Nap when baby naps. Consider sleeping with or nearby baby so you can get more sleep. The closer you are to your baby, the less your sleep will be interrupted for night waking. Here are some tips on side lying nursing , and information on safely sleeping with your baby.
Getting more rest can make life with baby much easier. It can really help to get out occasionally. Here are some tips for going out:. Every new mom should read this article!
Touch Hunger by Linda J. Read this! What is Normal? Can I Breastfeed if…? She may also be fussy or unsettled during cluster feeding time. Understandably, some parents get the wrong idea about this behavior and think that it means Mom has a low milk supply. It's important to remember that the way your baby behaves is not a reliable sign of how much milk she's drinking.
The most dependable way to judge the milk supply is by your baby's growth pattern and diapers. If she's gaining well then she's getting enough milk, no matter how fussy she might be or how long she might cluster feed in the evening. On a daily basis, your baby's diapers are the best indicator of whether she's had enough to eat. From age five days up to six to eight weeks, she should have at least five or six sopping wets and three or four palm-sized yellow bowel movements every 24 hours.
After six to eight weeks, some babies develop a pattern of fewer bowel movements but should continue with at least five or six sopping wets along with a good weight gain. We don't know all the reasons, but it's probably connected to changing fat levels in mother's milk. The amount of fat varies somewhat from feeding to feeding and within each feeding. If some time has passed since the last feeding, the milk at the beginning of the feeding is lower in fat like skim milk , then it becomes more like whole milk, and then high in fat like cream toward the end of the feeding.
When feedings are more closely spaced as in cluster feeding , they're higher in fat. Your baby needs to get this creamy milk to help her grow well, and to help her brain develop.
Happily, many babies will take a longer stretch of sleep right after they cluster because getting the creamier milk helps to slow the digestion and makes the baby feel fuller. It's okay to let your baby take this longer stretch of sleep after a cluster. You don't need to wake her up in two to three hours at that time '- just enjoy the break! Research indicates that trying to manipulate a baby's natural feeding pattern too much '- especially trying to make her wait longer for the next feeding—can lead to problems like low milk supply and poor weight gain in the baby.
The longer between feedings, the greater the signal to the breast to reduce its production of milk. After this first month, research has shown us that babies will breastfeed anywhere from times every 24 hours, but most babies still feed on average feeds every day.
It is just down to the levels of fat in your milk and fat levels change throughout the day and the amount of milk your breast can hold at each feed, as well as how your baby is feeling.
Most babies find breastfeeding very comforting and, just like if we feel upset a hug can do wonders. Likewise, a short extra breastfeed does the same for calming our babies! It will most likely be completely different from yours. There are, of course, some mums who say that a routine was the best thing for their baby. For most babies, a strict routine does not work! So why do we think this is normal for our babies?! Most mums report that their baby feeds frequently and is unsettled more so during the evening hours, most commonly between 6 — 10pm.
This is a very normal and common behaviour for babies who are otherwise content during other parts of the day, feeding and gaining weight well and are generally healthy. Babies do have these periods of cluster feeding , often most present between 2 and 9 weeks of age, but of course some babies will have these periods for several more weeks and still be totally healthy.
Researchers think it is a developmental stage that all babies naturally need to go through. Babies can easily get overwhelmed or dysregulated in the first few months in particular. Babies who are overtired or overwhelmed, find it hard to calm down by themselves in the first few months of life and need someone to help them. And what better way to be calmed than having a breastfeed, which of course is not just food, but also a pain reliever and a happy hormone giver!
Also, being held and rocked allows baby to feel safe and warm, like being back in the womb. So, it makes sense that they need to be held and fed so much in the evenings after a big day in the big wide world! Some of us have another person around to help us out, whilst other new mums have to manage alone during the cluster feeds.
Regardless of your situation, it is important to realise that cluster feeding is normal. If you are responding to your baby by holding them and feeding them, yet they are still crying in-between feeds you are not causing harm to your baby, you are still showing them love and they will calm when they are able to.
The other thing to remind yourself is that this is temporary.
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