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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Dreamfeeds - what's the deal?

11 replies

Holymoly321 · 06/01/2008 21:24

DS is 6wks and I'm currently bf'ing. Have been feeding on demand but am curious about 'dreamfeeds'. What is the deal with them? DS has just started to sleep from around 7.30/8pm until around 1pm when he will want another feed and then another about 3hours later and another about 3hours after that. Should I be waking him up earlier than 1pm for a feed? I'm not sure that he would wake up for it anyway... Are dreamfeeds worth the potential hassle of waking a baby or should I just go with DS's own flow?

OP posts:

mad4mybaby · 06/01/2008 21:28

dream feeds are usually aimed around the 10-11 pm time i think. You are supposed to try to get them to feed whilst half awake.. supposed to help go through the night.

I never tried as his feeding sorted itself out at 8 weeks

Original poster

Holymoly321 · 06/01/2008 21:32

Hi M4B - when you say the feeding sorted itself out at 8 wks, what do you mean?

OP posts:

mad4mybaby · 06/01/2008 21:38

well he fe every 2 hours for 6 weeksish and then around 8 weeks he stopped 'night' feeding. He had 12-1am then was 6amish. You could try the dream fed, its worth ago if you want to sleep better. Its supposed to top baby up after last feed to try to make them sleep through. I wouldve tried it if he hadnt got better..

mad4mybaby · 06/01/2008 21:39

Also, i know some people would slate me for saying this but its never to early to get baby to learn night and day. From about 1 week old i had a bedtime routine. Massage, bath, milk, bed. Again worth a try..?

Rantmum · 06/01/2008 21:44

Did dream feeds myself - worked at treat.

More info in this book

Original poster

Holymoly321 · 06/01/2008 21:45

Well funny you should say that M4B, because the past two nights we have been putting him in his crib, in our room in the dark at after the 7.30/8pm feed. He goes off to sleep pretty much straight away, whereas previously we had kept him downstairs with us until we went to bed and he fussed a lot of the time. DH and I def have enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet!

OP posts:

mad4mybaby · 06/01/2008 21:47

smiling, good! Keep that up and you should be well on your way to a great little sleeper! Plus good for the 2 of you to have time together!

Rantmum · 06/01/2008 21:48

Basically you let the baby feed in its sleep and it actually latches on and feeds without waking - this means gently lifting the sleeping baby to the breastat around 11pm. Over time it should lessen the liklihood of nightime waking because the baby is full at 1am. Worked for me, but I liked alot of the Baby whisperer book because it encouraged a gentle routine and not a rigid schedule which suited me and my lifestyle...

Original poster

Holymoly321 · 07/01/2008 08:05

Thanks RM - will give it a whirl

OP posts:

dal21 · 07/01/2008 11:07

ds was feeding evEry three hours, so was naturally getting bfed around this time. at around the 5 week mark though, i started to expreSS and dh gave the dreamfeed of ebm via bottle. i found that ds would be so sleepy, he either didnt feed much/ at all i tried to latch him onto the breast.

Giving it via bottle was fab, as it meant that I got to go to sleep soon after DS settled at 7.30 - and got a reasonable stretch of sleep til the 1am feed.

At the 10 week mark, I started to try and drop the 1am feed, then worked on dropping the 3/4am feed. By 12 weeks, DS was not feeding til 7am after the 10pm dreamfeed. So for us it worked a treat as there was no way DS would've slept through if he wasnt taking the 5-6fl. oz at 10pm. At 17 weeks, he now guzzles 7fl. oz whilst half asleep then goes back down.

The only word of warning I will give is about nipple confusion if you consider introducing a bottle. DS never got it with the introduction of a bottle, but other mnetters have experienced it, so you may want to read into pros and cons of introducing a bottle (even if it is ebm) whilst breastfeeding.

MrsBumblebee · 07/01/2008 11:24

We do the dreamfeed as well ((hi Dal!)). DS (3 months) goes to bed at 7pm, then I just lift him out of his cot for a bottle feed at 10.30pm. He doesn't wake up at all (and babies feeding in their sleep are VERY cute ). Next feed is then at about 7am. For me, the main benefit is that I was able to establish a bed time and routine early on, and most of all that DH and I got our evenings back . Not sure when you're supposed to drop the dreamfeed though - GF says whenever they start solids, I think; not sure about BW. I guess you try it one day and see if the baby wakes up early!! By the way, I think I started the bedtime/dreamfeed thing at about six weeks or two months, and to be honest wished that I'd done it earlier.

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