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Early waking baby - would you drop dream feed?

5 replies

FoamyOne · 10/05/2015 21:51

DD is 5 months. From birth she's been a good sleeper (I've 2 older DCs who were dreadful sleepers, so know I'm really lucky this time). She slept through the night from 5-15 weeks. We then hit the inevitable 4 month sleep regression, but it wasn't too bad - she woke twice, maybe 3 times on a good night. After a few weeks she settled back to sleeping through.

If her naps have been right she will self settle at bedtime. If she's overtired sometimes I need to rock her, but I never feed her to sleep (I've learned that lesson the hard way with my older ones - at least other people can rock her!). She either has 3 naps (9/9.30 for up to an hour; 1ish for a couple of hours - but sometimes up to 3 hours in which case we don't bother with the third nap, and a power nap around 4.30 of 20/30 mins).

She is EBF, and I do a dream feed around 10.30 / 11pm. She will then sleep until morning, but over the last ten days or so this has become as early as 5 - 5.30am. For the first few days of this I brought her into bed with me and she'd feed and doze for an hour or two, but in the last few days this has stopped working and she just wants to get up (she's happy but very hungry, and once fed is loud and trying to play). I'm tired as I'm staying up until after the dream feed, and I really don't want to get up at 5am.

I'm wondering whether I should just ditch the dream feed. If I did this I could go to bed earlier, and if she woke far earlier in the night (e.g. 2am, based on how long she seems to be able to go without a feed just now), surely she'd be more likely to go back to sleep after a feed?

OTOH I realise that it's not that bad - my others didn't sleep anywhere like this well at this age - so maybe I shouldn't mess with it. Advice welcome!

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FATEdestiny · 13/05/2015 12:24

I would drop the dreamfeed in your position. It will mean the return of the night feed but at least she should sleep to a more reasonable time in the morning and you can go to bed earlier if needed.

You can mix-and-max too. Sometimes I give my DD a dreamfeed (she's 7 months) and sometimes I don't and do a night feed instead, depending on how I'm feeling from one night to the next.

FATEdestiny · 13/05/2015 12:24

mix-and-match

NickyEds · 13/05/2015 14:46

I'd drop the dream feed, go to bed early and wake in the night for a feed. It's got to be better to be woken at 2 but be able to go back to sleep than at 5 for the day IMHO

FoamyOne · 13/05/2015 17:59

Thanks. Do you know, it has never, in 3 children, occurred to me that I could mix and match Blush. Think I'm just on autopilot! I would far prefer to wake up at 2 then have a sensible morning wake up. Will give if a go.

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FoamyOne · 13/05/2015 17:59

it a go!

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