• Home
  • About Rachel
  • Contact
    • Work With Me
  • My Shop
  • Start Here

A Mother Far from Home

  • Discipline
    • Toys And Play
    • Big Family
    • Family Culture
    • Diapers & Potty Training
    • Irish Twins
    • Teething
  • Emotions
  • Faith
    • Christian Holidays
    • Church Related
    • Spiritual Principles
  • Home
    • Cleaning & Chores
    • Meal Time & Eating
    • Organizing, Tidying & Decluttering
    • Emergency Preparedness For Families
  • Motherhood
    • Mental & Emotional Wholeness
    • Mother’s Helper
    • Type A
    • Books to Read
    • Pregnancy
  • Routine
    • Baby Schedules & Routines
    • Toddler Routines & Schedules
    • Mom Schedules & Routines
    • School Routines
  • Sleep
    • Sleep Troubleshooting
    • Napping Tips
    • Basic Sleep Tips
Home » Routines & Schedules » Baby Schedules & Routines » Cluster Feeding Newborns: Do’s & Dont’s (& How To Do It Right)

Cluster Feeding Newborns: Do’s & Dont’s (& How To Do It Right)

Updated February 15, 2021

2.4Kshares

Want simple chaos-erasing family routines? Who doesn't? Check out our Family Routines Reboot!

Want simple chaos-erasing family routines? Who doesn't? Check out our Family Routines Reboot!

Are you busy with a cluster feeding newborn? This will help you know what to do so you’re not up all night feeding a baby every hour. 


Newborns are perfectly snuggly and sweet and warm and wonderful.

But it can be hard to survive.

If they won’t sleep well, don’t seem to be eating well, and are irritable due to gas pain, overtiredness, or even baby teething… then you can feel like you’re slowly starting to lose your mind from lack of sleep and complete world upheaval.

A common phenomenon with little ones… cluster feeding.

woman in chair giving baby a cluster feed

What is it?

Cluster feeding (n): A breastfeeding pattern when baby groups several feeding sessions in a short window of time. It can happen for a number of reasons (some purposeful, some not), which we’ll dive into below.

Some other names for this are topping up or tanking up (giving baby a bit more to make sure they aren’t hungry when they go to bed) or even split feeding.

Split feeding is used when you sort of divide up a feed into two so that baby gets what they need immediately, then some more again before going off into dreamland.

How babies cluster feed – 4 likely scenarios:

  1. Baby cluster feeds at night, but not during the day.
  2. Baby cluster feeds both day and night.
  3. Or baby snacks but never takes full long feeds.
  4. Baby cluster feeds sometime in the late afternoon/early evening period (5 pm to 11 pm) on purpose.
mother breastfeeding newborn baby

Rules of thumb while cluster feeding your newborn

Cluster feeding can really feel difficult or confusing, but I want to assure you that these newborns days are intense yet they will pass and the habits you start now can create a strong foundation then fade out naturally into a mutually beneficial routine.

Remember, during this time you may find your baby log comes in handy to refer back to.

In This Post...

  • The reason cluster feedings work
  • Nighttime cluster feeding... day/night confusion?
  • How to stop cluster feeding at night
  • Cluster feeding all day and night? Here's why!
  • Some babies only want to 'snack'
  • Benefits of cluster feeding early evening

Reasons cluster feeding works

So first of all, you’ll end up cluster feeding at some point in the day with your newborn. Their tummies are tiny and they need to fill them up at regular intervals.

This is actually a good thing and you can use this feeding rhythm to your benefit in a way that means baby gets more sleep and you do too.

Read: End Baby’s Witching Hour — In 4 Simple Steps

happy baby

Reasons Tanking Up Is Beneficial And Why Babies Do It:

  • Your baby gets lots of nourishment in a shorter period of time which is beneficial during the late afternoon/early evening hours when milk quality can be low.
  • Baby can sleep longer stretches after cluster feeding periods.
  • Mom can sleep longer stretches because baby is sleeping longer stretches.
  • Milk supply can be kept up with regular feeding.
  • Cluster feeds help babies get through growth spurts by maintaining adequate milk supply.

Read: Dreamfeed: The Why, The How, & When To Stop

Watch my video on an important cluster feeding issue.

Hourly feedings at night: day night confusion?

If your baby cluster feeds at night, but not during the day then sweet baby probably has some day night confusion going on.

The goal is to make those cluster feeds during daytime hours so they’re sleeping longer stretches at night. If baby wants to nap for 4 hours during the day… well… don’t let him!

Follow my newborn sample routine or do what works for you, but know that if you let baby sleep long stretches during the day he will be up more frequently at night.

Read: What To Do When Baby Is Feeding Every Hour (& Not Sleeping!)

clusterfeeding a newborn, clusterfeed newborn baby

The way forward? 

Purposefully cluster feed your newborn in late afternoon and early evening and make sure baby is taking full feeds.

This means at least 10 minutes per breast if you’re nursing, often times twice that.

🌟 PRO TIP

You can tell when baby is no longer actively nursing but just remaining latched on in a few ways.

First, look at the muscles on baby’s cheek. If they are nursing it will be moving up and down. Next, discern whether baby is swallowing or not. Then, look at baby’s chin, is it moving as it does during active sucking (aka nursing).

If none of these are happening baby is likely asleep and engaging in non-nutritive sucking.

Read: How To Fix Day/Night Confusion In 3 Nights Or Less

How to stop cluster feeding at night (if you’re ready)

Whew.

Ain’t no mama want to be up every hour at night. The good news is you don’t have to be. Even if you are feeding every hour through the night, you can shift that and begin getting longer stretches at night.

What’s the only way to stop cluster feeding at night?

Make sure baby is getting as much milk as they can throughout the day. 

Don’t let baby snack while nursing. 10 minute feeds throughout the day mean baby will be up all night because baby is hungry and needs milk.

When you start giving baby full feeds throughout the day (this will mean you’ll have to do jump through some hoops to keep baby up) and baby settles into a predictable routine then they’ll sleep longer stretches at night.

  • 8 Reasons You’ve Got A Whiny Baby (And How To Fix It!)
  • Why You’ve Got An Angry Baby – And What To Do
cluster feeding baby lying on bed with pacifier and arms up

Purposefully cluster feed in the late afternoon period when the milk supply is at its lowest quality (4 pm onwards) so that baby’s tummy is as full as it can be.

This will promote deeper sleep.

Eventually, even if baby wakes frequently at night for feeds, if you are not giving long full feeds throughout the night baby will get it.

It’s super hard when your newborn is cluster feeding all night, but you will get there and it will get easier!

Related Reads:

  • Baby Bedtime: 4 Essential Elements For Success
  • How To Get Your Newborn To Sleep Well From Day One

Are you feeding your newborn both day and night?

If you have a cluster feeding newborn both day and night there are only a few likely alternatives.

  • Milk supply is low and baby is starving.
  • Baby is going through a growth spurt and is starving.
  • Baby is only “snacking” and not taking full feeds or getting to the hindmilk rich in nutrients because he just takes a bit then stops.

The best way to help baby stop cluster feeding day and night is to determine which issue you’re having.

If it’s milk supply then continue feeding until your supply is up or supplement with formula (see a lactation expert).

Alternatively, if baby is going through a growth spurt then there’s nothing to do but wait it out and feed baby as much as possible to keep them full and get your supply up to meet the demand.

cluster feeding baby lying on bed with a pacifier and arm up in teal onesie

What to do if baby only “snacks”

  • Keep baby awake during feeds by taking off their clothes except diaper. You can also rub their feet, cheeks, or hands with a baby wipe or keep trying to stimulate them to stay awake long enough to feed. You can put them on a soft blanket or tummy time mat and let them kick in their diaper until they’ve woken up, then continue feeding.
  • Try not to put baby down to sleep if they fall asleep while nursing unless they just won’t wake up. Keep trying to feed baby even if it takes a bit of time so they’ll get as much as they can.
cluster feeding baby in pink onesie with strawberries and mother hugging her lying on bed
  • Differentiate between active nursing and non-nutritive sucking, and let baby do one but maybe not the other.
  • Give the baby a pacifier (the pacifier I recommend that stays in baby’s mouth) if they wake and want to nurse right after having nursed a short time ago. They might just need to satisfy the sucking urge and this will help. Also, the next time they feed after this will mean they’ll take more milk and keep your supply up. “Snacking” can contribute to a lower milk supply because baby is never emptying a breast and getting the rich milk.

Eventually by doing those things baby will stop snacking and start taking fuller feeds which will naturally result in longer times between feeds.

Read: The Ultimate Newborn Sleep Schedule: Week By Week For The Postpartum Period

Cluster feeding in the early evening

The prime time to have newborn cluster feeding sessions is the late afternoon early evening.

As I previously said, the milk supply can be lower in quantity and quality at this time due to the stresses of the day, so feeding baby every 2 hours for a few hours will help keep your supply up, will keep the little one happy, and will set them up to sleep longer stretches at night.

Your evening routine might look something like this. 

4:30 p.m. Nurse and nap

6:30 p.m. Nurse and catnap (or skip nap)

8:30 p.m. Nurse and bed

10:30 p.m. Dreamfeed

By purposefully cluster feeding in the right time you’ll help everyone sleep more at night while keeping your precious one topped up on milk.

Summary

  • Feed every 1.5 to 2 hours during the early evening.
  • Give baby plenty of milk before their bedtime so they are satisfied and sleep longer.
  • Cluster feed during the DAY so you don’t find yourself having to cluster feed at NIGHT.
  • Drop the cluster feeds when baby is no longer interested in one of the feeds.

Remember, feeding at frequent intervals in the late afternoon early evening will not solve actual sleep problems, but it will help your little one have a full tummy.

Sleep issues might subside if they were hunger related.

If you want to get started with cluster feeding, use my free downloadable checklist!

::

Need sample routines for babies 6 weeks and older?

cluster feeding newborns routine

By now, you know how to handle the early days, but what after? Here is the good news: you’ve set your baby up for a foundation of success.

Now all you need to do is continue to find routines that work for you and your baby as they grow up and begin getting bigger and bigger.

Sob.

After having 5 babies with 5 different personalities, I know a thing or two about finding a good schedule.

This is why I’ve created a book of sample routines and schedules for babies ages 6 weeks up to 5 years.

The book includes information on how long to let baby stay awake, how much play time is good for each age, what to do with baby when baby is awake but not quite mobile, and even how to manage toddler and baby joint routines.

Chapters covered in Rhythms, Routines & Schedules  include:

Section One: Sample Schedules

  • 6 Weeks to 3 Months Old
  • 3-6 Months Old
  • 7-9 Months Old
  • 9-12 Months Old
  • 12-18 Months Old
  • 2-3 Years Old
  • 4-5 Years Old

Section Two: Tips and Tricks

  • Tips for Managing the Day With Multiple Children
  • Daily Rhythms for an Only Child Ages 1-4 Years Old
  • Daily Rhythms for Multiple Small Children Ages 0-5
  • Sample Bedtime, Mealtime, and Playtime Routines
  • Tips for Keeping Kids Busy Throughout the Day

For more sample routines, mom tested and approved schedules for babies ages 6 weeks and up, check out Rhythms, Routines & Schedules right now.

Cluster Feeding FAQ

How long does cluster feeding last?

Cluster feeding typically will happen until around 4 or 5 months of age. Once baby is around 5 months (see the 5 month old schedule here) and they are eating solids, there isn’t as much of a need for cluster feeding.

Does cluster feeding increase milk supply?

If your supply is low and baby is frequently feeding, this will increase your supply. Milk supply and quality is typically lower in the late afternoon early evening and cluster feeding can help fill baby.

Can you overfeed a breastfed baby?

Babies need to eat when they are hungry. Too much “snacking” can mean that baby is getting a lot of the foremilk which is less nutrient dense and will contribute to more feeding. Solution? Full feeds with hindmilk for baby.

Is cluster feeding all day normal?

No. If baby is feeding every hour all day long they’re not actually getting much food, they are using your breast as a snack bar. If you’re okay with this, then you’re good to go. And if not, focus on full feeds.

Is it normal for a newborn to breastfeed every half hour?

If babies take full feeds (nursing for 30 to 45 minutes typically) they won’t need food every half hour or even every two hours. If they snack they will feed more frequently.

::

I’ve created a free email series just for you! If you struggle with creating an easy flowing routine or rhythm in your home… this is it. I’ve gathered all my easiest routine hacks into one free series and, best of all, you can get a big sneak peak into our book that has over 25+ routines for babies ages 6 weeks to 5 years. This series will help you:

  • find a routine and rhythm for your child
  • learn how to juggle multiple routines (for 2 or 3+ kids)
  • know what is and isn’t working so you can make one tweak that’ll change your day

Click here to sign up for my free email series or simply click on the image below.

Routines Funnel Opt In With Free

Rachel

New to this community? Start here, friend.

2.4Kshares

Filed Under: Baby Schedules & Routines, Routines & Schedules28

« Bedtime Battles: How To Avoid Stalling, Tantrums, & Constant Questions
A Surprising Reason Our Kids Are Insecure »

Recommended For You From Our Shop

Rhythms, Routines & Schedules Book

35+ Printable Routines For Babies Aged 6 Weeks to 5 Years

Want your little one to be well-rested, content, and independent? Do you want to feel peaceful, in control, and able to enjoy your days? These routines are tried-and-true, guaranteed to help your little one(s) have more peaceful days.

Show Me The Routines!

I'm Rachel, mother of 5 young kids living in the Florida panhandle with my Australian husband. I write about family culture, family rhythms and routines, and boundaries in motherhood and life. You can see snippets of my daily life here and visit my shop for baby sleep, organizing, and routine help.

“Inside my brain”

Geeezzz, it was like you were inside my brain today!  (and most days recently)  I needed this badly.

Thank you!!!
Andrea P.

“Nothing was working…”

I just wanted to say thank you for your easy peasy routine for 2 year olds! I day-weaned my 2 year old a month ago and have been trying everything to get him to go down for a nap without the nursing. Nothing was working and I was starting to think he would never have a nap again.

Anyways I started following your routine and we just sat in bed and had what I told him was “quiet time.” We sat and read and made a fort and had warm milk. Then today I told him it was quiet time again and he tried to escape the bed a couple times, but in the end he snuggled up after the warm bottle and fell asleep for 3 hours! I was almost in tears I was so excited! So thank you!

Meghan

“Thanks for your bundle!”

Thanks for for doing this Everyday Mom Super Bundle sale. I’m four months into my parenthood journey with a sweet and spirited boy.

I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated just yesterday, thinking if only I had the right resources and “trail guides” I could figure this all out. Your sale is serendipitous. I can’t wait to dig into my download materials and start learning from your tips.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Lauren N.

“It’s a breath of fresh air”

I just wanted to let you know that your blog and emails have been a tremendous help to me. Your practical, honest, and humble writing is a breath of fresh air!

With help and encouragement drawn from your writing, I have made some incredible changes in the order (and sanity) of our home, in just the past few weeks. My kids are doing chores daily, and I also have clearer expectations of myself.

My husband is in awe!

Which helps reinforce what you said- the problem wasn’t me; it was my systems. Our home is in much better order, and so is my mind. So, thank you!!!! You have made a difference for me and my family.

Ann S.

“We are slowly getting back to normal…”

I stumbled upon your blog one morning after praying night after night for God to fix my home! I had just had a baby this May 1st and also have a 2 and 4 year old and my home broke out in complete chaos!

Even my marriage seemed like it was on the brink of extinction and this had happened in 2 weeks! I read numerous amounts of your entries and applied them to my home life and I am happy to say we are slowly getting back to normal. Thank you Rachel! 

Madison S.

“You’ve been a life saver!”

I’m a first time mom to a 15 day old baby girl. I had no idea what I was doing and couldn’t get her to sleep in her crib until I found your blog.

You’ve been a life saver!

Candace R.

“Within a week or two our little girl changed!”

I tumbled into post partum depression/anxiety and didn’t know what to do anymore. I was a mess, baby girl was a mess and I don’t even know how my husband was dealing with it all… 

I googled everything I could think about but there was never really something that felt right, that felt genuine instead of just telling do’s and don’ts. 

And then I found your website and read your pieces about sleeping and eating. I carefully read through your schedules and decided to try it.

IT WORKED!! 

And within a week or two our little girl changed from a frustrated baby into this happy dappy smiling ray of sunshine, that is able to settle herself down by sucking on her fists, even in the middle of the night. At 12 weeks baby girl slept through the night and now at 20 weeks old she sleeps a good 10 to 12 hours every night. 

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience online. The way you wrote your experiences made it understandable, seeing it from the babys side but also the moms side. Maybe we were lucky that your way fitted our baby, but it worked and I tell it to everyone that wants to know!

Stephanie P.

“Had tremendous success from Day One!”

I just wanted to thank you for your sample routine.  I’ve been using it for a week with my 13 month old and had tremendous success from day 2! Wind down time is so important and so is consistency.  Thank you so much!!!

Sam M.

“In a few short days…”

I am grateful to have found your blog, as I do a great deal of searching on Pinterest when I am up against a parenting moment that I do not feel qualified to handle.

I will say though that since reading your blog I am really focusing on remembering that every moment is a learning \ experience for my son and I try to take a breath and count to ten. In the few short days that I have been exercising this method I truly have noticed a change for the better in his response to me.

Tami K.

Comments

  1. Stephanie T says

    Hi! My only question is, with my 4 day old who is cluster feeding at all times right now, if he doesnt get to the hind milk, the nutrient milk, will it never come in? Im pumping after he eats each breast to continue the feeding process so my milk will come in full. Is that correct? Any tips.

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      I’m sure it’s past this now, but yes you keep pumping and it’ll all come in!

      Reply
  2. Kelsey says

    Hi Rachel,

    I’m wondering about the late afternoon / early evening cluster feeding you recommend. My baby is 3 weeks old and feeds every 2.5 hours, including at night. Is it too early to try waking him to cluster feed to see if he will sleep for longer stretches at night? Also, when do you recommend stopping these afternoon / evening cluster feeds? Thanks so much for all of the advice and resources!

    Reply
    • Dina S. says

      Yes, I would also like to know, for how many evenings do I cluster feed 0 is it just a temporary thing or do I cluster feed for months?

      Also, full feedings are great, but am I the only one one who gets thrown off by extra diaper changes, burping the baby and unexpected changing of his clothes due to leakage, burping or smth else, that can interfere with that window of wakefulness?

      Reply
      • Kathryn Ellis says

        We’re struggling with that too. After extra time sitting upright to help manage reflux, plus nappy / clothes change etc he’s getting too tired to settle back to sleep. He then seems to want to feed more and we get stuck in this cycle. Any advice?

      • Rachel Norman says

        I answered this in the bottom of the post, Dina! I updated it. Essentially you’ll want to cluster feed until he doesn’t really want one of those feeds, then you can drop it!

    • Bailey says

      My son ate every 3 hours on the dot until about 6 weeks old. He had a routine of 6am feeding, 9ish am feeding, 12pm feeding, 3:30pm feeding, 6:30pm feeding, 10pm feeding, 12pm feeding and so on every 3ish hours. As he started to get older and taking more food (3.5-5oz areas) he began to sleep longer at night all on his own. As long as you help your baby understand night and day your baby should adapt on their own. Things I did to help him understand day and night:
      Day: windows cracked open, tv always on for noise- especially if no one else is home, talk to him while feeding, walk around and show him things and tell him what things are, go around a short walk around the block, only swaddling with a light blanket or laying him down to sleep in a sleeper, keeping lights on.
      Night time: Velcro swaddler, dark, minimal-low noise (I leave a fan on the lowest setting for a white noise), always laying him down in the bassinet so it’s a consistent memory thing where he sleeps at night.
      Naps during the day are totally okay. Especially that young! They literally: eat sleep potty. :) Help baby know night and day and they should get it on their own! Good luck xoxo.

      Reply
      • Rachel Norman says

        Thanks for sharing all you did, Bailey, I love seeing what other moms do :)

  3. Dana says

    I’ve read you’re not supposed to wake new borns or keep them awake because it actually makes it harder for them to sleep at night. I’ve actually experienced this first hand after a long day of being passed around from one person to the next- baby girl was kept awake. The following night she was SCREAMING and terribly fussy/wanting to be on my breast constantly. She slept terrible and so did I. I’d never seen her like that. I think it’s terrible advice to not let a newborn sleep during the day. They need sleep for brain development…

    What doctors and friends told me is that you are to let them nap but keep it somewhat noisy and bright so they don’t get a “deep sleep”. New borns need to eat when they are hungry and sleep when they are tired. You’re not supposed to sleep train until about 6 minths

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      Dana, waking a baby up after they’ve slept a couple hours to feed them is okay. Keeping a baby awake will make them overtired, surely! I definitely don’t say to keep a baby awake on this here blog, ha, I say the opposite! However, letting baby sleep long stretches during the day 3+ hours at a time will often mean they are up at night. Is that what I said?

      Reply
  4. Alyssa says

    Hi there, I have a very hungry baby who is just turned 2 weeks of age. And I seem to be feeding much more during the late afternoon evening periods. This can start anywhere from 4pm to 10-11pm. Do you have any advice on how to satisfy my hungry baby. Sometimes I feel she isn’t getting enough with the amount of feeds she’s having.

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      I edited the post to answer this question!

      Reply
  5. Casey says

    You should really change that photo of the woman and newborn. It is common instruction to have the babies head aligned with his body. That baby is in a very bad position! We are often told to imagine drinking a glass a water with your head turned sideways. Not easy.

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      Oh, thanks for catching that. I may change it later when I get a minute!

      Reply
  6. Marissa says

    Hi. I have a 6 day old baby and she will not sleep more than an hour day or night unless she is held. I want to try the scheduling but she’s literally up every 20-30 minutes and I don’t know where to start. IM so tired and overwhelmed and don’t know how to get to sleep! I’m sure she is exhausted….

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      Will she take a full feed or is she falling asleep while feeding all the time, Marissa?

      Reply
  7. Anya says

    My six week old baby girl feeds non stop from 5pm – 10.30pm every night. I then give her 40 ml formula and she sleeps til 4 or 5am, then feed, straight back to sleep, up at 8am ish. Daytime she is easy – 3 hourly feeds, sleeps, hangs out. What can I do about the evening cluster feeding? It has been every night for 3 weeks now and it makes life for the family (I have two other kids) incredibly difficult.

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      Hi Anya, so she falls asleep and won’t take it or she literally ahs one bottle after the other that whole time?

      Reply
  8. Jimena says

    My 4 week old feeds and naps every 2-3 hours during the day and in general is calm baby, but for for the past week and a half or so she’s been cluster feeding from around 11 pm to 4-5 am (we are going kind of crazy here!! She’s even started at 9 pm!!). We’ve even tried a 3.5 oz bottle of expressed milk at around 3 only to have her eat a full half an hour as a “top off” afterwards. She would have 3-4 hour stretches of sleep between 5(ish) and 11(ish) am. What can we do to move that cluster to the afternoon?? Sometimes I think it is just the anxiety and overtiredness that makes her want to stay sucking at the breast, rather than hunger, but I don’t know. Also, she really hates the pacifier. HELP!!!

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      IF she’s super hard to wake during the day and napping fine all day but then waking all night, could be day night reversal, search that on here I have a post on it :)

      Reply
  9. Tiffany Townsend says

    We’ve tried to dream feed our 8-wk old sometime btwn 10pm and 12am to get him to sleep longer, but we wakes up around 230am-330am no matter what. When you cluster feed in the early evening, how are you measuring out how much to feed? Are you feeding smaller feeds throughout the day?

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      Tiffany, great question :) If you are nursing then you just try to feed full feeds if able because the milk quality is lower. If you are bottle feeding then put in a full amount and see how it goes. I do NOT recommend feeding less during the day an you don’t want to stuff baby. You simply want to be sure baby is getting enough milk while AWAKE during the daytime and NOT at night. And making sure baby is getting enough high quality milk before bedtime. Your 8 week old will still need a couple of night feeds since he’s so small :)

      Reply
  10. heather J sullivan says

    This was so helpful, but after reading, I feel disheartened. My new I RN is 3 weeks old today and I feel so run down. He eats every 2 hours during the day and (with the exception of a few nights) he is up every hour feeding. I feel like I don’t know where to start.

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      Heather, it’s SO HARD. You are ready to STOP feeding so often. The good news is that you can feed 3 hourly (I am an infant and sleep consultant and most babies are able to go 3 hours if they have a full feed) during the day and then ONLY cluster feed in the late afternoons or early evenings. And, the reason to do that is EXACTLY SO you can sleep more in those early hours.

      Reply
  11. Angela says

    I have a 6 week old with acid reflux. I try to feed him a lot during the day (usually about every 2 hours at least 20-30 minutes). At night I give him much smaller feeds (7-12 minutes) since he usually spits up quite a bit again so I try to keep the feeds smaller. I hold him up after every feed for 20-30 minutes, but will always spit up a lot. He sleeps for a 3-4 hour stretch at around 8 or 9 on, but wakes up every 1.5-2 hours after. Any advice on helping him sleep longer with this reflux issue?

    Reply
    • Rachel Norman says

      Reflux is tricky isn’t it, what does your doctor recommend? There are schools of thought that say longer times between feeding means less stress on the stomach and less acids going up, but I’d check with your doc!

      Reply
      • Angela says

        His doctor says to just hold him upright, keep feeding and he will grow out of it eventually (it took my older son almost 1 full year!). I have been feeding him on demand, I’m worried if I prolong the feeding he will be hungrier and gulp in more air.

      • Rachel Norman says

        Angela if you feel he is doing well enough this way then keep it up! If you feel he is uncomfortable you’ve got nothing to lose but extended feeds slightly and seeing how he goes :)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hey y'all, I'm Rachel Norman, BA, MS, Language of Listening® parenting coach, mother to 5 babies in 5 years on 3 continents, no multiples. Join me in parenting without losing your mind. Read More >>

Search

Copyright © 2021 All Rights Reserved | A Mother Far From Home | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Accessibility














15 Minute Projects To Get Your Home In Order

In just 15 minutes a night (while you're in your pj's!) take your home from stressed out to organized with these 101+ 15 minute projects. 


envelope
envelope
close
x













Create a Rock Solid Routine...


- The #1 thing you need to focus on with routine

- How to decide when to do wake up time, nap times, bedtimes, etc. 

- How to actually *keep* the routine once you start!

envelope
envelope
close
x
close

Download, print, and let cluster feeding work for you!

envelope
x