11 week old too late to start dreamfeed?

[sunny90]

I did a dreamfeed with my 3 first babies basically from day one. With this one, he hasn't been easy to get to sleep in his crib and he's FINALLY going down nicely at bedtime (I did shush pat and comforting him in the crib). But in the middle of the night I just lie down and nurse him and wake up when he needs to feed again.
The thing is normally he feeds at 7 for bedtime and then can go to between 2:30-3 am. So it's almost 8 hours between feeds which is great, but now I'm worried that the df will disrupt his sleep. I did it a few nights ago because I realized I had fed him on the wrong side at bedtime so was engorged and df him at 11, and he woke up at 4 something. Very nice but that's still a shorter stretch than what he can do! On the other hand if he CAN go 8 hours I'd rather it be from 11! After his almost 3 am wakeup he will wake up between 5 and 630 and then I nurse him til it's time to get up.
Should I leave well enough alone?

[lily_layne]

I'm not really sure about starting late but just thought I'd share my experience. I didn't DF either of my LOs. DD woke every 3 hours at night until 3 months and then started doing one 5 hr stretch. DS tended to long stretches right off the hop (7-8 hrs) and after 2-3 months he would often go 9-10 hrs.

[trimbler]

Hi there, I DF'd but can't quite remember when - I seem to remember that DD did a lot of night time poos, so most NFs tended to be awake for that reason, so I guess she was a bit older by the time I was actually able to feed her asleep at that time I'd personally be inclined to look at what's happening in the early morning - ie if he feeds around 4am then will he then sleep until whatever time you're aiming for him to be up? In that case perhaps the DF would be useful in getting a nice consistent start to the day? But if you prefer feeding from 5ish onwards then I wouldn't bother with the DF...

[sunny90]

I dont know what he would do, is it worth trying for a few nights or is it likely to just mess him up?

[trimbler]

Well, you have way more experience at this than me but if you like the DF then I'd say probably worth a try. Bear in mind you'll have the 3mo GS in a couple of weeks, then the 4mo SR... So things will be changing anyway. Why not try for a week or so and see what happens? It will likely take him a few days to adjust. But I'd only do it if you like that rhythm yourself - don't do it because you think he should, because many LOs do just fine without it, so don't make it a burden for youself, right?

[lily_layne]

But I'd only do it if you like that rhythm yourself - don't do it because you think he should, because many LOs do just fine without it, so don't make it a burden for youself, right?

I totally agree with this^