Baby won't dream feed? Take heart

[threefold_cord]

Hi a couple months ago I posted on this site in desperation because my lo #2 was not doing well with the dream feed. I would give him the dream feed and then he would decide to wake up every 2-3 hours throughout the night or I wouldn't give him the feed and then lo would wake up at 2 am. I was tired beyond measure and feeling a bit stupid since baby #1 did so well with the dream feed and slept so well throughout the night with it.I had loaned my  BW book to a first time mom but when I started having difficulty I had to ask for it back .
So it seemed for a while that BW was not going to work for lo #2. Lo is a touchy baby with some spirited as well by the way whereas lo #1 is a textbook-angel baby. However I decided to stick to the BW routine as much as possible doing pat-shush and trying my best to cope without sleep and two babies under two  . Soon lo #2 began waking at 3 instead of 2 and then 4 and then 5:30am! . (Lo #2 also nurses more frequently during the day also which was different than baby #1. 
After a while I decided that if lo could last all the way until 5:30 then he could also last till 6:30. So a couple of times when lo woke I asked DH to try to put him back to sleep. It took an hour to put lo back to sleep but after a couple of times lo was waking at 6:30 am.
So at 3 months of age touchy baby #2 is sleeping from 6:30-6 or 7-6:45am! . With no DF in between! So for those of you who find that the dream feed isn't working for you lo take heart! Your lo may be trying to go the whole stretch of the night and needs your patience and help to do it.
Joanne

[RachelC]

Glad to hear you stuck with it.  BW can work, it's just hard sometimes   

[Aly Mac]

Glad to hear you had that experience.  My lo never did the df either - I cluster fed instead - and she slept thru quite early too.  never thought of it in that context before.

[Lilo's mom]

Hello, I know this topic is quite old, but I found it while googling and this addresses exactly my situation, so I was hoping we could bring it back! Lo is 3 months and does not dream feed...I am trying to find the best routine so thatvhe sleeps through the nigyht. He is breastfed and the average interval after bedtime for him is 6 hours.
Joanne nd Ali Mac, could you possibly let me know the routine you had back then? How many times did your los feed? Anyone else has this experiençe?
Thanks

[brummum]

I hope Rachel and Aly Mac can pop back on this thread for you but just wanted to say that please don't be disheartened if you don't get LO sleeping thru at 3 months. 6hrs at this age is absolutely brilliant and a lot (I'd go as far as to say the majority) of babies will not do it at this age regardless of routine or whether they are having a dream feed. Just don't want you or Anyone else thinking that they are doing something 'wrong' if their LO won't do the above. Fingers crossed yours will though!

[Lilo's mom]

Thanks for the encouragement!!! I am a first time mom so dont have much of a comparison basis... And I hear a lot of moms who say their babies  sleep through the night even younger, so I was wondering if I needed to improve something. Thanks

[melloyello]

Hi Lilo's mom, I'm in the same situation as you where my DD (who is now almost 5 months) never took to the DF so we just stopped it eventually. I wasn't sure how she would ever sleep thru the night without it, but she slowly but surely has been adding to her long stretch of sleep and now we are up to about 8-9 hours straight. This takes up to about 4-4:30am and I'm hoping she'll continue to keep sleeping longer till she makes it till morning. Like brummum said, your LO is doing great if he is doing 6 hours. That's about where we were at 3 months too, maybe a bit less actually. You will get there!

[Lilo's mom]

Thanks Melloyello for your encouraging post!! By 3 months, were you feeding 6 or 7 times? Were you at 3 hrs? Did you cluster feed?
I am asking because currently I am feeding him 7 times (including one cluster feeding 2 hours before his last meal), but I would like to feed only 6 times as he gets terribly sleepy in his last feed, and doesnt seem hungry by the time he gets to eat... I just wouldnt like to mess up with his routine if not for a purpose, that is why I ask!
Thanks again! This forum is so helpful!!!

[melloyello]

At 3 months I believe we were feeding 7 or 8 times (that included 2 night feeds) and we did every 3 hours during the day. It was around that age where she started to seem less interested at each feeding and not taking as much so we started spacing them out to every 3.5 hours and dropped one feeding. We did and still do a cluster feed in the evening where she nurses 1.5-2 hours before her bedtime feed. It took awhile for her to catch on to this but now she will take quite abit for both feeds and sort of "tanks" up before bed. Hope that helps.