Time of dreamfeed

[VickyB20]

Hi!  My identical twin boys are 15 weeks old and have been on EASY from Day 1 (well, I was at least conscious of working towards it from Day 1!)  I'm struggling with them waking up hungry around 4am and then not being hungry by wake-up time at 7ish which can throw off our routine for the rest of the day.  It's particularly difficult if one wakes up hungry at, say 5am and the other one doesn't!  One of them has been through till 7am without a feed at all about 3 times, but neither have in the last week!

Our 4-hour EASY routine looks like this (start time varies):-

7am Wake up and breastfeed
9am Sleep for 2 hours (I often need to re-settle them - sometimes with a paci - after the first sleep cycle)
11am Breastfeed
1pm Sleep for 2 hours (as above!)
3pm Breastfeed
5pm Sleep for 45 minutes
6 or 6:30 Breastfeed
Bath
7 or 7:30 Bedtime (I normally insist they fall asleep without the paci!)
10:30 or 11 Dreamfeed

I've been thinking about doing the dreamfeed at about 1am instead.  That way they could (theoretically!) do six hours either side of a 1am feed and I could go to bed early and not have to wait up to do the dreamfeed!  But I remember something in Tracy's book about this negatively affecting a baby's biorhythms and causing more sleep problems.  Does anyone have experience of this?

If making the d/f later is a bad idea, any other suggestions?

Thanks.
Vicky

[momofclaire]

I did try the df at midnight when Claire was still waking for the 3:30-4:00am feed. She was doing so well, only waking then to eat and then right back down. I thought I could do the df later (previously at 10:15-10:30) and she wouldn't need that early am feed. The first night it worked so I did it again.  The second night was a different story.  She woke fully when I was tryng to df her and I couldn't get her back to sleep.  When I did, she woke every hour after that till morning.  The next night I did the df at midnight again, thinking the night before was a fluke.  She ate, went back to sleep but then woke 3 times between 12:30 and 7.  I kept trying for a week when it dawned on me (duh) to go back to an early dream feed.  When I moved it back to 10:30, she stopped waking and slept fine, except that she would stir around midnight, cry out and then go back to sleep.  I did wake 2 sleep for that and it ended.  So, long story short, I wouldn't do a df later than 10:30 or 11:00.

[Colin Macs Mom]

I could never do a DF with Colin - his sleep was much more disturbed and he woke more with it. That happens sometimes, but clusterfeeding in the evening worked well for us as an alternative and accomplished the desired effect all the same.

[victoriab]

It sounds like you may need to get more calories in your los during the day, that usually helps them sleep better at night.  Since they are not quite 4 months yet (that's when you would usually start a 4 hour easy), you may want to try feeding every 3 hours again and see if that helps.  I am not sure how big your boys are or if they are not hungry at the 3 hour mark, but I would not move the dreamfeed later as it would interrupt their sleep cycle.  You can try moving it a little earlier also, say 10-1030 instead of 1030-1100.

[VickyB20]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

I'm going to get them weighed this afternoon but if they're on the same centile still, they'll be on their way to 15 lbs now, so they're big for twins, for their age.  I moved to a 4 hour routine because they just weren't taking enough at 3 hours.  Kayden, in particular, just wouldn't eat properly at 3 hours.  Perhaps I'll try 3 1/2 horus.  That would involve waking them early from their nap though.  Is that what you'd suggest?

Last night, I went to bed really early and decided to just see what happened.  Kayden woke at quarter to twelve, really hungry, so I fed him and he had a great feed.  He woke again at 4:45 and ate at 5:30 and finally fell asleep (in bed with me) at 6:15.  Brynley didn't stir till 1:30 when I fed him (didn't seem like such a great feed) and he then slept through till 6:30 (typically just minutes after Kayden went back to sleep.  Aaahh!!)  Not a great night, all in all!!  So I think I'll try bringing the df earlier rather than later!!

Thanks again for any help.

Vicky

[Colin Macs Mom]

Personally, I would not wake them from a nap to eat. If they are really hungry they'd wake on their own. I'd recommend shooting for 3.5 but when that interferes with a nap, then just feed when they wake.

[victoriab]

I agree with Jessica.  If they were not eating well at 3 hours, you can try 3.5, but I wouldn't mess with the naps.  Just feed them when they wake up.

[VickyB20]

Well last night was a bit better.  I did the df at 10 instead of 11 and we didn't hear a peep from either of them till 3:45 when Brynley woke.  I fed him although I don't think he was actually that hungry.  I then fed Kayden too (he didn't wake up) who slept like I log then until 7am.  Unfortunately Brynley was up at 5am, had a 15 minute powernap at 7am and was then back on his normal 9am nap!  (I was amazed... I thought he'd be knackered!)

So they seem to be taking it in turns to start their day at 5am.  Aaahhh!!!  I could really do without that!  Hopefully one day they'll both sleep till 7am on the same day!  We're going to 'bite the bullet' and put them in their own room at the weekend.  I think that part of the problem is that now they're 4 months old, if they stir at 5am when the light is beginning to come in the room, they see us in bed on the other side of their cot and want to play.

Vicky
x

[Colin Macs Mom]

It does sound like the time to get them into their own room. I did find that it helped Colin's sleep when we did that.