Dreamfeed 9 week old...how and when??

[kaynay]

Our 9 week old wont dreamfeed in fact it interrupts his sleep even more ...so my question is...he naturally starts stirring around 11 or 12 and sometimes between at 1115 or 12 or 1 he has gone to 2 am before...so lately I have held back given dummy and see if he goes back to sleep which he does always from 30min to 1.5 hrs...I just want him to have a good feed when he wakes...so if I start the dreamfeed again a few question...

do I do it when he stars stirring 1115? what if he doesnt take enough? when we do it he takes half a bottle 2 .5 oz ebm...I dont dare give him the boob he wont take enough I am certain.

if I give it to him before he is ready what do I do if he wakes at his regular feeding time between 12 and 2 am I know he isnt hungry? pat ssshh doesnt work for us...in fact when we intervene at all aside from pacy he just wakes up more...he goes to bed independently all the time sometimes cries out between cycles his eyes are closed and he always goes back on his own the pacy I have been using in the night to extend feeds as I think he can do 1 night feeding now between 12-2 and then again early am.

I would like to introduce dreamfeed to see if he can go 11-5 but am worried he wont take enough and am worried when he wakes for his normal eating if he didnt finish his DF bottle that he is hungry and risk introducing 2 night feeds again?

is using the pacy when he stirs a prop or am I right to extend if he almost always goes back to sleep?

or should I dreamfeed right away when I know he isnt so hungry?

is the point of dreamfeed for them to be hungry or is the point to get them before they wake or stir so they totally stay down til the am?

am confused on how to do this...it seems going from 730 to 12/2 am is good then feed again in am in hopes of him extending even further to 3/4 am in the coming weeks with his 5/6 feed moving to 7 am start of day?



generally once he has his first feed at night he eats again 4.5 hours later if he goes down at 730 and had a 5oz ebm bottle at 710 he  sleeps til 12-2 then eats then wakes between 5-6 am

[~ Vik ~]

Bumping for you

Heading to work for the day but will be back with thoughts tonight!

[kaynay]

ok thanks on standby...wink...

[~ Vik ~]

Hi again

Just want to start off by saying that some babies never take to the dreamfeed - it interrupts their sleep too much, or gives them gas and causes nws, or, in the case of bfed babies, they just don't latch on well and don't take a proper feed.  So though I definitely encourage you to try again, it may not work and that's ok!  Remember though, that it can take up to a week for the df to have any effect on nightwakings, so you have to give it a chance   Have you read http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65750.0?  Tons of great information, have a read and let me know what you think!

is the point of dreamfeed for them to be hungry or is the point to get them before they wake or stir so they totally stay down til the am?

It is truly meant to be a DREAM feed - while they are sleeping.  If you hear stirring and then go to feed, it isn't truly a dreamfeed, but a night feed (does that make sense?)

is using the pacy when he stirs a prop or am I right to extend if he almost always goes back to sleep?

You definitely are running the risk of the paci becoming a prop, if it isn't already.  The challenge is, if you are always using the paci to extend, he will become reliant on it whenever he wakes.  And then even if you're not feeding at night, you will be up at all hours replugging the paci   Are you going to him at first noise?  Or are you hanging back to see if he settles himself?  Does he fall asleep independently?  It may be worth a post on the props board to see if any other moms can offer some insight.  My ds never took to a paci so I'm pretty useless in that regard

HTH!

[kaynay]

I truly feel the dreamfeed interrupts his sleep he is impossible to wake to feed and at 11 or 10 he is in a deep deep sleep...as for pacy he doesnt really "take it" other than that time and he spits it out very shortly thereafter but I do agree ...I do hang back a lot but when he wakes those times is a very anxious lip smacking his head tossing about left to right trying to find food so its for a feed unlike his wake time at 615ish when its a clear ""I am awake!"...thanks a lot! Know I know the DF is a true DF not during the stirring...