for your advice!

[Angel Face]

How did last night go? What is today's schedule looking like?
Just thought I would check and see how things were going!!
Keep us posted!

[micah'smom]

hi rebecca,

well yesterday i fed him at 7, 10:30, 3ish, then 5 and 7.

today i fed him at 7:30, 11:30, 2:45, 5:00, and i'll feed him again around 7.

it's been pretty crazy. his naps were not that great today but there's always tomorrow..! also i wonder if i'm overfeeding him when i cluster? for his 5pm feeding he didn't take too much and he had an explosive poop  :shock:

does it depend on his age, or on his weight, when he will be able to go from 6 feedings/24hrs to 5?

thanks!

[Angel Face]

It does depend on his age and weight and just him when ready to go to one less feed. Did you count the 4am feed? Is a 4am feed normal or was that just because of the new schedule?
It takes some time to adjust, but it does sound like he might not be ready, you could try more of a 3.5 hour schedule with some cluster feeds at the end. The cluster thing he may not be use so it might just take some time. Find one thing and stick to it for a full 3 days then re-eval. Unless it is clear it isn't working because of DS hunger issues... Also, watch for growth spurt issues, if he is in a growth spurt right now the schedule will be all messed up anyway... Just more to think about. 

[micah'smom]

the 4am feed is what's "normal" - but some nights he wakes up at 10pm, 2am, 4-5ish, etc. and some days he wakes up at 8 or 8:30 instead of 7... i'm guessing exhausted from all the nightwakings.

thanks for the suggestion about sticking to ONE thing for 3 days. i think i'm trying to change too much too fast. the thing that's hard is that he's not hungry until about 3.5hrs, but his naps are short - 1.25 hrs at the most - so it shifts around his feeding times and activity times until there's no structure by the end of the day. hopefully it'll sort out soon.

[mamaof2]

My 7 week old 13+lbs boy is asleep at 7:30-8pm, and I see suggestions for clustering at 7&9...do I wake him or feed him only if he wakes...as he often does wake between bed & DF? or rouse him like a DF? Or cluster earlier at 5&7? then DF at 10-11?

[micah'smom]

hey mamaof2,

haha these are the same questions i had/have. it gets so confusing!

i just ended up clustering before bedtime. i *think* that's the BW stance. other experts just recommend waking them up but i think the BW principle is that you don't want to get htem used to nightwakings and expecting to eat every time. when my ds was younger i just let him wake up if he was hungry. i've tried the DF several times, but only once did he not wake up until morning. so i just let him wake up whenever.

hth!
selena

[mamaof2]

thanks Micha's mom...I think that's what is happening here too...if he wakes hungry I will feed him the cluster..if not I'll stick to the DF when it works.  Sometimes can't get him roused for it...guess I am not there when he stirs those nights.  I just feel that at 13 lbs 13oz & 7weeks he should be sleeping longer at night...he often does go from 11pm-4am but then last night up at 1:45am...and stayed up till almost 3:30! :lol: I think he's past his growth spurt, as he had me hopping all weekend for food! :shock: