to dreamfeed or not to dreamfeed?

[littleyao]

Hi, I am new to this forum and I just recently picked up Tracy's book and am curious about dreamfeeding.  Here's the feeding that usually occurs at night with my 4 month old babygirl:

7pm last feeding
7:45pm in bed
3-4am middle-of-the-night feeding
8-8:30am up for the day

i am a nightowl, so even though she goes to bed so early, i'm usually not in bed until 11 or 12am....this is why dreamfeeding interested me...also, that's why our day doesn't begin until 8am (i know many consider this late, but it works for us)...

i remember reading that dreamfeeding is mainly for people who have babies who wake up 2 times or more during the night...so should i even start a DF at this point?...i would prefer if our day didn't start any earlier than 8am and i'm afraid if i begin the DFs she will get up earlier for the day...but i also don't get enough sleep before her middle-of-the night feeding...OR should i just start changing my habits and start getting my butt to bed earlier???  :roll:  ...i'm already thinking of trying to at least be in my bedroom by 9:30pm...

any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated...thanks so much for reading!

take care...

[Mariek]

Hi Hun

The simple answer is that there's no way to know how she'd react to introducing a dream feed. There's a chance that by giving the dream feed she's go all the way through the night until the time she normally gets up (so you'd miss out on the 4am feed) or she might go through but wake earlier (not so much fun if you like your 8am wake up call).

If you want get get rid of the 4am feed and don't mind a little earlier waking then I'd say give it a try (especially as it sounds as if you'd be up at 10/10.30pm anyway to do the feed).

Give it a go and see how she's takes to it. If it doesn't work you can always stop and go back to the status quo.

HTH

love

[littleyao]

Hi, Marie...thanks for the reply.  I'm actually thinking of trying out the dream feed now because for the past 2 nights, my babygirl has been waking between 2-3am for her feeding...yikes!...more painful than usual...

I think you're right...at this point, it won't hurt any...

I've also been reading on other postings that dreamfeeding might take some practice?...so it might take more than just trying it out for a night or two?...hopefully i get good results...

take care...

[Mariek]

I've also been reading on other postings that dreamfeeding might take some practice?...so it might take more than just trying it out for a night or two?...hopefully i get good results...

It can take a while for you both to get the hang of it. I'm sure if you've read the other threads they're the ones with the tips and tricks on how to get started. If not and you want some more info then let me know and I'll do my best to help you out.

love