Dreamfeeding but still waking

[Itsjustbecca]

DD is 2.5 months old and started sleeping from about 11-5 or 6am 2 weeks ago. Last week when we tried to get her down for a cat nap around 9 she started falling asleep for the night, so we decided to try to move up her bed time to between 8-9 and do a DF at 11. The DF went pretty well, she didnt wake up at all and nursed for about 10 min, sucking & swallowing well for around 6-8 min. (She is EBF and usually nurses for only 10-15 min). We've done this for 3 nights now and every time she has woken up at 4am to eat. Does it usually take time for the dream feed to register? Should I go back to our old schedule and try again in a couple weeks.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I wouldn't necessarily expect all other night feeds to stop when you do a DF. My DD2 had a DF plus 2 NF's until she was 5.5 months old and she very definitely needed all of them as I attempted a couple of times to get her down without feeding and it never worked. Is she up for the day at 6 am? If so I would think about putting bedtime even earlier and backing the DF up a bit too, so the even if she takes a second NF it will not be so close to morning.

[*Ali*]

It is still perfectly normal for a baby under 4mo to have two night feeds so sleeping 11 till 4 is considered sleeping through the night (5hrs+) and she is doing well.

[Fiver]

Agreed.  Breastmilk is easily digested, so you would expect to be doing a NF for a little while longer yet (especially as that is when supply is stimulated most - during the night).

You've both doing great

[Itsjustbecca]

Thanks for the responses. It's just strange because she was going longer without the DF, (10ish to 5 or 6). The good thing is at least last night she went back to sleep from 4-7. When she was getting up at six it was harder to put her back down.

[Fiver]

At 2.5m, things change really quickly what with all the GSs in the early days.  Enjoy longer spells of sleep where you can, but be prepared for the "norm" not necessarily to last too long.