Would you try a dream feed in 13 wk old?

8 replies

redandyellowandpinkandgreen · 15/02/2011 21:27

DS goes down to sleep well at 7pm. When he wakes varies but is usually between midnight and 2am and then after that he will wake to be fed about three hourly. I go to bed about 10pm so I get lots of broken sleep. I don't really want to put him to bed later as he's tired then.

I am not finding the broken sleep too bad but I wondered if it would be worth introducing a dream feed at about 11pm. Do they usually work to mean he will have a longer stretch of sleep from then?

I am breastfeeding.

I am so pleased with the way he settles well at 7pm I am nervous about changing anything and cocking it up!

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EdwardorEricCantdecide · 15/02/2011 21:30

Can't remember when I started dreamfeeds I think DS was about 4 months or so?
Don't see any problem with it though perhaps someone more experienced will come along soon

sleeplessinderbyshire · 15/02/2011 22:24

we did it from about 10 weeks. makes sch a difference not to be woken up 30mins after yo go to sleep yorself

MoonUnitAlpha · 15/02/2011 22:27

I did it from about 4 months but it didn't really work for me - ds was sleeping 7pm-3am and then waking at 5am and 7am. I started doing a dreamfeed at 11pm, but he still woke at 3am, and then he started waking at 11pm too! I wish I'd just left it alone and gone to bed earlier.

Chil1234 · 16/02/2011 08:50

I think, rather than wake up a happily sleeping baby, it's easier if you occasionally go to bed the same time as they do and catch up on your sleep during the day when they have naps. I found the 1am/2am feed gradually stretched to 3am, 4am as he got older until - about the time we began weaning - he started to go from 7pm to about 5am/6am.

matana · 16/02/2011 09:57

Sounds exactly like my DS! The only way you'll know is to try it. I tried mine a few times from 8 weeks old. It didn't work for us - he woke at the same time regardless and took very little milk (also BF) at the 'dream feed' as he's a sleepy little monkey!

If it doesn't work just go back to doing what you're doing.

Incidentally, since i decided to just go with DS's natural sleep rhythm he's started doing 5/6/7 hour stretches at night. Even though it's from 7/8pm i usually get at least a couple of hours of uninterupted sleep.

PomonaTodd · 16/02/2011 09:59

It worked really well with DS - by about 3 months he was sleeping from about 7am to 7pm with a dream feed at about 10pm.

Did not work with DD who took rather longer to appreciate longer bursts of sleep at night. She is a great sleeper now though :)

lisababyb · 17/02/2011 20:05

We are currently dream feeding our 6 mth old DS and have been for quite sometime.. it is working really well. :)

I take him up to bed @ 7.30-8pm (he has bottle at 7ish), then we dream feed at 10 or 11pm and that takes him through to 6 or 7am.

Started him on solids 3 weeks ago, which is going well so hoping to phase out dream feed soon.

mogwai35 · 21/02/2011 01:11

I just started my 12 week old girl on a dream feed last night and it went fantastically. She has been doing between 5-7 hours a night anyway but as she goes to bed at 7pm I was only getting a few hours sleep before her night feed.

Last night I picked her up at 10pm and she went straight on the bottle and drank all 180mls (which is her standard feed) she was eyes closed virtually the whole way through. I was worried about winding but have read since that because they are so relaxed they don't take enough air in to bother them..... she woke at 4am and then again at 8am so I'm going to move her dream feed to 11pm tonight so hopefully she'll go through to 5 or 6am.

I would definitely recommend giving it a go!

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