Cluster Feeds

[sueb31]

My boy is now 12 weeks old and still has cluster feeds. He has been sleeping through from the DF to 6.30am for 1-2 weeks now and I'd like to try getting rid of the cluster feeds. He does like his food and cries if I even try to hold off a bit on the first cluster feed.

Current feed times are:
7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm, 5.15pm, 6.45-7pm, 10.30pm.

He only has a catnap in the afternoon (eg 4.30-5) but always wants food when he wakes! Am I just being impatient? Or is he just used to the routine? I just can't seem to make that 5.15 feed any later. If I try to only give one side, he will cry and only settle after having the other side. He then seems to have a smaller feed at 7pm. I haven't tried distracting him, the only thing that might work would be a walk, but I don't want to deprive him if he's hungry. Any suggestions???     

[daisymelan]

Hi there,

WOW!  Your baby has done really well in the sleep department, that's for sure.  Congrats to you for your hard work.

About changing the cluster feeds.  I am not an expert, but I would think that you may want to keep it a bit longer.  Your lo is only getting 6 feeds a day, and if you drop a cluster, you would be down to 5.  I think if I were you, I'd keep it at 6.  But I can understand your wanting to adjust things. 

I think when he begins to drop that catnap, it will be a better time to reduce the number of feeds.... especially if your lo is happy with everything right now.  If it aint' broke, don't fix it! 

But truly, there may be someone else that can advise you on how to drop one if you really want, but I think around 12 weeks they have a growth spurt, so you may want to wait until that passes.

HTH!   Good luck

[ellenaaron]

IT looks like you have him on a 4 hour schedule already, but isn't that supposed to be closer to 4 months old when they switch to a 4 hour routine?  Maybe if you moved his daytime feeds closer to 3 hours apart, he could get more feeds in during the day and might not need the cluster feeds?

[sueb31]

Thanks for your opinions and advice, I see what you mean. I should count my blessings and not mess with a good thing! I had forgotten about the growth spurt around the corner too. Maybe I was just getting jealous of those babies who sleep right through...patience is a virtue I guess.