Can I fit in 5 feedings without a dream feed?

[mrs_kat]

Hey everybody! 

My little Mackenzie is 15 weeks old and still taking 4 naps per day.  Here's our basic routine:

7:30 - E, then A
9:15 - S
11:00 - E, then A
12:45 - S
2:15 - E, then A
4:00 - S
5:30 - E, then A
7:15 - S (catnap)
8:00 - A
8:30 - E, then bath
9:30 - bedtime

I dropped the dream feed when I realized she would wake up at the same time in the morning regardless of whether her last feeding was at 8:30pm or 11:00pm.  I am a much happier mommy now that I'm getting to bed a little earlier. 

I would like to help her transition to having only 2 long naps and one catnap.  I think she can handle having longer awake times, and I often have to wake her from her nap so that she can eat, so I think she can probably sleep for 2 hours at a time.  But I worry that if I switch to a 4 hour EASY, she won't get enough to eat and she'll start waking up during the night again. 

I'd really rather not have to re-implement the dream feed, for the sake of my being able to get more sleep at night.  Has anyone had a similar situation, and what did you do?

Thanks for any advice you have!

[M&M'sMom]

What I did for my girls was just increase the amt I gave them at each feed, so they would be consuming what they would in 5 feeds (ie: 8oz bottle vs 6oz)... that may work? I am not sure if babe is BF or on the bottle.... the girls were on the bottle so it was easy to increase feeds.. HTH???

Jody

[Noelle]

I too just offered as much as she would take at each feeding and went with the flow.  My plan of action was if she did start waking at night, I knew she wasn't ready for the 4 hour EASY.  You could also try clusterfeeding...

 

[mrs_kat]

Mackenzie is breastfed, and since dropping the dreamfeed she's naturally started eating a few minutes longer at each feeding.  So I suppose it's possible she'll do the same to make up for dropping another feeding?

We're going out of town this weekend, so I won't make any changes quite yet, but when we get back I think I'll try stretching the feedings apart and extending the naps and seeing how she handles it.  I may also try the cluster feed in the evenings to get a little more milk in her. 

My doctor gave the go-ahead for rice cereal today at her 4 month checkup, so I suppose another possiblity is to start some cereal to help her fill up.  There are so many options of how to handle things - ever feel like you're just experimenting on your little sweethearts? :wink:

Thanks for your input!