Dream feeds???

[Mummy2Freya]

what is a dream feed?
dd is 15 weeks old and wakes regularly for night feeds (don't mind this at all except she refuses to burp at night and won't settle back down again)

I keep reading about "dream feeds" and am wondering if this is something I should be doing?

Any advice appreciated

Hiya! I'm not sure if I'm right about this but I think dream feeding is when you pick them up out of their cot at feeding whilst they are asleep and feed them. I did this with DS and it was great as he did not properly wake up and would have a good feed so therefore would not fully wake up all night.

A Dream feed is usually the last one at night before you go to bed,ie.11pm you go up to bed,pick up sleepy DD,don't put light on,unless very dim,feed her,don't change her unless she has a dirty nappy,don't talk to her or make eye contact,disturb her as little as possible,and then sit her up a little to allow her wind to rise,when you are happy she is not uncomfortable with wind,or has burped,lay her back down again,and tiptoe out..

Eventually when she drops this feed,its easier as she won't wake for it from habit.

The "rules" apply during the night as well,except you only feed her when she crys for a feed.The les she's disturbed the easier she'll settle back down.If she doesn't burp,try having cot/Moses basket tilted head up so air will rise if there is any.

Thanks Puppie and Sawyer.
The last few nights dd has slept from 9ish til 3ish which is fantastic for her, so would I still try and feed her at 11ish?

No I dont think so. I think its useful if you were, say putting her down at her bedtime, after her bath etc. as they get into a routine around this time,and you'd fed her at 7pm,then if she woke at 11pm,you could try feeding her at 10.45pm whilst she was still sleepy,then she'd eventually drop that feed.

But it sounds as if she has already.

That sounds good to me,but if you wanted to change it,then you could try getting her fed earlier at 6.30pm-7pm ish,and then "Dream Feed" her.Then when she has her "longest sleep" hopefully it will be 11pm until 5-6am. Much more civilised!

I would agree with sawyers description, except it is possible for it to become a habit. I couldn't get my boys to drop it until they were around a year old. I used to feed them around 10-11 before I went to sleep - they would be sound asleep and usually sleep through it. However, when I tried to drop it and didn't feed them, they would jsut wake up for it a bit later. It carried on far later than any other night feed.

I'd stick witht he routine you've got, it sounds pretty good for now.