A question about Dream feeds!

[stevesmum]

Not sure if this belongs here or elsewhere, but do dreamfeeds really make a difference? I've always done them, thinking the best, but my kids have never really done 10pmdf to 7am mornings until they were solids... a combination of lots of things I know.
I was wondering what happens if you don't df? Do the lo's just wake around 12 or something instead?
Also I;m wondering if I was to drop the df now, with solids twice a day (of sorts) and still bf, what would happen? Currently he's moving his nf out once as late as 5.45 but more often around 4-5am.

[becj86]

I didn't do a DF... DS moved his NFs out on his own. There were 2 for a while - bed at 6:30/7, NFs at 2 and 5, then there was just one at 3 then 4 then it moved to 5 and then disappeared. He was only having one NF by 6 months - they were almost completely gone by 7 months except for GS or the odd day when things went haywire.

[amayzie]

I think the theory is that they;ll wake at 12 or 1 instead. The trade off i guess with the DF is that you feed them every night to save having to get up later, but they might have decided on their own to go through without needing it! We actually dropped it at about the same age as your LO- about a week after the 6 month growth growth spurt was done. We had no MORE night wakings- in that we had 1 feed once every 3 days or so between 4-6am...

SO... my suggestion- drop it and see! If you need to you can start it again. I got sick of doing it!!

[mylittlelovelies]

My DD is 7 months...I stopped doing the DF at 6 months as I got sick of doing it also...and find it too 'stressful' wanting her to do the 10pm till 7am stretch when she is breastfed as I figure it's too hard to control her milk intake enough to be confident.

Before 6 months the DF meant I could feed before I went to bed then only one wake up for NF between 3-5am somewhere.

Now that she is a bit older i don't DF, I let her wake for her NF...sometimes she'll have just one feed...the other night it was 4am! Other nights she might have a feed at 11:30/12 and another at 5am...so then I 'm up twice...but at least now she has the potential to stretch out on her own. I expect that as her solid food intake increases she will lose the night feed on her own...or at least it will move to being just am early morning 4/5am feed (which she may keep till 1 year old or so). 

At the moment her solids intake is quite minimal as we are doing baby led weaning and she makes lots of mess but doesn't eat much

[mylittlelovelies]

So in a nutshell...our LOs are very close in age, my LO hardly eats much yet, so is still mostly breastfed...and she can do 7pm till. 4am some nights...so if it were me I'd drop the DF and see what happens. 'worst' case is you have a second wake up...but you might just keep the NF at 3-5am with no DF.

[amayzie]

Our night wakings went naturally around 8 months or so- we still get them a bit with teething etc..

And MLL- the food should pick up soon- my guy started slowly, but has sure made up for it since!!

[mylittlelovelies]

Thanks amayzie! Yes I'm trying to stay relaxed about food quantity!! Which I think goes along with being relaxed about the night feeds...it all sorts out eventually!
I did BLW with my other daughter also, but can't remember what age she was when she really took off...did you do BLW with Hamish? How old was he when his eating started really picking up?

[amayzie]

Yup BLW all the way.. He startes getting stuff to his mouth rather than just squishing it around 6.5 months.. but has been eating really consistently from about 8 months or so. Up till then he was eating enough- but we'd still have the odd meal where everything would hit the ground! Now not as much..

sorry steve's mum- a little off topic!

Here's a link to the support thread for BLW- have you seen it MLL?

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=224254.0

[mylittlelovelies]

Thanks, I'll take a look

And yes, sorry stevesmum...post hijacking over

How are you going with the DF?

[atlantamomofthree]

Maxine, I'm dropping it now too. When I don't do it he wakes around midnight-1am. Lately when I was doing it, he still woke at 2am anyway, so I figure this is actually better...I think...

[amayzie]

How are you going with the DF?

Nice save MLL!!

[stevesmum]

Well last night he had early bt due to naps so solids at 4.30 last bf at 6, df 10 then went through to 5 which is super... he wasn't hungry for milk til 9.30 though!! So no solids before first nap, they'll have to come later....! fortunately he even went back to sleep until 6.20!
He's loving solids, in fact the more I could give him the happier he'll be I think - he LOVES food, much the same as his big brother did.
I can't see the point in trying to get more out of him in the am, i think he'd just spend the time awake smiling at me, and then 6am would roll around and it would be feed time - it wouldn't make sense to him I don't think as he can't read a clock!
But by dropping the df, would i definitely lose that 5am? He's got there by himself, the more I tried to push him out the worse it got! If I dropped it and it didn't work out (I'm guessing lots of nws)  I could bring it back couldn't i though - though we'll drop it later on anyway hey?

[babycrasher]

Almost similar situtation for me. My 3-month old fusses & uses his hands to push away anything when I pick him up at 11pm for his DF recently these few days. All these with his eyes closed. I have a feeling he is disturbed.  should drop the DF?

[stevesmum]

Maybe try earlier?

[amayzie]

Maybe try earlier?

I found this was good too when he was waking up during the dream feed- it sort of catches them in a different part of sleep...