'Dreamfeeds' - any point?

[fifitot]

Anyone doing these and if so do they buy you some extra time for sleep?

Would love to hear if they work. Am BFing so don't know if it's different dependent on what method of feeding you use? Thanks.

Lovely idea but sadly neither of my DD's would entertain the idea of a dreamfeed

I've done dreamfeeds with both of mine... I have no idea if it's made any difference because I didn't stop with ds until he was one (but that was a different issue - I needed to do it to keep my supply up once I was back at work)

Still currently do it with dd and she's 7.5 months.. too scared to stop cos she sleeps to 8am most mornings :o

I did. But by the time I did, when DS was about 2 months old, I was mixed feeding and FF the dreamfeed. I read The Baby Whisperer and it's supposed to work for BF and FF. It worked for me. DS slept through til 5am, and then eventually til 7-8am. However it didn't work my friend but her baby had issues with feeding from birth and bad reflux (I think).

I still do a dream feed at 8 months (FF now but BF originally). Don't think it worked sleepwise to start with but it defo makes a difference now. DD is only up for a few minutes and then doesn't wake til 7am

Interesting responses! I guess it depend on the baby. Mine is only 6 weeks old so still settling into his own routine but may give it a go. Anything for a bit more sleep!!!!!!

I did for my first two but not my third and I am currently very annoyed with myself for not doing it. My third now sleeps from 7 til about 4 or 5am, then shouts for food before going back to sleep. So I go to bed at 11 and have a broken nights sleep. With my older two, I would feed them at 11 and they then slept through till 7. I've tried to introduce a dream feed now for my youngest, but she still wakes at 4 / 5 regardless.

I think it's worth trying.

I'm not sure what's meant by dreamfeeds. But I do feed my baby at night. We started off with him in the cot, but I discovered pretty soon that if I brought him into bed with me, he'd sleep about an hour longer in the morning - he feeds about 7 and then goes back to sleep till about 8. Also it's so much easier feeding him lying down - we can both drift off to sleep together.

HTH

Just finished mine now :o dd doesn't ever wake up, and settled straight back in her cot in a deep sleep (going by her breathing). Who knows, but as she's not disturbed by it I figure it won't do her any harm, plus with a boisterous toddler around during the day and all the other distractions, her daytime feeds tend to be a bit perfunctory, so this is a way of getting more milk in her.

Yes, used to dreamfeed mine at 11pm and they'd sleep till 7am, bliss.

Yep, dreamfed DS at about 11pm from about 7 months. He used to take a full 9oz bottle without stirring and sleep till 7am. Sadly you can't still do it when they're 3!!

lowrib it is when you get them up, but if possible without them properly waking, and give them a last feed just before you go to bed, say round 10-11pm.

I did this with both kids, but found it only really worked if I gave them a bottle (expressed milk at first, formula later) - they would never wake up enough to take boob. I think it did help them to sleep for longer, though it's difficult to prove cause and effect!

i feed dd ( nearly 6 months) at about 11, after a clean nappy and she sleeps snuggled in next to me till about 5am, quick feed while i doze and she then sleeps until 9ish, tho was 10.15 this morn! she has 3 good solid meals a day too. In a cot, she wakes every 2 hours?? little madam!

I have never bothered as this was the first feed my daughter dropped, I couldn't see the point in deliberately waking her - she would wake up when she was hungry

i give dd (11wo) a dream feed at about 10.30 and she sleeps a good 4 to 5 hours til she wants feeding again.

last night she went 6 hours and would've slept longer but i was worrying so i gave her another dream feed in her cot, hanging over the edge in agony so she didn't wake up, and she slept until 8ish.

No didn't work hear, tired it but DD either woke up to much and was then up for an hour or two, or never took enough so would still wake at the same time during the night.

I gave in and went to bed early instead.

Presumably you don't wind after a dream feed?

It worked a few times when DD was tiny but now if I try it, she bites me (unintentionally!)

Vicky, it depends on how windy your baby is... I usually just hold dd upright with her head resting on my shoulder and a burp will come up. But she's 7 months old now so it's easy... wasn't so easy settling her after any night time feed when she was tiny because of the wind. It would often take me about an hour to get her settled again.

An hour would be good for us at the moment. last night i did not get back to sleep after 1pm because he had trapped wind.

1am, rather.

I dream fed DS formula t about 11pm and he slept though until about 8am without waking at all.

I drean fed til I started on solids at 6months. Would change nappy and give feed at 10.30-11 and then DD slept til 7. I tried not doing it a couple of times, and she woke at 4, so I preferred to feed last thing at night.

I know some people would rather go to bed earlier and get woken than stay up (although you can express and get DH to give bottle for this one - i meant to do this a bit more, but normally found by the time I'd expressed I'd might as well have fed, so only really expressed if I was going out).

Trapped wind! It's a bloody nightmare isn't it? My DS really struggles with this and it takes ages to settle him after night feeds. Just waiting for it to subside as he gets older as I have been told it does.