Dream feeds... How exactly do you do it? Does it work? Your experiences please...?

[newmomma]

Hi ladies,

I know the theory - feed while asleep so they're so relaxed they don't gulp air, don't need burping and go straight back down again after. They sleep longer because of the re-filled tummy...

But I am terrified of picking up DS to try it - it just feels wrong.

I am deperate for him to start going a little longer at night - I am still exclusively bf (not even managed to get him onto a bottle of EBM; tongue tie problems at birth hindered it) and co-sleeping. This means he goes down in his moses basket ealry evening and then wakes for a feed at some point at which time he stays in the bed with me. HE has access to the breast all night and kind of helps himself - but its leading to overfeeding problems (and then lots of sickness) in the night and the added problem that he struggles to go to sleep without a suck on me (day or night).

Anyway long story short - am hoping that if I can extend the time in his moses basket that the co-sleeping will eventually phase itself out.

Any advice/opinions please?? How far did you feed them from where you pick them up - how long do you give it if they don't latch - has anyone had problems with trying it? etc etc

Sorry long post...

i did it with ds1 but it didn't make the blindest bit of difference to his sleep.

i used to just sit on the bed next to his cot and feed him. you might need to open baby's mouth and encourage him to latch on, it's ok if he wakes up a tiny bit he should fall straight back to sleep

if he wasn't opening his mouth I used to leave it, otherwise you risk waking them up completely

We did this with dd for quite a few months. She was literally up on the hour every hour.

We fed her as normal at bedtime, then when we went to bed around 11 I lifted her from her cot into the feeding chair and fed her a bottle (so slightly different).

It worked wonders for us, as soon as I sat down with her she opened her mouth in her sleep, took what she wanted then turned away.

Her sleep improved drastically and I would definately recommend it.

She did sometimes stir but always settled straight back down.

Did dream feeds from about 4 months until 7 months ish.

Tried it a few times. Mr I-slurp-anything stayed asleep, mouth shut, or woke up and was annoyed. I decided to follow the people who said 'never wake a sleeping baby' instead.

When he was still only sleeping a few hours once a night, I kept him up later to try to align his longest sleep with me being asleep. Sort of worked.

better go to sleep now...

I used to pick them up from the cot and take them to the sofa. Generally the baby latched on almost immediately,but sometimes I might have to stroke their cheek, or rub the nipple on their nose to get them seeking it.

I found that, if I had to work hard to get the baby to start feeding, then I was probably waking them at the wrong time. If you can keep an eye on him as he sleesp, and pick him up when he gets slightly restless at the end of a sleep cycle, then he may latch on more readily. Or you can try actually waking him by disturbing him with a nappy change - just don't chat or entertain him.

If you want to continue co-sleeping, you could try turning your back on him once he has fed (though of course that means you have to keep awake during the feed).

How old is he? I didn't deliberately dreamfeed any of mine until about 3m, just fed when they woke until then.

BTW, he may still need winding after a dreamfeed - all of mine did.

sorry didn't i mention? he's 15 weeks on wednesday.

think i'll continue with making sure his daytime naps are going well before being brave enough to have a go at dreamfeeding.

definately think its the way to go. thanks for all your advice girls.

I tried to dreamfeed but DD won't do it, if she is asleep then either she won't open her mouth at all or she just doesn't latch on. I wake her at 11pm each night, change her nappy to wake her and then just feed her back to sleep and put her back in her cot. I know someone else who has to do similar because their DC won't latch on asleep, needs to be woken to feed. It works well though and at 8wks she is starting to sleep through til 6am/7am.

My DS is 9 days old and is dream feeding really well.

We co-sleep and when I hear him snuffling next to me at night, I feed him, he takes what he wants and then just falls back to sleep.

hi - i just started another dreamfeed thread but was going to say don't worry about picking your baby up - i know what you mean: they look so peaceful and you can't bring yourself to do it!

But do try (i have a blanket under the baby which i use to pick her up - less disturbing for her) - mine didn't wake up and she just started sucking (after nipple with bit of milk on it touched her lip) - am exclusive breast feeder too.

(my problem is that she still wakes at 1.30 and 4.30am - the actual act of dreamfeeding was fine though) - good luck - let us know how it goes if you do it.

thanks nadssss

i think the blanket tip sounds like agreat idea - you can pick them up like they're in a hammock rather than trying to slide your hands in under their armpits which inevitably wakes them up.

i'll let you know how it goes when i work up the courage...!