How do you do a dreamfeed while breastfeeding?

[annesmama]

My LO usually wakes sometime between 10 and 11, so I feed her then, but I know the DF is supposed to be while baby is asleep, right?  But I've tried offering a feed to her asleep and she just... sleeps.  We have a sidecar crib, so I get up on her crib and brush the breast against her mouth but no effect.  I end up waiting until she wakes up on her own, but obviously I'd prefer she learn to sleep through.  Any tips?

[*Ali*]

The DF is explained well in our FAQ https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65750.0

Sometimes you might need to run in quickly when LO starts to stir if you find it difficult to get her to latch in her sleep.

[Hedgehog17]

I used a pump and had DH do the dream feed with a bottle. All other feeds were straight from the breast.

This meant that I got a bit more sleep, and DS got used to having a bottle so it wasn't a problem to move to all bottle feeds at 6.5mo.

DS had to go onto special formula due to CMPI and lack of weight gain, and my milk was drying up due to his dreadful latch (caused by birth trauma) so it's just as well we did it that way!

[annesmama]

I've tried pumping a couple times but I don't get very much milk out... only an ounce, sometimes less.  Of course I only pump after I've already fed LO, so maybe that's why... but I don't want to pump and have her not have enough!  So not sure if pumping+bottle is in the cards for us.

Last night I did get her to latch without waking at 11pm!  But she didn't eat very much... she drank for the initial letdown but stopped afterward... switched sides and same thing.  I'm not sure if that's worth doing, because that means she'll only get foremilk, right?  And she still woke up at 1am, so... does that mean we should just focus on cluster feeding?  (She's 4 months in a few days.)

[C&B&E.]

You could try breast compression to stimulate a second letdown if you're concerned about her only getting foremilk.

[*Ali*]

How's it going now? I'd persevere for a while.

[annesmama]

I dunno, breast compression doesn't seem to do much when she's not sucking, you know?  I *wish* I could reliably stimulate a second letdown!

We haven't tried a DF for a few days because she either doesn't sleep until late (9-10pm) or she wakes up... I have a thread open in General Sleep Issues to try to figure out why she won't go to sleep & stay asleep.

[*Ali*]

Do you normally get a second letdown? I've never noticed one myself. The milk continues whether you feel the let down or not.

Have you tried dangle feeding if you think the flow is too slow for her? Gravity can help.

[annesmama]

No, not usually -- sometimes on very long feedings.  But she doesn't seem to like slow flow -- when awake she would either be pulling/squirming or just sort of zone out, but at night, she falls asleep.  She only properly "attends" to eating during letdown and the relatively fast flow right after.  Dangle feeding is a thought, I'll see if I can manage it while she's asleep next time I have a chance.

[*Ali*]

Good luck

[barbaraz78]

In our case, df was with bottle and all the other feeds with breast, as HH suggested. You can pump between feeds (after 1.5 h) and there should be enough for when she feeds 1-1.5 h later. Also, if you do not feed at df, you can pump before going to bed or just before the df, and use that milk for the df. In our case, the constant letdown of the bottle was key for ds to have a full feed while asleep.