Going backwards through the night

[CharlieR]

My lo has always been a great eater and sleeper and at 7 weeks we were going from 8pm until 4am, this was great but felt he was dropping the wrong feed. Just at this point someone gave us the Baby Whisperer book and the dream feeds seemed like the answer.  If we fed him in his sleep at 11 this should extend his sleep to about 6am, the first night we did we got until 5.30 which was great but it hasn't happened since.  He is taking 3 or 4 oz (normally 6+) at 11 and looking for a bottle again between 2 & 3, so back to four hourly feeds. Should the dream feed not be extending his sleep??

We thought cluster feeds might be the answer in order to get 1 more bottle in through the day so he wont look for it at night, but at 9 weeks the book suggests we drop this now. He definitely wont take any more at each feed as he isn't finishing the 7 oz.

Can anyone suggest anything I might be getting wrong?  I wonder if I should feed him less at his 7pm feed so he is hungrier for his 11pm feed but it seems wrong not to give him his full teatime feed.

[Lolly]

Have you tried giving the DF earlier - maybe nearer to 10 than 11? It may be worth trying for a few nights to see what happens.  Not all babies respond well to the DF and it can disturb sleep as much as help at times. My 2 have not been good dreamfeeders and we stopped doing it for both and waited for them to wake - they always woke again anyway as it made no difference to them.

Laura

[* Paula *]

I agree with Laura, the DF does not work for every lo, and in turn can sometimes end up causing more nightwakings than previously as it can disturb their sleep.

The book does suggest dropping the Cluster Feed at 6 weeks, however some mums prefer to stick with the cluster feeding as it works well for their lo.

That being said, I would definitely give the DF a try for at least a week to see if your lo takes to the DF.  Definitely try offering the DF closer to 10pm and see how you get on.

Good luck, and keep us posted on how you get on.

[CharlieR]

Thanks for replying.  I will try him a bit earlier and stick with it for a week and we will see how that goes. 

One quick question, if baby does sleep until 5.30 or so and I need to feed him then, how do you start the day at 7am to follow the EASY routine?  It would only have been an hour or so since he was fed.

Thanks for the advice.

[* Paula *]

You could offer a smaller feed to tide your lo over until 7 or what we did while our lo was so young, we offered a big feed, put her back to bed and then started the day when she woke up.  It depends on you and how your lo copes.

[CharlieR]

Thanks a mil.  Merry Christmas!!   

[* Paula *]

Merry Christmas to you too.  Hope you had a great day.

Keep us posted on how you get on.