So, I am in new mom to an almost 6 week old little boy. And recently, during the day it seems like he wants to eat every 2 to 3 hours, whereas in the past, he would go much longer before needing another feeding. He also tends to sleep much longer during the night, which his father and I are extremely grateful for. Just out of curiosity, is this what they call the cluster feeding stage? I should also mention, that we have been bottle feeding him, even though I am still pumping my breast milk. Has anyone else had this sort of experience? I was wondering if cluster feeding is exclusive to breastfed babies, or is it just the general term for the phase of growth that they go through?
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Hi! Every baby cluster feeds regardless of how they are fed (breast, bottle, formula). What you’re describing sounds like a normal feeding schedule to me. Cluster feedings are a bit more often, and can sometimes be a little as 30 mins after the lest time you fed them. However, your baby might be going through a growth spurt with is causing him to feed more often than he typically would.

Cluster feeding is much more often. When my son was doing it he would only go about 20 minutes before needing another feed. If they are cluster feeding you’ll know because they will literally be attached to you all the time. It sounds like he’s getting into a routine for himself. When I went back to work we had to bottle feed of course and this I think actually stopped the cluster feeding and made him eat more at once so he was full for longer.