Breastfed baby wanting fed constantly from 6pm onwards

He might be cluster feeding. Mine did the same at that age

Ah the witching hours!! I remember this and it was horrible. It lasted about a month for me but from 5-8, if my boy wasn't on the boob he would crryyyyy so much! It gets easier I promise you

I also had the witching hours - 6 until 9pm was awful and I thought my boobs were going to shrivel up and fall off 😵😵 it does get better but just stick with it, stick some good TV on and make sure you have drinks and snacks handy x

Cluster feeding!

Totally normal

It’s totally normal and will pass. The first several weeks are madness. You can do it!!

Very normal to cluster feed at any time at that age but especially in the evenings. If your goal is to EBF do not take baby off the breast to give formula.
Just allow baby to feed, contact nap, feed contact nap repeat etc etc and it’s great for your milk supply.
You’re doing a great job.

My boy was born big and hungry and he cluster fed like this 24/7 until he was almost 8 weeks old.

Yep normal with breastfeeding, I feel this is when most people give up but keep going, it gets sooo much easier. My little boy would feed for up to an hour to start with at a time, and it would be constant. I think he was like every 1-2 hours feeding. It now takes 5 - 10 mins tops and has done from about 8-10 weeks-ish if I remember correctly. I think around 6 weeks your milk really regulates and a lot of the downsides you may have been experiencing such as engorgement, leaking etc all stops. Once you get over the hurdle you will have the power of the boob which fixes everything! Hungry….boob. Overtired…boob. Cranky….boob. Comfort…boob. Literally everything! And it’s so much easier than preparing bottles! Promise promise promise it’s so so worth it! Looking back I don’t know how I did it but I’m so glad I did :) sometimes they’re not hungry but want the comfort to fall asleep a bit like a dummy :) xxxxxx

I noticed that the more I fed during the day the more he sleeps at night so embrace the cluster feeding! It’ll help baby sleep!

Ah, sounds like cluster feeding/witching hour! It’s SO hard, but like many folks have already said - hang in there, it gets so much better after this stage ❤️

The most frustrating part for me personally was that my supply seemed to dip around this time of day too, and my LO would get so fussy with a long letdown and lower supply.

But my boobs were so leaky throughout the day that I would wear Haaka ladybugs in my bra to catch letdown throughout the day… once I saved it up, it was almost a whole bottle which we used for the evening to help with cluster feeding.

My partner would use it and it would give me a much-needed break (or at least would give my boobs a break 😅) and helped my LO sleep in longer spurts at night because they were more full. Thought I’d mention it in case it would be possible for you to try, too!

Hang in there!

I did exactly the same and forgot to mention! I think we started 1 bottle a day in the evening not long after my milk came in and it’s been a god send as he will now happily take bottle or boob which I know many babies struggle with. I used a haaka on the opposite boob for the morning feeds for a bit of relief and would collect a good stash for a bottle in the evening and then a freezer stash too. come the evening I felt like I was dry as a bone from feeding constantly and the bottle was a god send! DEFO defo recommend! I used the mam glass bottles with a size 0 teat and my little boy loved it. The glass bottles are lovely for breast milk too, so easy and quick to heat up in a jug of hot water xxxx

1000%, we were also so happy she got used to the bottle early on, it’s been a godsend for us (mostly me 😅) in the long run.

They say to wait until your LO has learned to confidently latch before introducing a bottle - I think we did so at around 2 weeks, maybe sooner. So now could be a good time to try it out if it feels right for you & your little one!

If you can wait until at minimum 4 weeks to introduce a bottle, that’s what most consultants will recommend (6 is preferred), as this seems to be the “sweet spot;” meaning mom and baby have synced up, baby is in a great place with eating, familiar with flow, mom’s supply has regulated, etc.

I totally agree with all you said. I think this is when a lot of people give up BF or they make an excuse that they mustn’t have enough milk so they have to go to bottles/formula. It’s normal for babies to spend hours and hours on the boob at this age and it’s not for lack of supply.
It’s a gruelling time but you’re right it pays off in dividends later!!!

My one month old does this pretty much from 4pm-10pm wants to eat every half hour to hour. Cluster feeding at its finest. No advice because I’m in the same boat. Goodluck momma

I felt mine was constantly on a breast the first 3 months and some of it turned out to just be for comfort
You can tell if you hear no swallowing that he is not feeding just sucking
If he is not having a lot of day naps he might do that to try to fall asleep ? (Especially if it is towards the end of the day!)

Normal!!! Yes my baby did that too. Classic

Thank you everyone I’m enjoying breastfeeding just the demand is hard glad to know it’ll ease off eventually x