still confused about 5am feed

[eveybaby79]

Hi there

How do I know the difference between baby actually needing a feed at 5am or habitually waking?  DD is 3 months old (just) and solely breastfeeding.  After the dream feed, she wakes anywhere between 4.30am and 5am and has a feed. 
I have tried dropping the dreamfeed to see what happens and she went froom 7pm until 3.30 one night and 5am the next night.  How come if I do the dream feed, she still needs to feed at 5am?   I really want her to go until 7am and am happy to feed at 5am if she needs it.... just don't want it to be a habit and be stuck with it in months to come if not needed.  I'm not sure how to tell the difference!

Thanks x

[~ Vik ~]

At 3mo it's very normal for an ebf baby to need one or even two feeds in addition to the dreamfeed. If she is going from df to 5am that's an excellent stretch at her age! I would continue to feed if she wakes.

Re: the dreamfeed, it just doesnt have an impact with some babies, where some babies it makes a huge difference, and many fall somewhere in between. Tbh though, it sounds like your nights are going very well so I wouldn't change anything!

[eveybaby79]

Hi there
I noticed that each morning she was waking up with griping tummy and struggling with gas... it seemed she really wanted to stay asleep so i tried cutting the dream feed out again last night and it was the best night sleep we have both had in ages! She went from 7pm - 3am and then slept solid until 7.15am with no gas!  Does the dreamfeed cause gas?  She has her injections today.
x

[~ Vik ~]

With some babies it can, especially since you dont generally do a proper burp after a dreamfeed. Some moms find that the df actually disrupts sleep and they don't do it. It's certainly not necessary, so you could drop it for a few days and see what happens! You can always start again if you need to

Hope her jabs went smoothly xx