how do you know when to drop the dream feed?

[torontotwinmom]

How do you know when to drop the dream feed?

My LOs are 7.5 months (6.5 months adjusted) and have been on solids for a month, and are eating solids three times a day.  They are good eaters (when it comes to stuff they like!)  But lately their naps have been terrible, even the morning nap (which used to be okay) and I"m wondering if the dream feed is messing up their sleep at night?  We put them to bed around 7, do the dream feed around 10:45, and they wake up around 6:30-7:00.

I'd love to drop the dream feed, as my husband travels a lot and that is the hardest feed for me to do on my own.  But I really don't want to be woken in the night by hungry babies!  I am breast feeding so it's a bit tougher to just up their milk feeds during the day...

thanks!

[Chicane]

Hi there

I cant find the exact age that Tracy suggests you drop it but I do think its around the 6 month mark. it could very well be interrupting their sleep cycle.

I think if you are ready to drop it then give it a try and see how you go. You may need to give it a few days of testing before it takes effect.

If you like post up what a typical day looks like in EAS format and we can check out whats going on. Also dont forget there is a growth spurt around now too

hugs
x

[torontotwinmom]

Hi Chicane,

Here is an example of our schedule, on a good day: 

Wake: ~6:30
Eat: 7:15 (milk + solids)
Sleep: 8:50 - 10:30
Eat: 11:00 (milk + solids)
Sleep: 12:45 - 2:10
Eat: 2:30 (milk + solids)
Sleep ATTEMPT (often unsuccessful) 4:35
Milk, bath, bed: by 7:00

The last week or so, they seem to wake up tired - like this morning, they spent the whole first A time yawning.  I put them in bed 2 hours after they woke up, but they were up again after 45 minutes (seeming UT!)  A (further) complication is that DD used to take a soother when she was OT and that calmed her right down, but she has recently started refusing it and can get very frantic when she's OT, so I am trying to err on putting them to bed too early rather than too late.

BUT the main purpose of this post was about the dream feed and if I can stop it.   If they wake up in the middle of the night once you drop it, do you feed them?  Or can you generally push your way through until morning?  I don't want them associating waking up in the night with getting fed.

(Also, they seem to have hit their growth spurts at their chronological ages, so I think we're past the 6 month spurt).

Thanks for any help you can provide!!

[Chicane]

Hi there

Sorry for being late in responding...been a bit messy over here too

how has it been going these last few days?

As far as the DF - yes you can try dropping it, in my personal opinion I would still feed if they wake up if they are hungry. You will know becuase if they take a full feed then it was hunger...if they start to wake at exactly the same time every night then its habit and you can try training them out of it using any number of the BW techniques, probably shh/pat is best at this age though. Others would say just go straight for the training and don't feed them if they wake up, its really your choice how you want to deal with that situation. Remember it may take a few days or even a week for them to realise the DF is no longer happening so you need to allow them some time to adjust...

hope this helps x

[babyaaron]

Hello there,

Our little one is 4.5 months old and has been on a good 4 hr easy for a few weeks now.  He has been sleeping well through the night for about a month now or more (bed at 7, DF at 11, up between 6-7).  He now has a cold and I think he may be teething.  For the past 4 nights he has been waking up between 4-5am.  I have been able to settle him back to sleep with sh/pat and re-swaddling for the most part.  I am concerned that he might think this is the new routine as he seems to so easily fall into his routines...any suggestions or is this just part of "bumps" in the road with teething and illness etc?

[Chicane]

Hi babyaaron

I think this would defo be because of the cold. 4.5 months is quite early to be teething but you never know. I find when DS has a cold its a bit hard for him to breath so when he wakes during the sleep cycle he has trouble getting back down on his own and needs a bit of comfort. I think if you keep going with the resettling techniques you will be fine as you are not introducing any props and he's getting back down eventually...if in a few more days when the cold is gone and if its still happening then i suggest you re post in a new topic with what a typical day looks like in an EAS format and we can look at tweaking your routine

hugs x