Erratic Sleep on EASY

[Noah's mum]

Hi everyone! I'm wondering if anyone can come up with answers for my son's erratic night waking. He'll be 11 weeks tomorrow and for the past week has been on the EASY routine. We'd already been doing a loose three hour routine, so he's taken to EASY quite easily. What's confusing me is how he sleeps at night. All week we've been putting him to bed at 8:30 (after a consistent bedtime routine of bath, cluster feeds etc) but each night he's woken at different times. For instance, one night he slept for eight hours before waking for a feed, and then another night it was five hours and another night it was six hours. I can only assume he's waking up because he's hungry - but can't understand why one night is so different from the next. I haven't tried a dream feed yet. Do you think it would make a difference? I'd love any suggestions! BTW, he's BF.

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

I think when they are hungry they really do wake up "whenever"!  8 hours between feeds is fantastic at his age!  A dream feed would help in theory to push that 8 hours later so he is closer to "sleeping through".  What time is his last feed?  The dream feed should be given before 11 so it's not a night feed.  It might take a week or so for him to get the hang of it.

[vadensmommy]

I can honestly say I think the DF was the key to getting dd to sleep all night long.  That and a very firm EASY for the first month or so.  I tried not to deviate too drastically (unless dd's cues were really showing she needed something different) for a while, and made sure she napped in the same place for as many naps as I could.  Also instituted a good wind down routine, and between those things, she really did great.  I would give the DF a go, we still do it (dd is 6mo) and I still LOVE it.  I think it is one of the best things I ever learned from BW!

[Noah's mum]

Thanks for your ideas! I think I will get started on a dreamfeed and see how we go from there. At least waking from hunger should be easier to fix than waking from habit! Sarah, I've been doing his last feed at 7:45 and then he's been fast asleep by 8:30. So perhaps do the dreamfeed at 10:30 or so?

[Brandonsmom]

I also agree with them waking up can be very erratic. I could never do a dream feed with Brandon because his bedtime was 7/7:30 at that age and trying to get him to wake up to take a bottle was next to impossible, even with a diaper change. He just wouldn't wake up to take the feeding. So DH and I just accepted that one of us would get up anywhere from 1-4 in the morning for that late night feeding. By the time he was 3 months he had dropped it. If he's going 6-8 hours between feedings at night that is really great for his age. I bet he could go longer if you could get a dreamfeed to work. Hope it works out for you!

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

yeah 10-10:30. probably 10:30 for you because last feed is quite late.