13wks - too late to introduce a DF?

[Mackjack]

Hello - I've got a long post on here about short naps but thought id better start a new post for a new topic.

I breastfed DD and I never knew what a DF was so never did one and she slept through at 6 wks and never ever woke for a feed again after that. Yes, v lucky I know! But because of that im finding it hard that my 13wk DS (also bf) is still waking twice at night - bt is 6/7ish and best case scenario is he wakes at 1am and then 4ish (and then is v fidgety after that second feed and never really goes back to deep sleep but thats a different matter!)
Would a DF help that 1st waking to be later ie maybe even see him through to morning or is he too old to introduce it? I'm not really convinced he would takeit because when hes sleepy there isNOTHING I can do to get him to open his mouth!

[TB9]

I started a df with dd1 when she was 3.5mo and I discovered bw.  But she was formula fed at that age so not sure how it would go over introducing it if your LO is breastfed.  I moved your post over to the breastfeeding board, hopefully you will get some good ideas there!

[Mackjack]

Thanks Tink - yes, sorry, obviously posted on the wrong board. How did the DF work out for you?

[Martini~]

Mackjack, I also know people who introduced DF after 3/4 months and it was ok so it's worth a try:). But try for at least week as 1-2 days can be not enough to change his routine.

Just a tip from - if when trying to dream feed, your son will be getting awake or not eating enough, you may try starting a DF with a bottle (expressed milk) as it's easier not to wake LO when giving him a bottle (my personal opinion). After let's say one-two weeks when he gets used to eating full portion when asleep at 10/11pm you may start giving him breast. It's good to express milk just before the DF, so to stimulate supply. This solution worked for my friend's DS when introducing DF. Of course it may be different for you and I do not know if you pump or ever tried a bottle for your son.

[Mackjack]

Thank you. I dont express so I'm not sure he will take a bottle?. And the key is not to wake him up, yes? So if I try and he won't open his mouth, I just have to give up I guess?

[TB9]

The dreamfeed worked really well for dd1 until 6mo when she started waking for it   

DD2 didn't like it, she got very angry when DH tried to df her, or just stayed asleep.  He would often just wait until DD2 woke for a feed around midnight then feed her before he came to bed (lucky for me he is a night owl and was up anyway )

It won't hurt to give the df a try!

[Martini~]

Generally the idea is not to wake up as:
- you disturb night sleep
- settling can be difficult.
But even with him waking and needing settling, it may help you eliminate wake up from 1/2am. Decision is yours - what is more suitable for you. For some children DF doesn't work, they still wake as previously. However when introducing, stick to it by min a week to see if your LO is changing routine.

I have never decided to even try as resettling after NF (when DS was waking by himself) was easy, and waking him for DF was a nightmare:).

[Mackjack]

Yes DS settles easily after NF...so do you think I shouldnt bother with DF?

Also I have a potentially stupid question.... I've moved DS to a 3.5hr EASY as he doesn't seem that interested in feeds at 3hrs and can stay awake 1hr30- 1hr45. It's a bit of a struggle as we are doing 3 naps and no catnap ( as the CN obvs doesn't fit in at the moment) so in the afternoon if he does a short nap he has such a long time til BT that I have to do feeds 4 &5 really close together (today they were only an hr apart) Since starting 3.5 he has been waking for a feed at about 23.30 (used to do this on 3hr easy too now and then) then again about 3.30am. As 23.30 is roughly the time of aDF anyway what difference would it make doing a DF instead? Surely he would still only sleep til about 3.30am anyway? What difference does it make if they are awake or asleep for the feed??

[weaver]

For LO1, OH was giving a bottle of EBM (the only bottle of the day) for the first, oh, five months.  Then we went on a trip, only brought the crappy pump and DF turned into a BF. Also, I had decided I wasn't going back to work so there was no need for expressing and bottles.   Funnily enough, he always woke for the bottle feed, which you might think would be the easier one.  He had no trouble at all going back to sleep.  Resettle was max a hand on his back for a minute.  It was nice for OH to have a bit of cuddle and a wee smile.  Then, with the BF version, he always stayed pretty soundly asleep.  I mean, he would rouse up enough to get started and zone out completely, basically to being sound asleep by the time he was finished feeding.  LO2 was a bottle free baby and same story, didn't need to wake much to get started on BF.  They both kept up DF til about 10 mos.  That 1 am ish feed was gone for both by about 6 weeks or so.

[Martini~]

No stupid questions:).

You should decide if and how to implement a DF as the idea is to continue with it until 7-8mo. So when your LO will get used to it, it will be a routine for him and this routine should be also fine for you.

As you see above there are many options and versions if and how to implement it. For some people it works great, for some nope:). It is your decision but I would give it a try if your LO is still struggling with couple of NF.

What time is your last feed? Btw 2 close feeds in the evening on 3,5h EASY may work like CF, so should help to tank him up. I would do DF about 3-3,5h maks after last feed so it is still tanking not feeding already very hungry baby:). It should be also before your normal bedtime so it will not interrupt YOUR night sleep.

[*Ali*]

You already have lots of great advice from all the ladies who posted above. It may help to check out our FAQ too. "How do I implement/drop the dreamfeed?"

[Mackjack]

Thank you all. Our 3.5 hrEASY isnt going too well - mainly because it means he only has 3 naps  which are rarely long enough & so each subsequent nap has to happen earlier meaning evenings are getting silly and resulting in a really long A time before bed- and yesterday it meant his 4th and 5th feeds were only an hour apart so he hardly took anything for the 5th feed and we had an OT night and 3 NFs (normally have 2 max).

So I'm going back to 3hr for now - think I will give the DF a go when that has stabilised again or when we have moved to 4hr easy. Think if I do it mid way between 3hr and 4hr easy there will just be too many variables at play and I will struggle to work out what element of his routine is causing what behaviour

[*Ali*]

I think it is more common for BF LOs to be on a 3hrly feeding routine until at least 4mo.

[Mackjack]

Yes, I'm going to hang on to it for a while I think!