Author Topic: Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?  (Read 4384 times)

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Offline Jrolph

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Hi Everyone,

My DS is almost 8 months old and I know that I shouldn't be giving him a dreamfeed any longer but he still isn't sleeping through the night and I don't know if this will encourage him to wake up twice instead of just once.  Right now I will give him a dreamfeed around 10:00 and he will wake up between 1-3:30.  I am afraid that if I drop the dreamfeed that he will wake up around midnight and then again around 5:00 or so.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jen

Offline GG

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Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2005, 06:00:02 am »
You should definitely drop the dreamfeed.  At his age, he should be able to sleep through the night.  Has he started on solids?  If not, maybe you should start introducing them slowly.  It sounds like he is either (1) not getting enough calories during the day or (2) used to waking up at certain times in the night.

If you don't think that it's neither of those, it's definitely possible that he just needs a little more food during the night.  In which case, see how many times he wakes up w/o a dreamfeed.  If it's still those 2 times before sunrise, at least that's 1 less feeding.  :)
Georgia, mom to 3 sweet babes: touchy Foti, spirited Lena & not-so-tiny Joanna




Offline Jrolph

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Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2005, 13:44:56 pm »
Hi GG,

My DS is on solids, I started him just before he was 6 months.  He doesn't wake at the same time every night it varies from night to night.  I think that I am going to try gradually getting rid of it and see how he does. 

Thanks for your help.

Offline GG

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Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2005, 15:29:06 pm »
Oops... I just realized that you mentioned he wakes up once after the DF.   :oops:   Anyway, you have nothing to loose by dropping the DF for a couple of nights and see what happens.
My DS would wake up every 2 hours if I gave him a DF.  I stopped it and now he usually only wakes up 1 or 2 times (which vary) before 7 AM.
Georgia, mom to 3 sweet babes: touchy Foti, spirited Lena & not-so-tiny Joanna




Offline Deb_in_oz

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Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2005, 00:21:04 am »
can you post what his day looks like for food - feed times and amounts of milk / solids.  maybe we can see if he is getting too little food etc.  if he is taking a good amount i would say drop the DF and see what his "natural" waking time would be - you might find he would now go until 1am and have only the 1 waking, but as he takes more solids this will go away.

there is no rule about when a baby will sleep thorugh - they all have different stomachs and digestive systems.  some don't take as much in evening feeds/dinner to hold them over yet so don't think he "should" be doing anything. 

if his waking is erratic and he is taking a full feed than he his hungry.  if he is snacking it could be comfort or the DF takes the edge off and if you remove it he will take a full feed in the night and last until 6-7am.
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Offline Jrolph

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Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2005, 02:19:37 am »
Hi Deb,

DS day currently looks like this.

7:30 wake and BF
8:30 Solids usually 5tbsp cereal and 3 tbsp fruit
9:30 Nap
11:00 BF
12:00 Solids usually furit and veggies arounn 6 tbsp
2:00 Nap
3:30 BF
5:30 Solids Cereal and Veggies around 8 tbsp
7:00 Bath
7:30 BF and wind down for bed.
10-11 Dreamfeed

I feel that he is getting enough to eat during the day but he is waking up erratically overnight and he does take his full feed.  It's hard to say if he is getting enough when he does BF because he is so nosy that he wants to look around a lot.  I feed him in his room with the blinds shut but he still looks around after a bit but he is able to last 4 hours easily between feed.  Maybe he just isn't ready and I don't want to push him but I am just trying to wean him so I don't have wait until after 10:00 to go anywhere.  I think next week I might try bringing it back by 15 minutes every 3 days and see how that goes.

Offline Deb_in_oz

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Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2005, 03:06:22 am »
it looks pretty good to me.  the only 2 things i can say are:
my understanding is that after solids are firmly established you are supposed to offer them before milk - so he would have breakfast at 7:30 and the BF at 8:30 etc  that way they begin to take more solids between 7-9 mo and gradually take less milk...  maybe he does need more solids but is too full from the milk to eat the amount he needs.  just a thought.

also - rather than move a DF forward why not just eliminate it tonight and see what happens?  he already wakes after the Df anyway.  perhaps if you let him find his new rhythm you might find he goes from last feed to an after midnight feed and then takes a good amount and sleeps til morning.  afetr a day or 2 of this he might take more at breakfast and that knock-on effect would be that he naturally replaces (during the day) the lost night feed calories...

does that make sense???
Debra - a New Yorker living in Australia married to a Brit

dd1 - Textbook/Angel, born July 2003
dd2 - Spritied through & through, born Feb 2005

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Offline Jrolph

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Should I drop the Dreamfeed if DS is still waking at night?
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2005, 14:01:31 pm »
YEah that does make sense.  I have  tried to drop the dreamfeed and he just wakes for it but I might just keep trying it and hope that he sleeps longer and longer.  He has been sleeping a lot longer lately.


Thanks for your help,