Should I give up on the dreamfeed?

[melloyello]

Hi there,

My DD is 8 weeks and we have been doing the DF since the beginning. She would go down for the night between 8-9pm, DF at 11 and then we would have 2 night feeds, usually around 2-2:30 and 4:30am, then up for the day around 7:30am. So, except for the odd time when we got 4 hours, she wasn't really doing a stretch longer than 3-3.5 hours at any point. Plus it was sooo hard to get her to eat at the DF, I could only ever get her to nurse on one side and she would feed for like 5 minutes tops. I also wondered if the DF could be  disrupting her sleep more as she was often unsettled afterwards. A few nights ago we decided to try skipping the DF and see what would happen. She slept from 8:30-2am, her longest stretch yet of 5.5 hours! The next night was 5 hours. Also, when she did wake on her own she was obviously hungry and fed much better then she ever did at her night feeds before so we got a longer stretch to the next feeding.

The DF worked great for my DS and I really want it to work for this one because I don't go to sleep at 8pm... so I would obviously love her longest stretch of sleep to be when I go to bed. BUT she wasn't really doing a longer stretch at all with the DF! So now I'm not sure if I should keep trying with it and hope she'll eventually start sleeping longer after the DF, or just accept that it's not really working for her and let her wake when she wakes.

Does anyone have any tips to get the DF working?? Or do you think I should just abandon it for now? Would it totally mess her up to try the DF again in a few weeks? Just feels like it will take her FOREVER to STTN without it.

Thanks!

[melloyello]

Anyone who didnt do a DF... did your LO just gradually lengthen that first stretch of sleep till they were sleeping through? Why did you choose not to do the DF?

[PaulsMom]

hi there...

it's tough when they are so little.  For some babies, the DF will help and for others it does disrupt their sleep.  With my DS, I did the DF. We started out using bottles and then I was bf him.  We kept it up until he was around 8 months old.  I must say that he didn't really sleep well until he was around 8 months (but that's another story).  With my DD, I tried the DF and it was a bit of a disaster.  It made her more upset so I fed her when she woke.  I found that her longest stretch of sleep was between BT and first night feed. 

At 8 weeks, it's pretty normal for babies to have several night feeds (sorry to say).  Will your daughter take a bottle?  if so, perhaps you can try with a bottle.  It might be less disruptive.  Otherwise see how things go without the DF. 

[katie80]

Hi there, I did a DF with both mine, but will be happy to ask around for some advice for you from someone who didn't.  I do know that it doesn't work for all babies, as much as we might want it to.  It can definitely disrupt night time sleep for some, which it sounds like it might have been doing for your DD.  If I were you, I'd scrap it.  Even if you're not going to bed at 8 or 9, if you go to bed at 10, that's another hour for you and you don't have to fight to try to get her to take a DF.  I'm sure it does feel like it might take her longer to STTN without a DF, but if she's taking better feeds all around, I think that would actually be more helpful.

You could always try again in a few weeks to a month to see if it makes a difference then.  Typically, the DF is meant to fall between 10 and 11pm, about 3-4hr after the BT feed, so maybe once her routine changes a bit, she'll take more. 

Posting at the same time as PaulsMom, a bottle is a great idea too!

[melloyello]

Thanks ladies. I am definitely prepared for and ok with night feeds for awhile yet but just figured since she was only sleeping 3 hours after the DF vs. 5 hours without it, maybe I was interrupting her long sleep stretch, you know? We've tried a bottle but she doesn't seem to take any more that way. May just drop it for now and then try again in a few weeks once she is going to bed earlier like suggested! These little ones do have a mind of their own, don't they?

[PaulsMom]

These little ones do have a mind of their own, don't they?

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