Dreamfeeders... when did you stop?

[HeadFairy]

ds is 6.5 mo and I'm still doing a dreamfeed at 11pm. He usually sleeps through to about 7am and has his breakfast at about 8am, but I'm wondering if I still need to do it. I'm a bit scared to give it up, I'd hate to go back to feeding during the night. When did you give up dreamfeeding and what happened?

My dd just gave it up herself i.e stopped taking the feed - I think she was about 6 months and still slept through. You could just try stopping it one night and see what happens?

ds doesn't wake up or cry for it, I just lift him out of the cot and pop him on, he only takes about 10 mins. Does that constitute him stopping the feed? He's never woken up for that feed tbh, he's always slept through it, but increasingly when I pick him up, he whines a bit and I do think he's in such a deep sleep it's a shame to pick him up.

The only reason I hesitate at giving it up is that i'm back at work in a few weeks and I get home from work pretty late, around 10pm, and I thought I could keep giving him that feed to keep the bfing going. But I guess there comes a point when I'm just being a bit selfish, and it's better for him to sleep. Or is it better to keep the bfing up even if it's just one feed at 11pm?

I used to give my dd the feed without her waking up too. It was as you describe, when I picked her up, she started complaining, and just wouldn't take the feed. THen I knew she didn't need/want it, and slept through entirely from 7pm bedtime.

hmmm I think he may be halfway there iyswim... he grumbles but still takes the feed. P'raps I'll carry on a bit longer.

What happens if you try just one night without doing it? I advised a friend of mine to try doing that when her little one was about 4 months old and she gave it a go and much to her surprise he still slept throught to past 6.30 and the second night slept to after 7am as normal and never looked back. If you skip the feed and he wakes up at some horrendous hour of the morning then carry it on for anouther few weeks or so and then try again.

I stopped it v early (5 wks with both mine) as they never really woke up enough to latch on and it didn't seem to make much difference to the time that they slept to (both then slept through to 7am ish by about 2 months)

I'm not sure that it's a good idea to keep up that feed just so that you get a chance to bf him at 11pm - you could be making a rod to beat yourself with if he gets stuck in the habit of it. Also, establishing good sleeping patterns is important too i think. I'm not sure that babies ever NEED night feeds after 6 mnths when weaning has been established, although many people keep them up for comfort etc.

I stopped at 6mo and it was fine. We waited until after Christmas and New Year and for a quiet week while I was still on maternity leave in case it all went wrong - but we needn't have worried

Memory is a bit hazy now but I think DS was about 5 - 5.5. months.

We did it gradually. Started by making it less and less intrusive (room always as dark as possibly, did not take him out of grobag and then stopped changing his nappy afterwards - just poured him back into the cot after winding!). Then started cutting back the amount of the feed. Cut back a couple of ounces - kept it at that level for a few days, then reduced again, then just stopped once he had been on only 3oz for a few days. He did not miss it at all, never went back. I worried like hell but it worked a treat! (He fed well during th day and his weight was good so we knew when we started cutting back that he was ready to be weaned off it before it just turned into habit.)

Good luck.

thanks for the advice everyone, I think I'll start experimenting with missing that feed and see how we go.

nelly - thats precisely what I was worried about, creating a habit for it. Like you said, ds is on three solid meals a day now, so he shouldn't need the feed. i might start making his tea a bit more substantial too, currently he has a bit of fruit and yoghurt.