When I first came home from the hospital with my first newborn baby I initially believed things were going smoothly. My baby was sleeping a ton, and just waking up for a diaper change and feeding every couple of hours. It was really calm. I believe that was day one. She was crying constantly, eating constantly, I would feed her constantly and try to get her back to sleep, and then if she drifted off and I set her down she would wake and the cycle would start again. When my baby came home she had been in the NICU and we already had a rough start to breastfeeding with me having to pump to bring in my milk supply.

What is Cluster Feeding and Why Does it Suck?



10 Ways to Cope with Cluster Feeding– Kindred Bravely
It's likely your baby is going through a period of cluster feeding Cluster feeding is most common in younger babies and often presents itself in the evening and night hours. With these back-to-back nursing sessions, it can feel like your baby is feeding non-stop. Formula-fed babies can cluster feed, too, but it is more common in breastfed babies. Growth spurts, as we write about here , are a time when a baby may be more apt to cluster feed. Typical ages during the infant stage that you may see these occur are weeks, 6 weeks and months. Probably not what you want to hear, right?!


How Long It Takes to Breastfeed a Baby
Cluster feeding is a pattern of feeding that many babies adopt in the evening or early morning. Rather than spacing their feedings three to four hours apart, they want to feed every half hour to hour. Parents know that they want to feed more frequently because they become incredibly fussy, and often the only way to calm them down is to continually give them the breast or bottle. Some babies simply become irritable and cry a lot in the late evening, without the desire to feed. Since this behavior is common at this time of the day, it is believed that some babies are using the breast as a method of self-soothing.



Do you know when your breast milk supply settles down? Find out in our guide to breastfeeding after one month. Feeds can last anything from 12 minutes to nearer an hour — there really is that much variability between babies! Breastfeeding throughout this stage also prepares your baby for the exciting milestones ahead.