Unsuccessful dreamfeed 4 mos.

[Joey'sMom]

Okay, I'm sure this has been posted before SOMEWHERE, but I can't find it.  If anyone is patient and kind enough to read on and help, thank you!

DS is almost 4 mos.  We tried the dreamfeed probably...3 or 4 separate times for the suggested week.  It never works!  It always causes DS to wake every 2 hrs instead of every 3 or 4.  I WANT it to work, but he seems to think it means we're eternally clusterfeeding, and it's really hard to break him of it during the day.  We all just end up miserable.

NOW, sleeping at night has regressed.  We have a terrific night routine.  Joey goes to sleep within 15 minutes (eat at 7, bath/massage/jammies by 7:30 and always asleep by .  It had been down to a science that he woke at 12:15 and then at 4:15, but now it's a mess.  I've been working on straightening out his naps, and that has improved.  But it seems to have made his night sleep much crazier, more unpredictable, and less restful.

There have been several nights where he just wakes screaming every 2 hours.   Last night, he woke at 11:30, 2:30, and 5.  And he always eats. 

So, 1) is there a way for the dreamfeed to work without encouraging continual clusterfeeding?
2)is there anything else I can do?

Thanks!

Mary Pat

[amheusser]

The dreamfeed never worked for us either, and both of mine slept through at a decent time (I think around 5 months it got really consistent). 

Could he be teething?  Talk to your doctor about some baby Tylenol at bedtime if he seems to be having some pain.  I know it seems early, but both of my girls went through a really rough time around 4 months even though the first tooth didn't come through until 8 months.

Hopefully once he gets adjusted to the better naps (good work, btw!), his nights will get back together too.  Hang in there!

[sara_derek]

The df worked for my first son for a while and not at all for our second!  I would stop trying it since it throws him out of whack. This is a crazy time for sleep!  I would encourage you to try to drop a feed a night and do pu/pd or pat shh instead and see what happens.  He is old enough to drop one of those.  How does he do putting himself to sleep? 

Those are my suggestions for now!

[bluehydrangia]

DH and I tried the DF for about 2 wks.  Marin had her last bottle at 7:00PM, and then the DF at 11:00.  We found that she would then wake every morning at 4:00AM, and babble in her crib on and off until 7:00AM.  She didn't seem hungry, just awake, and even with the monitor turned off it made for many sleepless nights for myself and DH.

Last night I fed her at 7:00 and we skipped the DF.  She woke at 2:30AM for a bottle, but then I didn't hear from her again until 7:00AM.  So much better!!!!!

I would give up the DF now and go back to what you were doing.  It may take a couple of nights but hopefully things will go back to the way they were.  Are you BFing?   I would try to ignore his 12:15 wake up and see if he falls back asleep on his own.  Or put a binky in his mouth to see if he can suck himself back to sleep?  Just some ideas.   Good luck!!!!

Michelle
Marin 6-12-05

[Joey'sMom]

Wow, thank you for all the responses. 

He could be teething - he eats his hands/bink constantly and drools a lot.  The other night he woke randomly after an hour, and I even tried to feed him bc I had no idea what else to try, and he didn't even suck, just kept crying.  Finally, I rubbed his gums and held him with his binky, and he went back to sleep.  That's a pretty strong sign, though it hasn't happened since.

He does put himself to sleep pretty well, but it's hard for me to tell with his voice sometimes.  Sometimes he'll cry, then whimper, then coo, then sleep.  Other times, with the SAME cry, he'll go off into a meltdown.  So I have to be REALLY careful about how I handle his wakeups.