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Sleep

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Original poster

Why won't the dream feed work!?!!

80 replies

KLG3101 · 17/04/2016 20:23

Feeling deflated, shattered and frustrated...

Our DD still wakes twice during the night after a dream feed at 1030pm. What am I doing wrong?

Bedtime routine just now is

615pm bath
645pm feed in nursery dim lights
7pm sleep - sleeps until I dream feed at 1030pm or if I leave her she will
Sleep until 12am/1am
1am wake
4am / 5am wake
7am wake

OP posts:

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newmumwithquestions · 17/04/2016 21:13

So you're getting about 5/6 hours without the dream feed? That's not bad I'm afraid! How old is your DD? Breast or bottle fed?

Lifeisontheup2 · 17/04/2016 21:15

I keep seeing this term 'dream feed', what is it? Is it waking a baby to feed or trying to feed them whilst they're asleep?

Ginmakesitallok · 17/04/2016 21:18

What age is she?

BackforGood · 17/04/2016 21:20

Not sure what a 'dream feed' is, but that sounds like reasonable chunks of slepp for a little one.

seastargirl · 17/04/2016 21:20

Have you tried reducing the bedtime feed and increasing the dream feed, that helped us quite a bit.

IAmAPaleontologist · 17/04/2016 21:21

It doesn't work because it is a load of twaddle that doesn't actually work. I completely, totally, utterly understand why you do it (been there doen that while desperate for sleep) but it doesn't work. Just leave her to sleep and go to her when she wakes naturally. She will sleep at some point. Of course you want her longest sleep stretch to be when you are in bed too rather than the evening but she is how she is.

newmumwithquestions · 17/04/2016 21:25

To add, a dream feed never worked with either of mine - some people swear by them but I just found it was pointless as neither DD would have a proper feed and it just disturbed their sleep. But it looks like you are trying to get 12 hours out of your baby - may be unrealistic depending how old they are...

Smartiepants79 · 17/04/2016 21:29

How old is your baby. Difficult to say if what she's doing is normal or not.

Chickpeachick0 · 17/04/2016 21:32

Ditch the dream feed .
How old is baby ?

Dachshund · 17/04/2016 21:33

That looks like a dream night to me, I get about 4 nights like that from DD a week which until now made me think she was a pretty ok sleeper!

My DD is 4.5 months, I'd understand your frustration if your child was a lot older?

Stylingwax · 17/04/2016 21:38

Looks pretty amazing to me.
My 12 week is nadgy all evening and won't go down then goes to bed with us around midnight, feeds and wakes for another at 5 then down till 8 and I'm dead pleased with that!

Brummiegirl15 · 17/04/2016 21:41

Our routine is same as yours for our 16 wk DD but she wakes once at about 4am

Dream feed does really work for us and I'm scared to drop it in case she wakes earlier!

NerrSnerr · 17/04/2016 21:44

How old is she? Mine was still up 3 times a night until about 9-10 months and is only just sleeping through at 19 months (most of the time).

Coconut0il · 17/04/2016 21:51

How old is she? My DS2 is 8 months and still wakes 3/4 times in the night.

ParsleyTheLion1 · 17/04/2016 22:25

Lifeisontheup A dream feed is where you feed baby late in the evening, once he/she has been asleep circa 4 hours, and sort of as you're about to go to sleep yourself.....idea is that you give baby a good 'top up' before you go to sleep so that he/she gives you a decent chunk of sleep in the middle of the night. I was taught the dream feed technique by my maternity nurse: keep baby in very dim lighting, really fast nappy change in near total darkness (some people ditch this bit), swaddle up quickly and stick bottle in baby's mouth, all without waking him/her fully. After bottle finished, put baby straight back down. (I was breastfeeding but in the interests of maximising DS's intake of milk in the shortest amount of time, I would express just before the dream feed and give a bottle of EBM).

Lifeisontheup2 · 17/04/2016 22:57

Thanks Parsley I'd never heard of it but then it's a long time since mine were that age and we were always told to 'let sleeping babies lie'. Mine always fed loads between 6pm and 10 pm so I guess they filled up then.

ParsleyTheLion1 · 18/04/2016 09:14

I did some 'practice' dream feeds under my mat's nurse supervision, and the first few times i was pretty awful at it (not fast enough at changing nappy/re-swaddling.....woke baby fully etc) and so we joked that rather than them being 'dream feeds' they were 'fuck-up feeds'

Original poster

KLG3101 · 18/04/2016 09:21

Sorry I never said, DD is 10 weeks old today. She was 4 weeks early.

Last night she really didn't want to wake for her feed at 1030pm and then woke at 2 and 5. Previously she was waking at 3 and 6 which was fine I could cope with that!! I'm going to try dream feed slightly later tonight and see how we get on

OP posts:

ParsleyTheLion1 · 18/04/2016 09:24

I used to do df at around 11.30pm. But get a few hours sleep myself beforehand (i.e. go to be round 9pm, get up to express at 11 in front of some telly, and do df straight after)

purplefizz26 · 18/04/2016 09:44

Ten weeks is very young to be expecting sleeping through/no night feeds. It sounds like she is doing very well.

I would leave the dream feed and let her wake herself if or when she wants milk. You can at least get a few hours sleep up until the first waking at 1-2am then?

Original poster

KLG3101 · 18/04/2016 09:48

Thank you. Everyone I speak to has their babies sleeping through the night from 6 weeks - it's making me feel like I am doing something wrong!! Thank you for your replies. I'm going to try DF her tonight at 1130pm

OP posts:

pookamoo · 18/04/2016 09:51

Have you looked at growth spurts etc? At 6 weeks there is a spurt, which would be your Dd's corrected age if 4 weeks early.
Dream feeds don't always work, and IME there isn't much point in trying to get a routine for such a tiny one! What she's doing is brilliant for her age!

Starspread · 18/04/2016 09:52

Either you know some very lucky people or they haven't been telling the whole truth - other than a handful of lucky nights, I don't know anyone (myself included!) with babies sleeping through the night at that age. Don't sweat it too much, you're doing brilliantly; baby's still very tiny and more sleep will come with time x

ParsleyTheLion1 · 18/04/2016 09:53

sleeping through the night from 6 weeks??!!! I don't think I know anyone whose DC did that!

Believeitornot · 18/04/2016 09:53

Who are these people who claim their babies slept through from 6 weeks? Are they talking baby learnt the difference between day and night but still needed feeding or proper solid sleep for 12 hours.

I doubt very much it is the latter. I only knew two people who had babies who did that - I had two at the other end of the spectrum!

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