Do you double up on night feedings?

[luvmybaby]

Wanted to get a feel for the number of people who double up on night feedings, for example feeding at 6 pm, 8 pm and then a dreamfeed at 10 pm.  Just want to hear how it is working for others.  Thanks!!

[Iggy]

I tried doubling up on my 7 week olds night feeds.  With one at 6pm, 8pm and then a dream feed about 10 - 10.30pm.  Fpr me personally it really didnt work at all.  Hed take the 6 and 8 feeds but by the time it got to the dream feed he just didnt want to know.  He was still full from the other feeds.  Since it was the dreamfeeds i wanted to concentrate on, by cluster feeding before it was defeating the object.  This also meant he wouldnt sleep any longer for it.
Now what i do is feed him as normal leading up to his bedtime feed (9pm ish) and then just do a dreamfeed about 11pm.  The last 2 or 3 nights hes slept till 6am!!  So its really worked for me doing it like that.  Good luck with whatever method you choose.
Mum to Jack, 7 weeks.

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

We tried to cluster feed when my dd was about 3 or 4 months, but she wouldn't take any more than she was taking in a single feed.  She would just spread it out over the feeds.  So we stopped doing it so she'd eat it all at once and hopefully it would sit in her tummy longer than when she was splitting it up.  We've never tried a dreamfeed, but I know it has worked well for many.  My dd started sleeping through at 5 months from 7:30 pm - 6 am so we were very lucky.  HTH

[Maddysmom]

It has worked really well for my dd. She was eating 5:30 and 7:30 with a DF at 10:30. She has been doing that since 6wks of age.
Dh and I were just talking and we've decided to stop clusterfeeding because she's not taking much anymore at the 7:30 feed. I think because the last week we introduced solids. So starting tommorow her schedule will look like this: 7am bottle, 8am cereal, 11am bottle, 3pm bottle, 7pm bottle and DF at 10:30. I hope it works! Good luck in whatever decision you make!
Madison born 02/24/2004 (angel baby)

[bobby's mama]

Starting at about 6pm my ds will start cluster feeding.  This was started on his own, like he was storing up or something.  He will talke a bottle almost every hour from 6pm-10pm.  It seems like he never stops eating between those hours.  It seems to work well though.  At 6wks now after that 10pm feed he doesn't wake until around 2am and then around 6am.

[js050574]

My 8 week old has a bottle at 11am, 2.30pm, 4.30pm and a final bottle at 7.30pm then by 8pm she is asleep. We manage to slip in a extra feed although at the 4.30 feed she normally leaves about 40mls.She doesn't wake up to 2am Last week was a good week she went to 4am most days. During the day she cat naps the longest being 45 minutes but I don't mind as long as she sleeps at night. My advice is start earlier during the day to get an extra feed in.  GOODLUCK[/b]

[wanna]

I've managed to get our 9 week old to have 6oz around 5pm before his bath and then another 3/4oz at 7pm before bed then 5/6oz at 10/10.30. Seems to have helped as if he wakes at 3am for a feed he'll only take 3oz (tho if his dad is getting up that particular night he doesn't wake until 5am?!!  Bit of favouritism I think  :? )

[danielsmum]

Wish I'd known i could do this.  My baby appears really hungry in the evening and I've been making him wait for a feed.  Just fed him 2 hrs after the last feed and he took nearly the whole bottle.  No wonder he always cries.  Fingers crossed.

[Elodie's Mum]

We've just started trying this with our 18-week-old baby girl. We added a feed between her 4pm and 7.30pm feeds. Trouble is, she's not a big eater (despite a good and constant weight gain). She sometimes takes about 60ml more at the 6pm feed, but sometimes only 20ml and more often than not she refuses it altogether.

We'll keep trying gently, though! I have high hopes for the idea and I'm sure she'll take to it eventually. She does take a dream feed at about 10.30pm so at least that's helping.

[zoomie]

My lo is 6 wks old,  this seems to be his daily routine (roughly)   Id like to take credit,  but I cant,  he kind of sorted it himself!

wakes between 6.30 and 7am
7am    4oz
9am    4oz
12md  5oz
3pm    4oz
5.30 bathtime
6pm   4oz
8pm   3oz
10.30/11pm dreamfeed 4oz
4am   4oz

always has active time for about 20/30 mins after each feed,  followed by either sleep or just contented quiet time in his crib.

HTH       Ria

[Oakley's Mom]

We had the cluster feed going until a couple of weeks ago when my son turned 3 months old.  Although Tracy says it should be consolidated around 8 weeks old, I wasn't willing to give it up just yet, as DS was still waking to eat at night.  But the past 2 weeks we have been switching to a 4 hour routine, and started to use PUPD to wean out the night time feed!  It is working out faster and easier than I ever dreamed of! wow! PTL!

[beatiekie]

My little Mack is currently one week old and I was wondering at what age you start the cluster- and dreamfeeds? I don't recall Tracy mentionning it in any of her books. I tried yesterday to feed at 4pm, then 6pm. He emptied almost the whole bottle of 90ml at 6pm but threw up almost half just after the feed. I guess his stomach is just too small still or that his food isn't properly digested after two hours to allow clusterfeeding. I recall a similar problem with my little daughter (although she suffered from reflux) three years ago. Can anybody help? What is a good age to start clusterfeeding?

[Oakley's Mom]

you are right, she doesn't specify exactly what goes on before the age of 4 weeks, but the example of a 4 week old on easy does include both the cluster feeds and the dream feed.

[becky1969]

Actually, in her problem solving book she says you can start the cluster feed/dream feed as soon as you bring the baby home from the hospital. However, we found in the first 2 weeks that while our baby was eager to eat at cluster feeds, his little tummy wasn't big enough to hold it. She says if the clusters don't work, concentrate on the dream feed. That's what we've been trying to do (altho we still aren't getting the dream feed right yet! However, since our baby will sleep from 12 am-4:30 am, I guess I shouldn't complain!)