dropping the dream feed?

[Moulesfrites]

Not sure if dream feed is quite the right word, as I have never encouraged this feed myself....

Basically up until the 4 mo sleep regression ds would go down at 7 and sleep until about 2am when he woke for a feed. Then, at the worst point of the regression he was waking every 2 hours. He is slightly better now at nearly 7mo, but still wakes up about 3 hours after being put down. Bedtime is about 6.30, will wake at some point between 9 and 10. Weaning has made no difference.

He then wakes a couple of more times between then and 1pm but then sometimes manages an unbroken stretch until morning (about 6.30/7am).

I would really really love it if ds could somehow drop this 9/10pm feed. It would mean that dh and I could actually go out for dinner for the first time in 7m safe in the knowledge that ds would not disturb the baby sitters until we got back. It would also mean that when I am really tired I could get in a good stretch of sleep before he wakes. Both selfish reasons I know.

Is there anyway I could manage this or should i just leave it and carry on hoping that it will just get better in time?

optimistically bumping for the am crowd

My DS2 (8.5 months) and sounds very similar, which has been a shock as DS1 slept through from about 4.5 months. I think that the main reason for the difference is that DS1 would take a dummy and then sucked his fingers and so could settle himself back to sleep, whereas DS2 just gets very angry that he's awake and can't settle himself so needs to feed!

Anyway I've stopped going to him straight away during the night if he wakes and he's managing to settle himself a lot more now, however he's now reliably waking between 10.30 and 12 every night and seems to need this feed to sleep for longer (sometimes til 6 or later!)

If your DS is eating well and getting plenty of milk during the day then it won't hurt to see if you can settle him back to sleep without feeding/leave him to see if he can settle himself.

With my DS2 I've found that feeding him straight away every time he wakes (which I've done a lot recently as we've been staying with friends and in B&Bs) results in him waking more often and being increasingly upset each time.

Sorry - I've gone blah a bit there! In your shoes I would certainly be trying to wean him off night feeds but I would probably focus on getting him to sleep from the "dreamfeed" until 6/7 before dropping that (even though I would also love to be able to go out for the evening with DH!)

ok thank you, I suppose I could stick with the dream feed if I thought it meant I got a good stretch after that but I don't! Wondering if we will ever go out for dinner again!!

I am trying hard to remember when I dropped this feed and I think it must have been when I went back to work when dd was about 7mo so it can be done. You would prob find though if you stop feeding him he may then wake up early at 5am ish which is what happened to me!!! I found she was nearer a year old when she could go the full 12 hr stretch 7pm til 7am.

When she woke up I would only offer water not milk and encourage to go back to sleep, keep interaction to a minimum, keep it dark and quiet etc.

fwiw they are only babies for a short time so you will be able to go out and actually thinking about it if you want to go out for dinner then do it!!! Leave a bottle just in case but my money would be on the baby sleeping!!!