Author Topic: Cluster feeding? won't that turn them into erratic feeders?  (Read 1220 times)

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Offline Lara's Mum

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Cluster feeding? won't that turn them into erratic feeders?
« on: December 03, 2005, 15:43:14 pm »
hi.. i haven't started clusterfeeding dd yet but would like to try, but i do have a few questions?

first, if u give them feeds at 6,8,10 and then a dreamfeed at 11, won't that make them want to nurse every 2 hours?

second, when do u start winddown for allnight sleeping if u feedthem every 2 hours and the feed lasts for 40 min., will they sleep that hour and then wake up for the coming clusterfeed

third, if u do keep on waking them for all those feeds, won't they get cranky and fussy and not go back down????

sorry, guess i just don't get the clusterfeed and dreamfeed concept :oops:  :oops:
Shahira
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Offline Carter'sMama

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Cluster feeding? won't that turn them into erratic feeders?
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2005, 15:55:01 pm »
I love the name Lara btw!!!  I started clusterfeeding at 6 weeks of age I think and it worked really well for us.  At the time, DS wasn't going to sleep until 9-10:00pm anyway (he would literally cry from 5pm until 10pm).  So, we did cluster feeding at 5, 7, 9 and didn't do the dream feed.  By 7 weeks of age Carter was sleeping 8-9 hour stretches at night.

It didn't seem to disturb him because he was already awake.  I think all the feeds actually calmed him because he would be so relaxed while feeding.  We actually didn't stop the 3 cluster feeds until 4mos of age but I kept feeding like this  7am, 11am, 3pm, 6pm, 8:30 until just recently.  :oops:  :oops:   Then I dropped the 6pm feed and the 8:30 became an 8:00 feed.  Carter has a later bedtime then BW suggests but it works well for us.  He sleeps until 7:15 every morning so I'm not too worried about it.  Nothing is set in stone ...  you will have to see what works for your lo. 
Hope this helps
Good luck
Cathy - Mama to:
Carter Luke - March 29, 2005
Mason Henry - April 7, 2007
Daphne Catherine Grace - May 30, 2010



Offline 1sttime

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Cluster feeding? won't that turn them into erratic feeders?
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2005, 16:38:46 pm »
I ahve tried cluster feedings on and off with my 7 week old. Every time I try he wakes up more in the night than he did without them. The concept makes sense to me, but it doesn't seem to work for my baby. Do you think I should try again? In the past I've only tried for 1 day, then had such a bad night (he would wake up every 2 hours) that I gave up. Do you think I should try several days in a row to see if I can get him used to it? Right now I"m only getting 4 hour stretches at night and I'd love to get longer stretches.
jamie

Offline Mom2katiebug

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Cluster feeding? won't that turn them into erratic feeders?
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2005, 17:28:10 pm »
Every baby is different, but I think CF helped us.  My LO started life as a snacker, so I was worried that CF would reinforce the snacking tendencies.  It really didn't. 

We're on 3hr EASY starting as 7am or so.  So, our CFs are at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm-ish (depends on our dinner, the winddown routine, how overtired our DD is, etc.)  At first, she didn't take much - maybe an ounce or two, but after about a week she started to increase that amount as she got used to eating at that time.  Now, if she happens to be sleeping she'll wake herself up for her CFs.  We couldn't skip them if we wanted to! 

The very first night that we did CF (even though she was only taking in a small amount), she slept from 8:30p to 1:30am - a 5 hour stretch.  Since she had been waking every 3 hours, we eliminated the 10pm feed.  (We don't DF.)  Five hours of sleep seemed like eternity when compared to blocks of 3!  Now, our DD is 6WO and she'll have her last CF bottle in the 8:00 hour, usually asleep by 9pm and she'll last until 2am.  A couple of nights, she's slept until 5am (thanks Charlotte J for the swaddle technique that FINALLY contained by Houdini!). 

It definitely seemed to work for us, but it is a lot of feeding during the busy evening hours.  DD is our only child, so we don't have toddlers to look after as well, and my DH is super involved so that really helps. 

Oh, forgot about the sleeping...we watch our DD.  Sometimes she'll be fine for the 2 hours in between (usually between 4-6pm); then she'll sleep after her 6pm bottle and diaper change and we'll get her up for her bedtime routine somewhere in the 7:00 hour.  Sometimes she'll sleep in between all of them if she's had a tough day.
"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you also have an obligation to be one."  - Eleanor Roosevelt