LO bed time?

Poppywedding

Miss Amelia can't stay awake much past 7:30.

However.....DH and I wake her at 10:30pm to giver her a bottle. She really doesn't even wake up and easily downs 6oz. Then she sleeps until 6:45am.

Honestly, we are terrified to eliminate this 10:30pm "dream feed" because we LOVE our sleep so much, we are afraid to "take the leap" and just leave it out and see if she will sleep through the night without it.

Are we the only couple that still give baby a late night feeding?

bucklebunny1

Um... No. I love sleep too but we are still up every 3 hrs on a good night. And if she goes to bed before 830 we are effed. 830-10 is her normal bedtime.

Anonymommy

i think we are really lucky because our girl goes to bed by 7pm everyday. and she sleeps until 6:30/7am everyday! sometimes even later! we never wake her up at night for feedings. we only feed her right before her bedtime. i think you just have to try it a few times, and then maybe she'll get used to it. if you keep waking her up at 10pm, she's always going to need that. either way, i think it's fine though since she doesn't really wake up all the way at the 10pm feeding.

MarSamWhitney

Try it one time and see what happens. Do it on a night you can afford to lose some sleep, just in case.

Poppywedding

You guys are so right! Gosh, when I think about the things in life that use to make me worry -- ha ha, never thought I would ever be contemplating how to feed my sweet LO and pursuade her to sleep!

Guess we just gotta bite the bullet and try dropping the late night feeding!

mocknine

We don't do a dream feed.  She goes to sleep around 8-8:30pm and usually sleeps through the night (6-6:30p).  Occasionally she wakes up around 3:30-4p.

Maybe you could try giving your LO a bigger bottle than usual, before bed?  Perhaps that will help to eliminate the dream feed.

hmontty

Our LO goes to bed between 9 pm and at the VERY latest 10:30 pm and sleeps through the night until about maybe 8 am...at which point she talks or plays quietly and then falls back asleep until maybe 10 or 10:30 am, at which point, we get her up. She's been sleeping through the night since six weeks old (without fail!), and we've been skipping the early morning bottle since I don't know when -- it's been a while. Maybe since like 3.5 to 4 months?

We had her on a bedtime ritual since 4 weeks, and we put her down very drowsy but awake so that she had to lull herself to sleep. We've never done CIO because we've never had to.

Occasionally I will put her down and she'll start to fuss a little. I just go back in, hold her for a few minutes, then put her back down, and that's usually all she needs. That only happens maybe one night out of ten or fifteen though.

So basically what I'm saying is that it's all about the ritual and putting down awake (versus rocking to sleep) in her own bed or bassinet (not in the PNP in the living room or what have you, to be moved later). At least, that's our experience, and we have the best sleeper in the world now.

jess1984

All you can do is try... I'm jealous of all you ladies here though. DD goes to bed between 6 and 630 (as does ds, early kids) but is up at midnight and 3/4 am. I can't seem to shake it even with a dream feed. Some babies just need that extra bit of food. (DS never did, and slept 7-7 so this baby is still a shock to my system)

Wufroggy79

I'm surprised you wake to feed. If she was actually awake and wanted to eat that would be one thing, but I always let a sleeping baby sleep. Only on rare oddities have we done a night feeding (like she has a cold and trouble sleeping) since about two months.

flutepharm87

Our boys go down between 9pm-9:30pm. Depending on when they ate last, they get either 4 or 6 oz. They sleep until about 6:30am. We very rarely get up during the night anymore. I'll be entirely honest, I have no idea how we got on this schedule. I can't even remember when it happened, but it's been this way for a few months at least. It works out great because when I work, I work til 9, so I don't miss bedtime. I wish you luck in eliminating your dream feed, I only wish I could pass along some advice to help you! Maybe try moving her bedtime by a half-hour later every few nights until she's going to bed late enough not to need it?

laurapalmer

jess1984:

All you can do is try... I'm jealous of all you ladies here though. DD goes to bed between 6 and 630 (as does ds, early kids) but is up at midnight and 3/4 am. I can't seem to shake it even with a dream feed. Some babies just need that extra bit of food. (DS never did, and slept 7-7 so this baby is still a shock to my system)

DS has the exact same schedule. I'm jealous of all of you SSTN ladies too  

chardonnay24

A has a bottle and goes down for the night between 8 and 8:30. These days he's waking around 6 am, but not hungry, just to work on his standing and talking skills. We eliminated our dream feed one night on a whim and were surprised when he slept through until his normal wake time. I'd give it a shot and see what happens.

JulieBadulie

Our little guy goes down between 6:30-6:45 and sleeps until 6-6:30 most mornings without eating.  Maybe twice a week, he awakens between 4:30-5:30 to nurse and then goes back to sleep.  We had been doing a dream feed at around 3 am, but slowly reduced the amount consumed at that feed and then when he was down to nursing for just a few minutes, we eliminated it.  My doctor said another way to go for bottle feeding is to mix more water in with the formula or breast milk gradually...that way the baby gets used to fewer calories at that feed and begins to compensate during the day. 

 

Good luck! 

sw_in_kc

mocknine:

We don't do a dream feed.  She goes to sleep around 8-8:30pm and usually sleeps through the night (6-6:30p).  Occasionally she wakes up around 3:30-4p.

This is us too. Lately when she wakes between 2-4, we just pop her pacifier back in and rub her back and she's back asleep.

ele617

No! I'm still up 2x a night with DS. He sleeps from 7pm-7:30am so I, too, am not wanting to mess with trying to get rid of the feedings, but an ENTIRE night of sleep would be SO great.

beckslea

My DD goes to bed between 7-8pm and sleeps until 7-8am.  I would absolutely skip the dream feed and see how she does.

dakaferlady

The Pediatrician and literature says if the baby is hungry they'll feed, so I'd let you LO sleep. We put our LO down about 7:30 and she will wake up between 4-5 to feed and then sleeps until about 7ish. Then about a 1 and a half later goes down for a nap or some would say continuation of her night sleep. She's 7 months and a week and I knwo I'm still terrified of SIDS! They scare parent so much uh? Then again you can never be too safe. Good luck!