Hello everyone!
I'm starting the df tonight and I'm wondering if there is a specific part of the sleep cycle I should be aiming to get this feeding into (for ex: 1.5 hours after last feed so dd is more awake or 2 hours after so she is in deep sleep, etc.).
I also have some scheduling questions. As of now dd's routine is as follows:
Eat at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, and 9 then to bed. She'll usually wake between 2-5 for a feed (we're starting the df to push this one a bit later, 6-7 hopefully). She takes good naps and falls asleep on her own. 8 lbs 1 oz at birth, 9 lbs 4 oz at 3 weeks. In the new book (p. 95) Tracy recommends 6 feeds plus a dream feed for 6 wks to 4 months, and I realize that since dd is just 6 weeks today that we'll have to keep the six daytime feeds for a while, but I want to cut it to five + a df soon. I'm bf about half the time, although she'll be completely on the bottle by 10 weeks or so, so adding ounces during the day and such is very possible. How soon is too soon to drop a feed? What can I realistically expect adding the df to accomplish in the next couple of weeks? Is there a time guideline regarding how long between the last feed and the df? We want dd to get to bed around 8-8:30 (we sometimes don't get home until 8 ), and dropping a feed would make that possible, with a df at 10:30 (even that's a bit late for us) but with 6 feeds + a df it seems as if there isn't enough time in the day to squeeze them all in and get to bed at a decent hour. Any suggestions? What are/were some of your schedules like? Also, can anyone tell me why to stop cluster feeds at 8 weeks? TIA for responding!