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Sleep

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Original poster

To dreamfeed or not to dreamfeed, that is the question

19 replies

amazonianwoman · 21/06/2007 15:29

DS 14wks now generally sleeps from 8pm ish til 2-2.30am, then wakes any time after 5.15 when I struggle to get him back to sleep (I don't do mornings!) til 7am.

I used to dreamfeed DD at this age at 10.30-11pm and quite often it worked and she slept til 6-7am (which I can cope with!)

Tried the same approach with DS a couple of weeks ago and it didn't work - he still woke at 2am.

Should I try again? I'm getting desperate for a longer stretch of sleep! Does dreamfeeding generally "work" in your opinion??!!

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quokka · 21/06/2007 15:32

always done dreamfeeds, trick is low lights, no eye contact or talking. even better get dh or dp to do the dreamm feed. My dh always had trouble with the no talking and eye contact - couldn't help himself

FunMumm · 21/06/2007 15:39

Dreamfeeds always worked for me too... I second quokka, no talking, eye contact and dim lights... good luck...

Original poster

amazonianwoman · 21/06/2007 18:04

DH just the same!

Do you wake them up or get them to feed (bf) still half asleep?

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weston · 21/06/2007 18:49

we had the same problem last week, she was waking at 2 and 5 every nite so we introduced a dream feed and now goes 6 to 6..hurrah...it took around a week to work so don't give up..

holsnovell · 21/06/2007 18:50

dreamfeeds worked for me to with dd and ill prob do it agin this time

Vmama · 21/06/2007 20:21

I did dreamfeed with DS for a while but then figured out that it was keeping him used to being fed every 3-4 hours and when I dropped it he started sleeping through the night. Helped in the early says as I knew I would get 3 hours in a block but think if anything it interrupted his sleep in the end.

beansprout · 21/06/2007 20:23

I just got ds up and put him to my breast. Nature did the rest, he would just latch on! He didn't really wake up at all (hence the "dream" bit).

Worked really well for us.

MatNanPlus · 21/06/2007 20:24

I still do dream feeds at this age, as even if ds wakes it may be 4am and he might settle better than at 5am.

Low lights, no chatting, looking, or kissing, just pick up, feed, burp, into bed.

Piffle · 21/06/2007 20:33

I have since pretty much 3 wks old
Like your ds (my ds2 is 13 wks) my lad will go down at about 8-8.30 and left will wake at 2.30 then maybe 6am and is up for teh morning (grim)
whereas if I feed him when I go to bed 11.30 ish he wakes at 4am then sleeps til 8
He never wakes never poos and takes 5 mins to feed
Hooray!

Original poster

amazonianwoman · 21/06/2007 21:46

Oh, [scared emoticon] don't know whether to try tonight??!! Or should I wait til after we get back from being on holiday for a week next week....!

OP posts:

Jojay · 21/06/2007 21:52

Oh, be brave and give it a go!!! They always worked really well for ds and me. What's the worst that can happen??

Original poster

amazonianwoman · 21/06/2007 21:57

he might not settle again quickly and I don't get to sleep til midnight. Then still wake at 2am then 5am!

Oh, the fear!

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mamarug · 21/06/2007 22:05

I'm sorry to say that this is exactly what happened to us when we tried to introduce a dreamfeed - DS took ages to settle back to sleep and then woke at 2am anyway. We gave it up after a few nights as it didn't seem to work for him, although I know it does work for many others. My sister gave her DS a dream feed until he was at least 12 months old and he always slept through.

nickytwotimes · 21/06/2007 22:07

i tried dream feed with ds - little buggger woke up again at usual time and then a few hours later, just for luck!

UCM · 21/06/2007 22:08

I formula feed and never realised that if I take a feed up at around midnight, my DD sleeps until 7.

Dream feed is fabby

Original poster

amazonianwoman · 21/06/2007 22:20

Thanks all, thinking about it, the best night we've ever had was when he slept til 3am, had huge bf, coughed and brought entire feed back up, didn't want any more, then slept til 6.45 on an obviously empty stomach. Little monkey.

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Wilkie · 21/06/2007 22:22

Yup - still doimg them with DS 6 months. Feed at 6.15pm 7oz then again at 10.30pm 6oz.

Sometimes he wakes, sometimes he stays asleep.

I don't think he would make it through the night otherwise and daren't try not doing it!!!!

I love my sleep too much

mamarug · 22/06/2007 11:26

amazonianwoman - I think with some babies the length of their sleep is not connected to the amount/number of feeds. It clearly is with many babies, but I don't think all. My DS's longest sleep was similarly on an empty tummy.

Original poster

amazonianwoman · 22/06/2007 13:05

Didn't have the courage to get him up for a dreamfeed last night - and he slept from 8pm til 4am

Struggled to settle again til about 6.15 because he was full of wind (bottom end!) but - best night yet! Think I'll just leave it for another week and see how it goes

Thanks all again

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