Dream feeding a 7 month old. When and how long?

[Mrsb3]

Hello ladies, my dd is almost 7 months and still feeds every 2.5 to 3 hours at night. She goes down at 7 with a singing toy no problem but wakes up at 9.930 very hungry. Then she will wake again at midnight hungry and again 3,4 and 5 am!!!  Then she sleeps until 7am even though she wakes up hungry at night her eyes are still closed the whole time. It's not a growth spurt as she has always been like this. I want to dreamfeed her before she wakes but not sure how long to feed her and do I offer both breasts?? Also if she keeps waking every 2.5 hours after the dreamfeed shall I just do shush pat until 6 hours of elapsed?? She is on 3 meals a day and is a big size for her age shed in 9-12 clothes ;if that helps) thank you in advance ladies

[*Ali*]

How many BFs does she get in the day and would you say they are full feeds?

3 full solids meals seems a lot dod her age so it could be that she is filling up on solid food and therefore not able to get the calories she needs from milk in the day.

How does she go to sleep for naps?  Independently or are you in the room? Does she take a dummy/paci?

[Mrsb3]

Hi,Thanks for replying. I started weaning her at 5 months when she was grabbing my food and trying to eat it so it's taken almost 2 months to get to 3 meals a day which in my opinion is pretty steady.  She does have full feeds but she also has a little feed after her meals to quench her thirst. On a typical day.. Wakes up full at 7am after feeding at 3,4,5am she then has breakfast at 8.30 then has a breastfeed at 10am falls asleep wakes at 12 has lunch and then followed by a quick feed. Has another breastfeed at 2.30 sometimes 3pm  then has her tea at 4pm followed by a breastfeed then has her bath at 6 has another breastfeed straight after around 6.30 then goes to sleep with a singing toy (my pal violet) I always put her down drowsy or awake then leave the room quickly. She doesn't take a dummy unfortunately I just never found the time to train her to take one.. When she was born my ds2 was just 12 months so I was too busy with him. I have thought about training her now to take one as things are easier but not sure it is the right thing to do so late on.

[*Ali*]

Personally I wouldn't start a dummy now as the need to suck should have decreased and it would just be setting up another prop.

I can't imagine she could be truly hungry at 4 or 5am having fed only 1hr before so I would try to resettle without a feed at those wakings. That way you might be able to get her to take a BF when she wakes at 7am and that would swap the BFs to before solids when she will be hungrier.

It does sound like she is just in the habit of expecting a feed before sleep and each time she wakes at night so I think putting some distance between the feed and sleep will really help.