Dreamfeed question

[The Vern]

We have been doing a df at around 10:30 or 11 for the past week or so.  Our lo does not take much, maybe 50 ml.  She wakes again at 1:30 or 2.  Would it not be better to wake her at the df time and get her to take a full feed, which might then last her longer than until 2am???  Prior to the df, she usually eats at 7:30 or 8 and takes a full bottle (100-120 ml).  She's 7 weeks old on Thursday.  She pretty much sticks to a 3hr routine throughout the day.  Thanks.

[Mariek]

Hi

At the end of the day you have to do what works for you - and some babies just won't take to a DF no matter what you try.

If you think there won't be any problems with her dropping back off to sleep after the 10.30/11 feed then I'd go ahead and try it with waking her and see how much she takes.

love

[LŠuren]

The Vern
I tried to give my DS a d/feed when he was younger, he was like your LO and still woke around 2am. I then tried a few night with the d/f and he still woke at 2am. So needless to say the d/feed was never introduced again.

Have you tried to stp the d/feed and see if your LO still wakes at the same time? Are you also cluster feeding in the evening, I found this worked wonders for us.

[mhovav]

we did exactly what you are suggesting - we continued with the "feed" but dropped the "dearm" part of it...our 9 week old used to take 1-2 Oz at DF and then wake up at 2am, and when we actually started waking him up at 10:30-11 for a feed, he takes 3.5-4 Oz and started sleeping until 4am and sometimes 5am!!! so I would definitly wake your kid up if you have the same situation. My DS goes right back to sleep after this feed with no problems. we keep the room dark and the stimulation minimal, but he is definitely awake.

[Sydney]

I agree that at that age, cluster feeding worked great for my dd.  We also did the df at 10:00 and still do at 4 1/2 months.  We had to stick with the df for a week or so before she got the hang of it.  You may want to persist a little longer??  Just a thought.  I know the df doesn't work for everyone and I was about to drop it, but it did end up working for us in the long run.

[The Vern]

Thanks to everyone for your input.  So the past couple of nights we decided to try and wake her instead. She ate at 8 pm (120 ml) and then at 11 pm.  The night before last she took 120 ml at 11 and slept until 5:30  but then last night, she only took 40ml at 11 and woke at 2:30.  I don't really know what caused the drop in appetite, but my guess is if she's sated, she certainly has the ability to go one long stretch at night.  Just have to hope that she is hungry enough to take 3-4 oz at the late evening feed to last her through the night.  Haven't had any problems with her going back to sleep after waking her, phew! As for cluster feeding, she doesn't seem interested and it's not working for us, so we'll stick with the dreamfeed, but perhaps drop the dream part of it if it works better.

[mhovav]

as for your appetite question for the df: we make sure that he eats no later than 7:30pm so he is really hungry at 10:30-11 for his df, we wake him gently as I mentioned before. Anyway, just wanted to mention this fact since we noticed that when he eats after 7:30 he doesnt take much at 11, and when he eats earlier (around 7:30) he takes 4-5oz and sleeps for 5-6 hours!
just a tip....hope this works for you.

[The Vern]

Me again - still as confused about the df - and she's now 12 weeks. We started waking her up for the 10:30ish feed, which was fine and she would go back to sleep no problem. However, she still woke up around 2:30ish to eat.  So then we decided to again try the df as she was a bit older, so for the past seven nights, we have done just that.  She takes around 120 ml at 10:30 and last night woke at 1:30 took another 120 and then at 4:30 for another 120.  Should this not be decreasing instead of increasing the frequency of the feeds?  She also seems to be all over the place with her amounts, sometimes during the day taking 90 and then 190 ml - growth spurt i guess, though this is another issue completely.

I've never tried cf as I'm confused what that would do to her routine.  Right now it's pretty good during the day and it works for us:

7 wake up
7:30 eat
8:45 wind down, sleep by 9
11 awake
11:30 eat
12:45 sleep
3 awake
3:30 eat
5 catnap
6 awake
7 wind down, bath  (sometimes starts at 6:30 and in bed by 7)
7:30 bottle/bed
10:30 df
1:30 feed
4:30 feed