Clusterfeeding? More like Clusterf*ck!
I’ll be honest, I had not heard of the term “clusterfeeding” until we were in the thick of it. But this is me speaking as a working professional who values her creative projects and loves hanging out with her friends, partner, and cat. I am not someone who was really all into the world of motherhood and child-rearing, so I had a lot of things to learn.
So clusterfeeding — what is it?
Clusterfeeding is a period of intense feeding frequency, often due to baby going through a growth spurt. Some literature out there supposes that this is baby’s way of working with mom’s breastmilk “supply and demand” cycle and ramping milk production up to handle baby’s increased needs. Once you understand that, it makes sense why this happens, but oh man, I don’t think I’ve heard a single mom describe this as a fun or enjoyable experience, and it tends to happen a number of times in the first few months of baby’s life.
What’s tough about clusterfeeding is the sheer frequency, and in those early days you’re still getting to know your little one and deciphering whether it’s a dirty-diaper cry versus a hunger cry. We found that when in doubt, try feeding. Every time I thought that I could get up and do something else for a little while, I wound up with baby latched to me and nursing (yet again!). Looking back, I’m pretty sure clusterfeeding was why I came pretty close to quitting breastfeeding the second time (the first was baby’s struggle to get a good latch). Whether you’re breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, it can be tiring and frustrating getting baby fed during these periods of time, which can see baby asking for a feed every 30 minutes to 1 hour — I don’t even want to think about how many bottles we’d have gone through... In the early days, the feeds might also take a while to get through (particularly if you’re nursing and babe keeps falling asleep), so what can happen is an endless stream of nursing sessions with little to no break in-between. Yes, you will be confined to that couch. Yes, you will need food and water brought to you. Yes, you will also need someone on hand to take babe from you between nursing sessions so you can go to the washroom. And yes, it sucks. A lot.
Other aspects that make clusterfeeding particularly tough when you’re nursing are baby’s latch (which might not be reliable yet since they’re still so little), and your own tiredness and recovery. To survive this period of time, you need to make sure you find a comfy spot in front of the TV, get some shows queued up, and load up on the lanolin.
I swear — it will get easier by month 4 or 5. Like everything, this is a season.
