dream feed?

[mum101]

At the moment my DS feeds at 7:30pm, then 1 or 2 am, then 5-6am...

This means I go to bed at 9pm, which I know is only temporary while he is young, but was wondering if there is real benefit to a df at 10pm then me off to bed straight away and hope he sleeps to later than 2am?

I didn't do a df with DD as I wanted her to naturally extend her 3am feed rather than have to wean off the habit of a 10pm df at a later date...  thoughts?

[akvareli]

for me the benefit of DF was teaching my dd last longer between feeds at night - say, her last feed was at 19. Then I'd feed her round 22. So when she'd wake up at 1, i knew she was not hungry so I'd pat/sh her and wait for her next waking up, that time from hunger. worked for me. It took some 3 days to be able to move to something like E - 19, 22, 3 am, 8 am. and in some three weeks - E - 19, 23, 5 am. you could give a try and see what suits you best

cheers,

[Vicku]

Hi!

I did pretty much the same as akvareli, and eventually (later along the line of course) she then slept through from df til 6 am and I prefered to have her sleep her longest stretches while I slept IYKWIM.

However, I think it's pretty good how he feeds 1/2 am and the lasts til almost morning. DD would wake at 12/1, then 3/4, then 6/7 if I didn't do df and only 3/4 and 6/7 if I did do it.

I guess the only way to find out if it would be better for you is to try it out for a few nights and see how he gets on. My DD always went straight back to sleep after df too, but not all bubs do.
Judging by the time he sleeps now between bedtime feed and first night feed, he can go about 6 hrs (which is excellent at his age!) so, theoretically, if you df at 10 he could last til 4am. That's theoretically though... but probably worth a try.

Good luck!

[Mum of 3 + 2 stepkids]

Hi mum101, I never used to do the df and my ds was going through as 11 weeks, the only reason i introduced it was for lack of weight gain. But if you don't have that problem then pesonaly i wouldn't do it. Either way is good its just personal choice.

Kate x

[Karin3]

I had a lot of issues with getting rid of the df with Mimi so I'm kind of scared of it. lol 

I tried it with ds for a few nights but it didn't work for us.  I would have to totally wake him up to get him to take it and he didn't seem to go longer at night.  I might try again with ebm after we introduce the bottle.

[eireann74]

i personally wouldnt advise the DF. as many moms have stated in other posts, it can really disrupt sleep. it did in our case w/ DD and we are still dealing with it.

[mum101]

hmmm, i did stay up last night and give it a go, but he wouldn't wake up and he seemed content to stay that way!  In fact it almost looked like he was laughing at me when I tried to attach him! 

I think I'll just keep going to bed earlier.  Thinking about what you guys have said I think I'll not mess with it and look forward to when he sleeps past 2am!

thanks 

[kosmofitness]

Hello,
With regards to your DF questions, my LO is 10 weeks old. I am struggling with getting her past the nightwakings of 2am, 4am, and 5am. She is a great sleeper though from 7:30 right through until between 2 and 3am. I DF between 10-11 and have been doing so for about 10 days and have not had her sleep through the 2am or 4am wake up. I have also tried "tanking her up" but that doesn't seem to be working either. Does anyone have any suggestions. Will my LO grow out of these wakings on her own, or will I never have longer than a three hour stretch of continuous sleep until she is much, much older?

Thank you so much

[Mum of 3 + 2 stepkids]

hmmm, i did stay up last night and give it a go, but he wouldn't wake up and he seemed content to stay that way!  In fact it almost looked like he was laughing at me when I tried to attach him! 

'Laughing at you' that made me chuckle.

kosmofitness - arh don't worry your time will come, big hugs hang in there

Kate x