A scenario for the formation of multiple co-eval populations separated in age by about 1 Myr in very young clusters (VYCs, ages less than 10 Myr) and with masses in the range 600–20 000 M_⊙ is outlined. It rests upon a converging inflow of molecular gas building up a first population of pre-main sequence stars. The associated just-formed O stars ionise the inflow and suppress star formation in the embedded cluster. However, they typically eject each other out of the embedded cluster within 10⁶ yr, that is before the molecular cloud filament can be ionised entirely. The inflow of molecular gas can then resume forming a second population. This sequence of events can be repeated maximally over the life-time of the molecular cloud (about 10 Myr), but is not likely to be possible in VYCs with mass <300 M_⊙, because such populations are not likely to contain an O star. Stellar populations heavier than about 2000 M_⊙ are likely to have too many O stars for all of these to eject each other from the embedded cluster before they disperse their natal cloud. VYCs with masses in the range 600–2000 M_⊙ are likely to have such multi-age populations, while VYCs with masses in the range 2000–20 000 M_⊙ can also be composed solely of co-eval, mono-age populations. More massive VYCs are not likely to host sub-populations with age differences of about 1 Myr. This model is applied to the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), in which three well-separated pre-main sequences in the colour–magnitude diagram of the cluster have recently been discovered. The mass-inflow history is constrained using this model and the number of OB stars ejected from each population are estimated for verification using Gaia data. As a further consequence of the proposed model, the three runaway O star systems, AE Aur, μ Col and ι Ori, are considered as significant observational evidence for stellar-dynamical ejections of massive stars from the oldest population in the ONC. Evidence for stellar-dynamical ejections of massive stars in the currently forming population is also discussed.