too early for cluster/ dream feeds?

[skibbit]

my baby is just 10 days old now and ive been working on the EASY schedual now since about 4 days old like tracy suggested in the book. the only problem is that during the day he is fine and eats and sleaps regulatry every 2 1/2 hors or so,and then at night, its never the same. my husband is getting exhausted and so am I. he wants to do what my father did to me and my sister at 2 weeks old and put cereal in the milk at night to help us. I dont think its healthy... does any one else? so I want to know first off if its to early to start the dream/cluster feeds and find out exactly how to do them. our problem with him though is that he has really bad gas atr night, and the cold he just came down with doesnt help either. Ive tried 2 dream feeds now and both times he didnt wake up, but he still swallowed air, and I thought maybe he will sleap any ways, well that didn't work... he just wimpered in his crib for an hour about it and wouldnt burp for heavens sake. any advice?

[Mom2SophieNGavin]

I'm no guru, but I bet that cold is playing a bigger factor in his poor night sleep than you may think.  I'd get a humidifyer in his room right away to keep his nose clear.  Also, you can put blanktes (UNDER) the matress so that it elevates it near his head.  Again, under the mattress, not under his head. 

I would try the dreamfeed again and try to rouse him a bit more so he's more effective at nursing.  You can also try burping him while he's still asleep my dd would always burp easier when asleep than awake.

Lastly I so no on the cereal. If he has gas and digestive challenges now, you don't want to introduce cereal when his system is immature.  It doesn't sound like he's waking from hunger and that's all the cereal would do is extend his sense of fullness. 

Hope that helps... I'm sure other mom's have better information.

[annamum]

No cereal or any othe solids till your baby is 6 months or older. It is a old wife's tale that cereal helps sleep through the night. Too early introduction of solids can cause allergies, problems with digestive system later in the future because little baby's stomach is not able to handle anything else but milk or formula. It is like an investment into your baby's health, if you postpone solids till that time, he gets better chances to have a healthy and longer life.

He is not too young to start cluster feeds and dream feed. Most babies naturally want to eat more often in the evenings, they fill up their tummies for the night. You can aim to feed him every 2 hours instead every 2.5 in late afternoons. To do a dreamfeed you need to pick him up when he is in a light phase of sleep, when he stirs a little. It does not always work right away, in my case, Anna didn't want to open her mouth for the first 5 or 6 nights but at 7 th she nursed!

Good luck!

[skibbit]

thanks for all the help! I will take up the advise