dream feed

mzsparklepdx · August 2011

Has anybody tried this? How do you wake them up to feed them? Do you give them the normal amount of formula/nurse them the same amount of time? Did it work to make them sleep longer? I'm considering giving it a whirl so I get more sleep, heading into going back to work. TIA

riverbed · August 2011

We do a dreamfeed at 10:30, and in a week we are moving it up by 15 minutes. He usually takes 6oz BM at bedtime and 4-5 oz the rest of the day, we give 4 oz at the dreamfeed. We don't wake him we just go in and carefully pick him up out of the crib, we leave him swaddled. Then we sit in the glider and wiggle the nipple in his mouth. If he stops sucking I start to pull it out and that triggers him to start sucking again. When he is done I gently burp him and lay him back down. So far so good, he consistently makes it from then until 6:45 or later.

Lisa Frank · August 2011

The dream feed is a Babywise/Baby Whisperer concept. We are actually at the point where both books suggest it should start to be phased out, but you could try it.

It's either going to work well, or for some babies it majorly disrupts their sleep and they end up waking MORE at night. My DS took well to the DF, my DD almost always wakes up during it and I think it disrupts her more than anything.

You don't wake them (hence the name), no diaper change etc. Like the pp said, pick up, feed, burp if you can get them to and lay back down.

sugarangel77 · August 2011

I HATED the damn dream feed. I tried it twice, and both times my kid started off good, but then woke up and would NOT go back to sleep! I sat and cursed the dream feed for the grueling 1.5-3 hours it took to get him back to sleep! GL

Lisa Frank · August 2011

What is her night waking like currently? I'll tell you if I think it would be worth it or not to try. Is she waking multiple times still? Or just once?

je2161 · August 2011

DD sleeps from 8pm to 6am, and we dreamfeed at 10:30pm. We pick her up and feed her in a dark, quiet room without waking her. It's been working for us for months now.

FWIW, I started dreamfeeding more to relieve my breasts than to help her sleep longer. She has always been a great overnight sleeper, but my breasts would become quite engorged. So I would feed her around 10pm so that my breasts would get emptier before the long night ahead. Either way, it works for us.

nycdueinmay · August 2011

DD has always been a great night sleeper, but I am a night owl so if I was up til 1a and she got up at 5a, I was still only getting 4 hours sleep even though she was sleeping 7+! We dream feed so we can both sleep later and I can function as a human being.

I put her down between 9-10 (depending on when she shows sleepy signs). At ~12:30 I get ready for bed and pump to near empty/half empty. I then change her diaper and feed her. She is an excellent deep sleeper (as in, she is horrifying at naps but is totally out for night sleep), so the diaper changing doesn't wake her. I then try to feed from both sides so a) my breasts are totally empty to prevent waking up in pain and b) so she gets the fattier, and I assume, more satiating hind milk. This way, she sleeps until 7-8:30 (which means I get 6-7+ hours uninterrupted thank godddd), and I am even refreshed enough to set an alarm to pump at 7a (because I will be slightly engorged and I am building a freezer stash anyways).

So far, it is perfect. She gets lots of sleep, and so do I, and I'm not waking up all horribly engorged AND I'm building a little stash. I was really scared to try it at first because I thought she would wake up and I'd have a wide awake baby at 1a, but that hasn't happened. Even if it does ever happen, I would still try again the next night, and the next, before calling it quits, because it is really beneficial to both of us right now.

mzsparklepdx · August 2011

She was sleeping from between 8-9 to about 3-4 for weeks. The last week she's been waking up between 1-2 instead. The last two nights, she's woken up every 30-90 minutes between being put to bed at 8-8:30 and 2am when I finally give her a bottle. She's driving me CRAZY and if she keeps this up when I go back to work, I'm going to be a zombified idiot. (She's 3 mo old)

Lisa Frank · August 2011

mzsparklepdx:
She was sleeping from between 8-9 to about 3-4 for weeks. The last week she's been waking up between 1-2 instead. The last two nights, she's woken up every 30-90 minutes between being put to bed at 8-8:30 and 2am when I finally give her a bottle. She's driving me CRAZY and if she keeps this up when I go back to work, I'm going to be a zombified idiot. (She's 3 mo old)

Sounds to me like she's going through the 3 month spurt. Which in my experience, is one of the more difficult growth spurts to deal with. Both kids were up A LOT during that time. I'd feed her if she's getting up that much and it's been a sudden thing.

mzsparklepdx · August 2011

Lisa Frank:
mzsparklepdx:
She was sleeping from between 8-9 to about 3-4 for weeks. The last week she's been waking up between 1-2 instead. The last two nights, she's woken up every 30-90 minutes between being put to bed at 8-8:30 and 2am when I finally give her a bottle. She's driving me CRAZY and if she keeps this up when I go back to work, I'm going to be a zombified idiot. (She's 3 mo old)
Sounds to me like she's going through the 3 month spurt. Which in my experience, is one of the more difficult growth spurts to deal with. Both kids were up A LOT during that time. I'd feed her if she's getting up that much and it's been a sudden thing.

I'll give it a whirl and see what happens. She's already waking up, so it can't hurt, right?

At least she's a good little napper during the day

SFBayMrs · August 2011

I do a dream feed for his 1 middle of the night feeding. So, he wakes me up, usually just stirring (he's in a bassinet next to me still), I keep the lights off, don't talk to him, don't change him (if I noticed he pooped - which hasn't happened at night yet - then yes I'd change him), etc. He eats his normal amount, half asleep, eyes closed the entire time.

Once he's done, I usually wait a few minutes holding him, don't burp him. Then lay him back down and he's usually out till morning.

HTH.

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