7 week baby dream feeding but still waking at 2am

[kim1977]

Hi All

I am new to this so please bear with me...

My baby is 7 weeks old and weighs 4.5kg (9lb 14oz) and is bottle fed.   For the last 2 weeks he has been sleeping from 7pm to between 2am-4am then waking between 6am-7.30am.  Because of this he only took 5 feeds in 24 hours.

For the last few nights I have been dream feeding him but he won't take the full feed and still wakes between 2am-3am for a feed then wakes at 6.30-7am.

His routine is as follows:

7am - Feed 120ml (but this is a struggle)
8.30am-9.30am - Nap (probably only sleeps half an hour)
10.45am - Feed 120ml
11.30am-2.00pm - Nap
2.30pm - Feed 120ml
4.00pm-5.00pm - Nap
6.15pm - Massage & Bath
6.45pm - Feed 120ml
7.15pm - Sleep
10.30pm - Dream Feed 60ml-90ml
2.00am-3.00am - Feed 90ml (try giving less but gets really agitated and have to give in otherwise fear bad night of settling/frequent waking)

He suffers from reflux and in the early days we had a really hard time with night waking and settling (sometimes 3 hours or crying in the night).  I guess before I started the dream feed it was the best it has ever been with just the 1 night waking but I was thinking that by introducing the dream feed the long sleep would be the right side of midnight but he is still waking.

Any advice would be much appreciated. 

Am I trying to run before I can walk?

Many Thanks
Kim

PS - I tried to settle him with a dummy at 2am wakings but to no avail he wants milk!!!

[Lolly]

Hi there and welcome!

Having one nightfeed after a dreamfeed at 7 weeks is totally normal and will probably carry on for a while yet. In fact if he is only having one feed between the DF and wake up you are actually doing really well! Don't forget their tummies are tiny and need frequent feeding for all the growing they are doing, so not many babies will go from DF to wake up without a feed at 7 weeks. I didn't ever bother trying to resettle at this age if it had been at least 3 hours from the last feed - it was quicker to feed and resettle rather than think they had settles and be up again shortly!

With the day feeds, is he draining those bottles? If he is you need to add another oz into the bottle.

If he is having trouble settling at naps and night it may be worth looking at your routine - you seem to be doing well but your A times are a bit long which is probably why the first nap is such a short one. Here is a link to some routines http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164027.0. Have a look at the A times in the routines, you need to remember the A is awake time and includes all activity from eyes open to eyes shut including feeding, changing etc.

What do you think?

Laura

[kim1977]

Hi Laura

Thanks for responding.

He doesn't drain his bottles I just hold it there and hope he gets close to it.

I had a look at the routines.  Maybe I will start his morning nap early and hope he sleeps more then.  He always wakes at 0930 it's like an alarm click!!! 

Do you think it is worth continuing the dream feeds?  It's just that he was sleeping from 7pm to 2-4am without it before and if he wakes anyway at 2-3am is it worth it?   Will it pay off in the long run?

Sorry more questions but just so confused!!!

Thanks
Kim

[Lolly]

Not all babies respond to the DF - my two didn't they would either refuse to drink anything or would wake more after it . We stuck with it for a while and eventually stopped it and just waited for them to wake up hungry.

If you have only just started doing it I would stick with it for a bit longer to let him get used to it and see what happens. He is so small still that one feed after a DF is totally normal. What should happen as he gets bigger is that his DF will be bigger and will push the 2-3am feed closer and closer to wake up time.

If you really feel it's not helping you can always stop it for now and restart it when he gets bigger (or not )

If he always wakes at 9.30 go in to him about 5-10 mins earlier and see if you can resettle with pat/shh or just a hand on him before he wakes up too much!

Laura

[kim1977]

Morning

I did a dream feed at 1030 last night and he woke up at 2am!!  I will keep it going for another week, if he doesn't start pushing the time out further then 2am I will stop it's not worth risking him waking up and not settling!!!!  Feel better knowing it doesn't work for everyone!

Thanks for your advice.

Xxx