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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

night time feeds - ditch the dream feed?

3 replies

meera21 · 04/11/2011 16:30

I am confused!!! my dd is nearly 19 weeks, just over 4 months..she feeds every 3 hours or so during the day, has a couple of naps during the day. We have a good bedtime routine which works well, she goes to bed around 7pm. Now i re-introduced a late night feed around 10/11pm but it doesnt seem to keep her going much as she wakes up around 1/2am. Been trying to shush her back to sleep, when my husband does it it works better, but she'll wake up again an hour later and thats when i will feed her which will get her through til morning..i'm no sure if i should ditch the dream feed and just see what happens and just feed when she wakes in night?? or continue the dream feed and shushing her at 1/2am and giving her the feed when she next wakes?? help!!!

OP posts:
Apricots · 04/11/2011 16:46

How long ago did you introduce the dream feed? I think if you've been doing it consistently for a week and ita still having no effect then drop it and maybe try cluster feeding before bed instead

meera21 · 04/11/2011 21:49

yeah have been doing it for more than a week now i think...this evening she was really tired cos she didnt sleep much in afternoon so started to give her bedtime feed at 5.30 and she just wanted to feed on and off til about 7pm..thing is i have a 3 yr old and during the week its not possible to cluster feed her when i have him to look after too and get dinner started etc..he just ends up watching tv for hours then and i feel really bad..i'm gonna ditch the dream feed tonight and just go with her demand tonight..should i be discouraging the night feed now though? have mixed messages from HV, friends and doctor...

OP posts:
AngelDog · 05/11/2011 08:15

If she's only having 2 naps, she's probably overtired. Most children that age have 3 naps and drop to 2 naps between 6 and 9 months old.

Mind you, feeding just twice a night at that age sounds pretty good to me! :)

Dream feeding doesn't work for all children - with my DS it just added an extra waking which still continues a year later.

The WHO recommend feeding 'frequently and on-demand' and don't encourage trying to get night feeds to stop. Personally I'd just go with it at this age. Do you co-sleep so you can sleep through night feeds?

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