For those who have done or do a dream feed

Altreed · June 2014

Will you share your experience with me? Does it work? LO and I have been having big struggles the past couple weeks. He nurses well in the evening (545-6 ish), so then I aim to get his last feed before bed in 815-830-ish). But he WON'T eat. I have tried everything (even giving a pumped bottle). It's just like he isn't hungry. I have tried feeding earlier, later, different nursing positions etc and nothing seems to help. I work part time but there is no difference on days I work vs. days I am at home. I am not sure if he is just filling up during the day and is too full to eat at this time? So of course this causes multiple night wakings. I am thinking of trying a dream feed to see if it helps. Thoughts?

Altreed · June 2014

@RosiePeare‌ - thanks so much for the insight. Your former routine sounds really similar to ours with the exception of the dream feed. I feel bad putting him down hungry now- I just know he will have multiple night wakings from hunger. I may give it a try.

C12H22O11 · June 2014

Our routine is as follows:

5PM - nurse
7ish - nurse to sleep

And then I'll do a dream feed whenever I'm ready to go to bed (usually 9 or 9:30). I'm thinking she doesn't really eat a lot during the dream feed, but I do let down, so I know she's eating something.

I don't do a diaper change before the dream feed; usually picking her up out of her crib is enough to rouse her so she'll eat. I'll nurse both sides, then she's out again.

Altreed · June 2014

@C12H22O11‌ - so sounds like it works well for you?

ras26 · June 2014

Our schedule is almost identical to RosiePeare:

6ish: Bottle left from daycare
8:30ish: Nurse
10-10:30: dream feed

I get her all ready for bed and swaddled at the 8:30 feed, so at the dream feed I just pick her up, which wakes her enough to eat a little (and give her reflux meds). She doesn't eat much, but I know it's something. It works well for us, so I haven't tried to drop it.

Altreed · June 2014

@ras26‌ - thanks so much for the input!

kak808 · June 2014

I tried a dream feed (but only once) and it did not work for us. She must have been in a deep sleep, because she wouldn't wake up enough to eat. By the time we finally roused her enough, which took 10-15 minutes, she didn't want to go back to sleep. Epic fail in my opinion. I wish it worked though!

BB0214 · June 2014

My LO did this. But it just turned out that she was ready to drop that feeding and started sleeping for longer stretches.

littlepig2 · June 2014

it works for us! she's a bottle baby so she'll have one anywhere from 5-8 pm (she's usually on a schedule but lately has been going off it). we'll change her diaper, put on her sleep blanket, and feed her a bottle around 10:30 and she doesn't wake up for any of it. we leave the lights off (besides night-lights) and whisper. then she sleeps til morning because she dropped her MOTN feed.

Altreed · June 2014

@kak808‌ - thank you! I appreciate all input, good and bad!

Altreed · June 2014

@BB0214‌ - I have wondered about that. I hope that's what's going on! I am of course happy to wake up and feed him anytime he needs it. I just can tell he isn't getting a good full feeding after the 6 pm feed. Maybe I should start working towards putting him down earlier?

Altreed · June 2014

Thanks @Rach521‌! Hope it works for us as well

BB0214 · June 2014

@Altreed‌ when LO was ready to drop that feeding, she wouldn't eat and she was mad that i woke her up. The next night I didn't feed her at 10:30 and she slept from 8-6. Right now I feed LO at 6pm, and then again at bed time at about 7:30. For bed time I give her a 4-5 oz bottle of breast milk to get her full. Then after I put her night time diaper on and swaddle her, I nurse her to sleep. If I were to guess in total what she eats at bed time, it's between 6-8 oz. She's usually asleep by 8. Most of the time she sleeps until 6. You could try dropping the dream feed and see how long he makes it. If he gives you a long stretch of sleep, you'll know if he's ready to drop it.

jena5595 · June 2014

The dream feed has worked really well for us! I FF (if that makes a difference) and usually we put LO to bed after a bottle anywhere between 7-8:30ish. Either DH or I then do the dream feed anywhere between 10-11. I read in the Baby Whisperer not to go any later than 11, it didn't say why, and I don't know why the time makes a difference, but we've pretty much stuck to that.

Like PP said, we don't turn on any lights really (just by the night light or hall light) and typically don't do a diaper change. (We would change LO if it smelled, but fortunately he seems to be a daytime pooper so it hasn't been an issue for the dream feed.) He typically doesn't wake up and just takes the bottle pretty well. I don't do as much in terms of burping - really just put him on my shoulder and gently rub his back, and he's usually fine with it. Sometimes he'll open his eyes, but he usually drifts right back off. With this approach he'll sleep through the rest of the night till anywhere between 6-8 in the morning.

Hope this helps - good luck!

Altreed · June 2014

@jena5595‌- this helps a lot! That is exactly what I am thinking of trying. Thanks!

Altreed · June 2014

Thanks @clb2196‌- I figure its worth a shot!

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