anyone else not do a "dreamfeed" with their newboen and just feed them again when they wake up naturally ?

[minxofmancunia]

dd is now 3 and we never did the dreamfeed thing with her mainly because she had terrible colic and once the screaming had stopped and she was asleep we were loathe to wake her up. she used to wake up once or twice a night say 2am and 5am until she was weaned when she did what i term slept through i.e. 7 til7.

ds is 8 weeks old, he hasn't developed colic yet (fingers crossed emoticon). Because we never did a dreamfeed with dd we haven't done one with him but I'm toying with the idea of starting it. He goes to bed 8ish and can wake anytime 11-2.30 for another feed then maybe once again after that occassionally he only wakes the once.

I wondering whether a dreamfeed might help him sleep that little bit longer e.g. if we gave him one at 11 he might sleep until early morning perhaps? he's bf at mo but thinking of introducing a bottle of formula for the dreamfeed?

what do people thin should i tweak things or just leave well enough alone and see how he pans out?

would be interested to hear other peoples experiences and methods.

I wouldn't use formula for a dreamfeed - pick him up and bf him. I used to do this with DS2 - if I didn't, I found it harder to get to sleep, partly because I didn't have the lovely sleepy bf hormones, but also because he was more erratic in his wakings if he'd not had it, so I'd be listening out for every squeak, thinking that would be him waking up.

He's used to bmilk, so giving him formula may well make him MORE unsettled as it's harder to digest and might make him windy/uncomfortable.

I would leave well alone and just feed when he asks for it. Never done a dreamfeed with either of mine.

And I wouldn't introduce a bottle - will just make him bloated and uncomfortable, and wreak havoc with your supply.

at x post hunker!

I never did dreamfeeds. DS slept through 12 hours at 4 months, DD not until 8 months.

CSWS!

To add, it might be near-on impossible to get him to feed in his sleep to begin with - but DS2 soon got used to it and used to latch on and feed well, all whilst he was fast asleep eventually.

Very peaceful, actually - just listening to him breathing and swallowing milkily, stroking his downy cheek - bliss!

I'm not sure I have enough experience to comment, but my DS is 13 weeks and I've never tried to feed him when he's asleep or woken him up to feed him. He has been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now, on a bottle of 6oz EBM. Gets that between 7:30-8:30, goes to bed very shortly after and sleeps till 7am. During the day he still feeds every 2-3 hours.

I guess I'm in the school of 'he'll sleep through when he's ready', but I might not be saying that if mine wasn't doing it this early!

Why EBM rather than a direct feed Yank? 6oz is a lot of milk for a tiny tummy, and could actually stretch it, whereas a direct feed would allow him to take what he needs. It's thought that 2-4oz is plenty for a bf baby.

My DD2 is 8 weeks too. I didn't do dreamfeed with DD1 as it doesn't make sense to eat in your sleep. It may buy some time in the short run, but I thought it best to leave well alone so that she could learn to sleep for longer herself.
I remember DD1 actually slept through all the way from about 9pm til 9am at 8 weeks (for about a month til she started teething) so I'm hoping DD2 may do same!
As it is DD2 sleeps from about 8 til about 2/3am and then til 7/8am. Sounds like your DS is similar, having a lovely long nearly 6 hour sleep to start with.
Why would you want to break that 6 hours up? I was able to go to a party last week (5 mins up the road with Daddy babysitting) and actually feel like a normal person as I KNEW if I was home by 11pm I'd still get a few hours sleep before she first woke.

thanks for the replies, ona few ocaasions he's had a bottle of ebm early eve because I've been out so dh has given it. I'vethen bf at bedtime as usual and at these times he does seem to sleep for longer, i've been toying with the same idea as yours yankncock.

he's had the odd bottle of formula in his 8 weeks of life, say 3 times, as I've been out/catching up on sleep/he's been with dh out somewhere and it doesn't seem to have had any advirse effects either to my supply or his tummy and temperament.

I totally respect the opinion that regarding mixed feeding from those of you who don't advicate it but i've never known anyone who's done it have any problems. Particularly if it was just one bottle a day.

Also I was obsessive about dd only having breastmilk and no bottles and the whole exrience massively contributed to pnd, it's even documented in my hv notes. This time round it's suiting us all to be a bit more flexible.

However saying that I may try a bf dreamfeed starting next week. If I'm out dh can give a ebm dream feed perhaps.

plimple this is why i'm in a dilemma about it. Like you say we've had babysiters a few times and been able to go out and have a meal/drink and feel like we've got a life and be home before 11 and get a couple of hours sleep until the next feed.

Maybe i'll just stick with it this way for a little while longer....

you could give it a try and see if makes him sleep a bit longer before his first "nighttime" wake? I tried it when my DS was small 8 weeks or so - he was sleeping at that time from 8 til 4am ish, so I thought if I dream fed him maybe he would go til morning. It didn't work for me, but I didn't try very hard as he would wake up at the "dream feed" and take ages to go back to sleep.

Like others say I wouldn't do formula though..just cos of the mixed feeding thing...like you I would give formula occasionally when convenient, but I think consistently every night could affect your supply.

Oh and I ended up dreamfeeding in the end when he was 5 months ish as he started waking up at 1am and 4am and so dreamfeeding him then actually meant only one "night" feed (damn those growth spurts). Finally dropped it at about 8 months. He would actually stay alseep then though so was no hassle.

Basically I don't think it can do any harm to give it a try? But unless it works brilliantly for you then it is an extra hassle and thing to do just before bed, also re the going out thing, obviously you have to be back if they end up in a routine so they might wake for it.

I FF my twins so a bit different, but didn;t do a dream feed (altho many other mums did). Mostly cos it was a pain to feed them at 11pm (couldn't go to sleep beforehand, often I was then not in bed and asleep until almost midnight, but still awake at 6.30am!, pain if you wanted a night out). I also found they quickly just had one feed from 7pm-7am, which got later and later until eventually it was 6am and virtually the morning anyway. So for me, it was a good way of knowing when they could go through the night.
A few friends who did do Dream feeds had nightmares trying to drop them, all were still doing them at 6mths+ when other babies were (ocasionally!!!!) sleeping through for 12 hours.
So on balance, I wouldn't bother!!!
Good luck whatever you do.

'Why EBM rather than a direct feed Yank?'

We wanted him to be used to taking bottles (and me to get the hang of expressing) for when I go back to work, so he gets the one bottle and I express in the evening.

'6oz is a lot of milk for a tiny tummy, and could actually stretch it, whereas a direct feed would allow him to take what he needs. It's thought that 2-4oz is plenty for a bf baby.'

I initially started out with 3oz and gradually he's worked his way up to 6oz. Believe me, he definitely wants/needs it! He would suck it down and start looking for more, so I ended up topping him up straight after from the breast. I increased it in 1/2oz increments from 3-6oz over about 7 weeks. He's been on the 6oz for about 3 weeks now. Occasionally he doesn't take everything and leaves 1/2-1oz, and we don't force it on him, so I'm pretty confident he's only taking what he needs. He shrieks like crazy if you remove the bottle to wind him halfway through! I did ask the HV and she also said the amount was fine.

I personally have not bothered with my older one, now 2.5 yrs and the little one I just feed on demand too. I am usually so tired at the end of the day and all seems "sucked out" so that I am grateful to have a few hours off even if I am awake during that time. It also enables me to have the odd glass of wine as there is some time til the next feed usually.

I personally don't like bottles on babies unless they are absolutely essential to use and my older one never had a bottle ever I am hoping little one will do the same. If bf works for you both don;t meddle with it is my opinion...

In contrast to the others on here I did (rather DH) dreamfed DD a bottle of formula at 1030-1130pm who then slept till 5am from 2 weeks. I breastfed the rest of the time. Occasionally we would switch and DH would give her ff at 6pm and I would breastfeed at 11 (or when I got in)she still slept till 5-6. It was great because I could go to bed at 930 and get up with DS at 6, I didn't feel at all sleep deprived. I think it's worth a go. BTW DS (solely breastfed) would take 7-8oz EBM from about 8 weeks, 2oz didn't touch the sides. When I expressed (one side) I always got 4-6 oz so I think some BF babies do take 6oz at a time.