dreamfeed created a habitual waking?

[alunrau]

This question has probably been asked before....

My LO has her last feed close 8pm and then is usually in bed shortly after 8. She then has a DF between 10-11 (usually closer to 11). I was recently told that the DF should be closer to when her next feed should be (so in her case 4 hours from her last feed). So that night I had pumped and left a bottle for DH to do the DF between 11:30 and 12...depending on when he was going to bed. But he said she actually woke up before that....shortly after 11pm. Tonight, I hadn't really made up my mind if I should even do the DF...I've been debating for a couple weeks now if it's actually doing something. She started to stir at about 10:40 and by 11, she was awake and crying!

I think the dreamfeed has created her to have a habitual waking now!!! Does this sound about right? I know when I normally go in for the DF, she opens her eyes!

[~Emma~]

 It did for me with DD, I had to use W2S to get her through it and it worked like a charm. http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=121269.0 We then stopped the DF with her as it caused more NW.

 Thing is as well if you do the DF after 11 it can actually interfere with nightsleep and cause NW so I owuld stick to doing it between 10 and 11 if you can.

[alunrau]

I think I'm gonna try W2S and stop the dreamfeed for a few nights and see what happens. I think it used to work....but since she's been about 3 months our nights have been horrid anyways! So I'd rather be able to go to bed earlier and have 2 nightfeeds rather than staying up to do the DF, and still having 2 nightfeeds or more!!!

[alunrau]

Emma, another couple questions...

Did the DF work for your DD at one point? I used to do the DF and then she'd sleep for 5-6 hours, feed, and then give me another 3 hours. Things are totally foggy these days, but she never used to open her eyes and wake up when I did the DF, and I wonder if thats when things started to go crappy. Since she's been about 3 months, our nights have gone down the drain!

Once you got her out of habitually waking around the time of the dreamfeed, did your nights improve? Was she EBF? It's nice to be able to compare BF babies to BF, because I think formula fed babes tend to be able to go longer between feeds anyways.

Also, I find that she's in a light sleep between 10-11, because it doesn't seem to matter at what time I do the DF, she wakes easily. So what time should I do W2S? At 9 or 9:30?? Her bedtime is typically around 8/8:30pm.

Sorry for all the questions....I'm really hoping for reassurance that things will get better soon....!

[alunrau]

So I didn't do the DF last night. I didn't have a chance to do W2S either, because I was going to do it slightly before 10....but she woke up by herself for some reason at 9:45! She then woke for a feed at 12:30 and then again at 5am, then up for the day at 8am. I must say it's one of the better nights we've had in a long time!! I was hoping that she'd make it until closer to 2am for her 1st feed as I know she can go 6 hours without eating.....but I'm just happy with only 2 NW!! (of course I slept horrible last night anyways because I couldn't stop thinking about when she was going to wake up!!!)

[Buntybear]

Hi, IMHO I wouldn't drop the DF yet, you are prob about to hit a massive growth spurt and you will need it to help get you through it! We EBF and didn't start the DF until after the 4 month growth spurt as we needed the extra feed then.

[alunrau]

Even if it's disrupting her sleep? The past little while we've been having about 4 night wakings...AFTER the dreamfeed! Mama's tired! haha So, last night, having only two was great!

I feel like we've just had one huge growth spurt between 3-4months! I'm not sure what is normal for weight gain, but she gained about 8 ounces last week....I think thats alot?!

I don't know what to do anymore....!

I've also read the book "The Wonder Weeks", which we are apparently smack dab in the middle of one....and it's my LO to a "T". So I'm also hoping that this craziness will only last another couple of weeks and then start to improve....but maybe that's just wishful thinking???

[Buntybear]

You have to do what feels right for you. We are all different and that was just my opinion. If you want to drop the DF then go right ahead. We found that W2S worked well for us. Find a time period that works for you. Olly also rouses around 10pm anyway, even now 10-11 is when he will wake if he is going to wake. If that is the case then go in at 9.45 and W2S. If that doesn't work then try a different time for a few nights.

HTH

[alunrau]

Oh man, I don't know what to do anymore! I wish someone could just come over and say "Oh, well silly girl, this is what you need to do!" haha. I was looking at the cover of the book BW solves all your problems last night thinking, "HA, yah right...your not solving my problems!!" lol just feeling a little discouraged at the moment!

I'm so scared for this 4 month growth spurt....I keep reading how it's so big....what does that even mean??? So far we haven't really noticed any GS's. I'm so scared I'm not going to feed her when she's actually hungry and that it's just going to cause even more problems!!

[yjlzelik]

Alunrau I totally feel your pain! I just started EASY because my LO days were a mess and she went from sleeping from 11-5 (sometimes even 7!) to waking at 3 and 6 She is also going to be 3 months next week.

I don't know if she is waking from hunger or because of the change in routine.... I fed her because she was very upset and she only gets like that when is hungry. (I think!)

[~Emma~]

 Hey hon, sorry been offline for a while.

 I was EBF at the time when I was doing the DF. It caused her to wake more in the night, it just messed with her sleep cycles I guess. I did w2s and then stopped it and went back to NF whenever she woke herself, she was much more settled this way.

 FWIW my BF bub only ever had one noticable GS at 3 weeks. She never had any that were noticeable after that. I waited and waited but they never came! You might get lucky too.

 Personally if oyu are getting more NW since trying the DF I would stop for maybe 5 days and see if it makes a difference to your nights.

((((hugs))))

[alunrau]

Thanks for the info Emma!

I stopped the DF for a couple nights and then started again. The nights that I didn't do the DF, we had 2 NF...which was expected. So now the last couple nights of doing the DF, she's taken more again...so I'm not sure why she wasn't taking very much for a while there. Our nights are getting better too! Last night she woke at 2:45am, but DH went in and put the white noise on and she fell back asleep. Then she woke at 5am for a feed, then back to sleep until 8:30am.

I'm hoping I won't be jinxing things by talking about it....but hopefully our bad nights were just a phase, and we're on our way out...fingers crossed!

I'm glad to hear that you didn't notice any GS! I keep reading about them...especially the 4mos one...and keep scaring myself! Hopefully we're in the same boat as you!

[~Emma~]

Fingers crossed your good nights continue!   

[yjlzelik]

yay! thats great.. very inspiring