when is your last evening feed to get them to sleep through?

[Gemmitygem]

My DS is nearly 7 weeks, and he goes to bed at 7 after a big feed, then I wake him around 10.30 for a feed (he's very sleepy at that time), he goes down again at 11.30 pm till either 3 or 4, then through till 7 am.

This is fine, but I would gradually like to get him to go a bit longer. how do you do this? I'm wondering if it might be better to start his last feed of the day a bit later, like 11pm or just after, then he may go till 5.

Any experiences of this?

I was just wondering if, instead of waking him at 10.30 pm for a feed, it might be better to just see how long he goes from 7pm and if that starts getting longer?

[hana]

mmm
think it's reall ydown to the baby!
dd3 - 10 weeks - still hasn't got a schedule but dd2 at the sasme age was sleeping from 8pm - I'd give her a dream feed at about 11ish and she'd wake at 5am for a feed and then have a few moreo hours before being 'up' for the day

could you jmaybe feed him at 11 or 1130 and not really wake him - and then put him back in his bed and see how long he goes?

I wish dd3 was more like dd2 in terms of sleeping...
let us know

[Gemmitygem]

thanks hana,

prob is, he is absolutely out for the count at 10.30 pm and takes a lot of waking to feed!

think I should be grateful for small mercies, e.g he sleeps well every evening and then only wakes once in the night...

[olivhohoho]

Gem - i tihnk you're really lucky!!

my dd is 12 weeks and i've tried all the ways you've mentioned - its pot luck how long she sleeps but usually i only get four hours in one go; she wakes once or twice between 10.30 and 7.

good luck!

[Bella23]

gem - my little one is nearly 8 weeks and we were doing the same as you, bed at 7pm and then wake at 10pm and then she slept until 4:30am
For the last few days I have dropped the 10pm feed and it has only made a difference of 1 hour and also means we are only feeding once in the night after 7pm!
Have a go and see as I think its easier and also means that they have a good long sleep

[Gemmitygem]

hmm, maybe I'll try it then. however, might be too scared to deviate from the 'unmentionable' routine, as it has worked so well up to now... The thing is, probably at 6 and a half weeks I shouldn't be expecting too much: he has gone from 11.30pm to 4am two nights this week already (and sleeps in the evening from 7 till I wake him)..

so maybe should just chill out and not try and hurry him...

a tricky one!

[Bella23]

I too am following the "unmentionable" routine but decided to drop the 10pm feed as was having such difficulty waking her up to get a feed down her neck and she never managed a full one anyway! Have a go and see what happens. You can always just go back to giving it to her.

[popeye123]

Hi,

sounds like you are off to a great start. 7 wks is still VERY early days ( I know it doesn't feel like it!)so don't expect too much too soon. To be honest, I'd just stick to what you are doing. You'll find things will improve without any effort just because DS gets bigger as does his tummy and he can take more each feed. Sometimes if you try too hard it just makes things worse. If, as it sounds, you don't really want to go down the routine route then just go with the flow and relax.

Is he breast or bottle fed?

P ( DD 10mths)

[notnigella]

i am also on the unmentionable and believe that it works. i dropped the late feed at 6 months, but because i was dream feeding it was never a problem as it took only 5 mins and i did it before i went to bed. am still bf so used to express so dh could do it sometimes too. i started dreamfeeding at 3 weeks and then gradually reduced the amount at six months, but most of my friends simply cut it out at 6 months without any ill effects.

[Gemmitygem]

bella: know what you mean about difficulties waking them! He is SO sleepy at 10.30 pm... Last few nights I have been more ruthless and put all the lights on (couldn't bear to before), and he has taken bigger feeds, also changed his nappy in between and that woke him a bit.

popeye: he is breast fed only. I know I should probably express so he can have an easy extra top up, will do that once we're back in Central Asia (where me and DH work), at the mo I"m looking after him on my own till we go back there after Christmas.. Just can't face the hassle of sterilising and expressing etc.

notnigella, curious to know why dreamfeeding would only take 5 mins- sounds great! Is dreamfeeding when they're asleep?

[jambot]

I never woke my DD for a feed at night. She had a last feed at 6:30, then woke herself at about 2:00am. I don't actually understand the reasoning behind waking a sleeping child. Let them rather respond to their own bodies by waking themselves when they are ready for a feed. DD went through from 6:30 to 6:30 at 12 weeks.
Where I live 'dream feeds' are unheard of.

[popeye123]

Hi,
I think you'll find it difficult to dream feed while you are breastfeeding. I only ever did it with expressed milk, it takes less effort for baby to drink from bottle than from breast and I never actually woke her - she just stirred a little as I lifted her up. If I had woken her then yes she probably would have gone for breast but I didn't want to do that. Before i started dream feeding I just went with it hoping it wouldn't be forever, and it wasn't. If you go with this approach then try to have a good feed in the night rather than just enough to get him back to sleep (I know its tempting to try to dash back to bed). Stir him a little if he dozes off and see if he will take more and offer both sides. You'll both hopefully sleep for a longer stretch afterwards.

You might also find it helps if you try to cram in some extra breastfeeds before bed time (late afternoon onwards).YOU can demand feed too! Not sure how feesible it is for you, he may be feeding alot anyway. when they are very little they can simply only go so long between feeds but as they get older its a case of they need so much in 24hrs so if you try to encourage feeding more during the day they may be less inclined to catch up at night.

Understand your views on expressing it can be a hassle, but I would recommend you have a go at least once a week at the moment. Try not to leave it too late because baby mght resist bottle altogether when he's older. You don't have to express enough for a full feed, just an ounce or two to get him used to the bottle and then every so often afterwards so he doesn't forget! Don't stress if you can't do it yet - there are ways to get round it if it doesn't go according to plan in future.

[notnigella]

gemmittygem, popeye has answered re dreamfeeding. i started it because altho feeding was no problem, it was taking ds a while to settle back to sleep afterwards, and with a dreamfeed you dont have that problem because they eat and sleep at the same time. expressing can be a pain, after a few months i invested in a double pump which takes less than half the time and also helps increase supply. at the beginning i used to lose a lot of milk at let down, so just by wearing shells i was able to collect 2 - 3 oz during the day, so didnt need to express for longer than 5 mins anyway, but as they get older and need more milk expressing does take longer. should also mention that my ds never woke before 8am, and is the same now, which is why i carried on dreamfeeding until 6 months because i didnt want to mess up a winning formula (no pun intended)!

[chaoschaos]

I dreamfed number 2 - picked him up at 10.30, fed him (breast only) and put him back down. He slept through to 7am ish from 9 weeks, and I dropped the dreamfeed at 4 months. The others woke more easily and only slept through when I stopped getting up (a night or 2 of 4am yelling, then a full night's sleep for all .