waking up after dreamfeed...

[emily3434]

hi all --

I have a 15 week old -- we just went through a MESSY few weeks adjusting from 45 minute naps, and frequent night wakings.

now he is on track and sleeping well and we are on a 4 hour routine. however, after I go in at 10 or 10:30 to give him the dreamfeed, he wakes up after I put him down about 45 minutes later...and sometimes again 45 minutes after that.  should I not give the dreamfeed, and just wait for him to wake up and ask for food???

at 15 weeks, I know he's probably too young to go through the night without a feed.  I hate to disturb his sleep to feed him, then have him wake up later...but I'm also not sure if its a good idea to get him in the habit of waking up at night himself to eat. 

ideas???

[Texomamama]

Hmm, my 14 wk old usually sleeps during and after her DF.  I would think that if it woke them up, it would be during the actual feed itself.  Perhaps the DF is not stimulating him enough to wake him up, but is disturbing his sleep enough to alter the transition to the next sleep cycle. 

I would think the only way you can know for sure is to try at least 3 nights without the DF and see what happens.

We are also going through the same thing with 45-60 min naps.  How did you get it to resolve (or did it just happen on its own?).

[Vicku]

Hi there,

Could you post your routine (what an average day looks like) so we can have a look at eating and sleeping more in detail and see if anything sticks out? Is he EBF? 15 weeks is quite early for a EBF baby to be going 4 hrs between feeds, but of course some do and do very well on it. Just thought it may be worth us having a peek at your routine and see if anything could be contributing to his waking.

I agree you could try without the DF, just feed when he wakes instead and see how that affects things. Some babies do better without a DF others really thrive on it and the only way to find out is by trial and error.
The other option is to try doing the DF a bit later, around the time when he'd usually wake instead, so say try at 10:45 or 11 and see if that works better with his sleep cycles. If it was me I'd try it a bit later first and if he's still waking soon after that than I'd try without it.

And yes, 15 weeks is early to be expecting STTN. Some bubs do it on their own accord, but they are rare
There's some more info here http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=98183.0

HTH

[emily3434]

Texomamama  -- the 45 minute thing was a nightmare!!  for naps it was different -- my boy would wake up after 30 minutes....he did that for quite some time before I realized he was overtired, and when I put him down earlier, problem solved.  Now, with the 45 minute thing, with him, he was UNDERtired, and needed more A time.

he is now 16 weeks -- he does a 4 hour schedule very easily.  I was finding that if I fed ever 3-3.5 hrs. he wasn't really hungry, or taking a full meal.

this is what I am during during the day:

7:30 wake/eat
9:15-9:30 sleep
11:30 eat
1-1:30 sleep depending on when he wakes up from last nap
3:30 eat
4:30-5 catnap (45 min)
7-7:30 eat, and to bed

it took a few weeks to lengthen him to 2 hours of awake time, and he is still working on that, so sometimes we have EASAE -- I was finding that he woke 45 minutes after going to bed...then discovered it was because he was sleeping too much during the day, and was undertired, so by shortening his daytime naps, he sleeps like a champ at bedtime.

until...the dreamfeed!!!

Vicku -- good ideas -- I myself, would like to go to bed by 10...and that is why we try the dreamfeed at that time -- but 11 may work, and we will try it for a few days.  he is completely passed out during the feed, but it is disturbing his cycle, because he wakes up later.  could he also be teething?  he is young I think, and we don't feel anything in his mouth, but his is certainly putting everything in his mouth.  he his very happy during the day and never complaines, so we are confused about the night!

[shivi]

could it be that he has some trapped wind?
My DD would wake at 45min to 1 hr after a feed in the night or the DF just to burp and then would go down again.

My two STTN from 14 and 10 weeks respectively so it can be done for sure and they also became little daytimes darlings once on a 4 hr easy but were 18 weeks before we were able to do a proper 4 hr easy. they were both big and chubby on top end of the centiles and were on easy from birth as well as swaddled etc from birth.

for DFs with DS I used EBM in a bottle so DH was able to do it. With DD I DF direct from the breast but I went to bed MUCH earlier and DH would bring her to me, then he would do the reswaddling, nappy change and winding (but of course, sometimes didn't have the willpower to wait for that delicious burp so I would be up with her at the 45 min to 1 hr mark....).

S x

[emily3434]

shivi -- good advice.  my LO does have a lot of wind during all meals...so I'm sure the DF is no different.  Previously, he would take a DF at 10 and sleep through until 7 am, so I know he is able to sleep through   My LO is also very high on the weight charts for his age.

thanks you!  glad to hear someone had the issue and found a solution!

what time did you do the DF?

[shivi]

11pm