Author Topic: Dreamfeed and wake up time  (Read 1578 times)

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Offline MariaC

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Dreamfeed and wake up time
« on: January 12, 2007, 03:26:25 am »
I started to do the dreamfeed 2 days ago and my 11 week old baby is sleeping until 5:30am. He wakes hungry and feeds and goes back to sleep until about 8:30am.
My question is: Should I wake him at 7am to feed even if he just fed at 5:30am or should I just start  EASY when he wakes? I'm getting confused.

Thanks!!!!


Offline Sungrl

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2007, 03:49:54 am »
Personally, I would leave him sleep and start your day at 8:30am!   Enjoy it while it lasts...Zoey was sleeping until 8:30 but recently started going to bed earlier and getting up earlier.  You may get other advice saying to wake him but I think it is up to you.  Is he going to bed around 8:30pm??

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Offline MariaC

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2007, 04:38:52 am »
He actually goes to sleep at around 7:30pm after his bath. Before I started the dreamfeed, he would sleep for about 5 hours -from 7:30pm until midnight or 1am- and then feed again at 4am to start the day at 6 or 7am.
 Since we started the dreamfeed, he is sleeping until 5 - 5:30am, he feeds and goes back to sleep. He woke up one night at 4am, but I gave him a pacifier and he went back to sleep.

I wanted to start the EASY since he was a newborn, but being a first time mom, I counldn't find the time to read the book; I would jump to pages that had the advice I needed at the time.  The good thing is that even though I didn't stick to a "schedule" I did stick to the "routine" concept of Eating, Activity and Sleeping. So I'm still not a 100% ! I now have to reinforce the 3 hour routine because I wasn't waking him from his naps, which means sometimes he went 3.5 to 4 hours in between feedings.

Offline Sungrl

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2007, 05:42:26 am »
Wow, he's a great little sleeper!  Enjoy it.  If he's sleeping that well I would just let him sleep and start the day and the routine at 8:30 or whenever he wakes up.  It may change as he gets older (but hopefully not).
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Offline macdee

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2007, 09:08:05 am »
Hi MariaC,

It's great to be in touch w/ another first time mum!! My lo is 4mths and has been on the easy since a few wks after her birth. She just recently transitioned to a 4 hr routine.

While I did go along w/ the book, there were a few things that I didn't do- eg. instead of dreamfeeding when baby's supposed to be sleeping, I actually woke mine up around 11.15pm to change, feed and put straight to bed. It worked just fine! In the first month and half, she was waking up between 4-5am for a feed and then sleeping til half 7. After a while tho, she preferred to sleep rather than eat in that wee hr so I just gave her the paci which would keep her sleeping til anywhere between 7-8am. So for a while I didn't stick to the 7am wake up. But since she was 3.5mths, she's been waking at 7am or just before so it's just worked out that way. She still stirs and makes noises around 5am or so but once the paci is in her mouth, she settles again. And even if she's still sleeping, I will wake her up to keep the consistency going (and also to instill the habit). She goes to bed by 7pm each night (6.30pm if she's too tired), even if I do her last feed less than 4 hrs from the afternoon one. If all goes well w/ her eating and sleeping habits, she should eventually be able to make that 12hr sleep stretch w/out the dreamfeed and that's what I'm aiming for.

In your case, you're already on a routine, albeit not totally the easy one and I think that eventually, your lo will be able to sleep thru til 7am w/out being fed in the wee hrs just like mine. And that's probably when the actual easy routine will kick in. If your baby is happy w/ the current routine and you're comfortable w/ it, then there's no reason to wake him up earlier. The great thing about bw is that it's flexible and I think the idea is just to get mothers on a routine so that things are a lot easier for us!

Hope this barrage of info was useful for you!

Offline MariaC

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2007, 02:04:14 am »
Thank you sooooo much for all the info and sharing stories. I got the BW book as a baby shower present and I started reading it once my son was born ( I was trying to look for answers?? )

I have him on the EASY routine since the beggining, but because I'm a "perfectionist" I was getting frustrated... then I realized "he is JUST A NEWBORN" and I calmed down! He is actually a really good baby!!!

Thanks again for the answers... VERY VERY USEFUL!

Offline Honeyluu

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2007, 03:02:18 am »
That sounds GReat!  is your lo on formula or bm?  he is such a great sleeper!  definitely follow his lead.  and about naps during the day.  my lo was fabulous with her naps and slept well during the night.  i do have a tough time waking her when she's sound asleep.  anyway, long story/short... she slept BETTER when i wouldn't wake her out of her naps - regardless of the time between feeds (it never went for more than 3.5 hours between).  so, if your lo is that good at night and is gaining well, and is letting you rest for that long during the day - i would build your EASY routine around that   ;)   it may have to change later, but i regret trying so hard to force easy on my lo.  her natural rhythms are most like an EAYESAY schedule.  LOL ;D

keep us posted!  Good job!

Offline macdee

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2007, 03:48:36 am »
I know exactly what you mean about getting frustrated w/ the easy not really working out according to the book! ;) I'd start to fret and worry anytime she seemingly veered away from it due to sleeping on the bottle or sleeping when she's supposed to be having activity time. Even today, I find myself getting a little antsy when my lo doesn't do things "according to the routine" but poor sweetie, she's just a baby and it's not her fault! I guess we just have to remind ourselves to chill out a bit and just take it a day at a time... We're so lucky our babies are easy to look after!!

Offline MariaC

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2007, 21:35:27 pm »
I breast feed him. He was a wonderful eater, but we went out of the country for Christmas and since there, he started feeding different.
He used to eat 10 minutes on each side, now he does only 5 minutes and sometimes only 1 side. I've heard that it is normal and that they become very efficient at feeding, but what concerns me is that sometimes he takes both sides, and sometimes just one?  At first I thought maybe switching to the 3.5 hour, but today has been a mess... he has been wanting to eat every 2 hours and is barely sleeping.

At least we always stick to the E.A.S.Y even if he does 2 hours or 3 or 3.5  He might just be going through a growth spurt???

Thanks again for all the input! this is a wonderful and very informative message board.  It is sooo helpful to read all the stories and know that it's not perfect!

Offline Honeyluu

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2007, 03:46:09 am »
stick with your intuition - it's always right!  sounds like he is an angel baby  :)  how wonderful.  since he gives you the opportunity for you - don't forget to take good care of your self!

it could definitely be a growth spurt.  and those are usually just a couple of days of adjustment so that your milk will adjust to his growing needs.

tonight we're skipping the dream feed... wish us luck... she used to go from the time she fell asleep til midnight or 12:30am.  then the df would take her until 2am.  now she's waking around 1am or 1:30.  so, i'm going to skip it for three nights to figure it out.  i'm thinking that she may require more ounces for the df. 

How much breastmilk do you give your lo for a dreamfeed??? 

Offline MariaC

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Re: Dreamfeed and wake up time
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2007, 04:22:07 am »
Patricia,
good luck with skipping the dreamfeed.
I actually give him different amounts... one night I managed to give him 6 oz! but sometimes he just takes 2 oz. Tonight he took 3oz.  It all depends at what time he takes his last feeding. The past 2 days have been a little weird, but usually he is out by 7:30pm.
I pump at 10:30pm and whatever he doesn't drink, I put in the fridge or freezer.