cluster feed/dream feed question

[newmommyl]

We have started cluster feeding and a dream feed w/ our 7 week old but i have a few questions. Her typical feeds are 3.5 ounces every 3 hours.  With this sometimes her feeds end up at 5 and 7 which makes a nice time to put her down for the night, but sometimes it ends up that we cluster feed at 4 and 6  and 6 seems way too early to go down for the night?  Is this too early or does it matter?  Is there another way to handle this.  Tonight we tried to just do a regular 3 hour feed 4 and 7, and make the 7:00 bottle a big bottle.  Is this ok to do, or should we stick to the 2 hour sched no matter what?  Is it an option to when it works out to 4 and 6, to do another smaller bottle at 7 also?  Also, before we started the clustering and dream feed she was getting her last bottle around 10 and sleeping until around 3.  Her 10:00 bottle has become the dream feed bottle but she's still only sleeping until 3ish.  i just realized that we really haven't changed anything except that sometimes now she is asleep by the 10:00 bottle.  what can i do about this so that she will sleep longer?  Or is she still too young to be sleeping longer?  And just one more question!  She has had 2 nights where she slept until almost 5 but by the time she eats and goes back to sleep it's almost 6:30 and then she's back up at her regular time which is around 7.  I hope I haven't made this too confusing...any advice/suggestions/help would be very appreciated!  thanks :0)

[Spectra]

Sounds like 5 hours of sleep is pretty good for night.  My girl started sleeping 8 hours a night at 6 weeks, but from what I hear that is rare.  But before that she was asleep by 8:30 and would wake up at 2am then 5am.  Regarding the rest of your questions I will leave that up to someone who has a lot more experience here than me.   

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

I used to do my cluster feeds at 4, 6 & 8pm. He wouldn't take a d/f and went through until around 2:30am. He now has a d/f as we no longeer cluster.
I stopped the cluster feeds when Theo was about 10wks old.

If you want, move the goal posts an extra 15 mins each feed to try and make them that little bit later, then do so.
So if it turns out that you would have to start @ 4, try and stretch your LO to 4:15 and then the next you could try for 6:30.

HTH

[LŠuren]

newmommyl

We have started cluster feeding and a dream feed w/ our 7 week old but i have a few questions. Her typical feeds are 3.5 ounces every 3 hours.  With this sometimes her feeds end up at 5 and 7 which makes a nice time to put her down for the night, but sometimes it ends up that we cluster feed at 4 and 6  and 6 seems way too early to go down for the night?  Is this too early or does it matter?  Is there another way to handle this.  Tonight we tried to just do a regular 3 hour feed 4 and 7, and make the 7:00 bottle a big bottle.  Is this ok to do, or should we stick to the 2 hour sched no matter what?  Is it an option to when it works out to 4 and 6, to do another smaller bottle at 7 also?  Also, before we started the clustering and dream feed she was getting her last bottle around 10 and sleeping until around 3.  Her 10:00 bottle has become the dream feed bottle but she's still only sleeping until 3ish.  i just realized that we really haven't changed anything except that sometimes now she is asleep by the 10:00 bottle.  what can i do about this so that she will sleep longer?  Or is she still too young to be sleeping longer?  And just one more question!  She has had 2 nights where she slept until almost 5 but by the time she eats and goes back to sleep it's almost 6:30 and then she's back up at her regular time which is around 7.  I hope I haven't made this too confusing...any advice/suggestions/help would be very appreciated!  thanks :0)

The dreamfeed can take up to a week to 'work' so stick with it, I had 2 night wakings until DS was 4 months (2 and 5am), then he dropped one (430 ish) and finally slept through at 5months.   https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54662.0
You are doing fine 

I used to do my cluster feeds at 4, 6 & 8pm. He wouldn't take a d/f and went through until around 2:30am. He now has a d/f as we no longeer cluster.
I stopped the cluster feeds when Theo was about 10wks old.

If you want, move the goal posts an extra 15 mins each feed to try and make them that little bit later, then do so.
So if it turns out that you would have to start @ 4, try and stretch your LO to 4:15 and then the next you could try for 6:30.

I also did this exact thing, except we still bring his last bottle forward so its only 2.5/3hrs from his last bottle before his bedtime bottle.
Harvey and Theos Mam got ther first 

[newmommyl]

thank you both so much for your help!  Can i ask you a couple questions:  When you fed your lo at 5:30, did you put him (hope that's right) down again and if so how long did he sleep?  I'm finding also when i put dd down after that middle of the night feed (3:30) she doesn't go back to sleep soundly and is usually up again for good by 5:30.  Should I feed her and put her down again? i know i want her to but it also seems like morning?  When we do put her down after 5 she doesn't usually sleep that long anyway.  Also when you did the 4, 6 and 8 cluster feed did you still give the regular amount of formula (if you bottle fed)?  My dr. makes a big deal about her babies not eating too much (going over 30 oz in 24 hrs) so i'm always worried about "going over"! Or did you increase the last bottles before bed?  I'm going to try stretching those 4 and 6's like you suggested.  Another question:  when doing the dream feed (and this may be a stupid question) do you burp your lo?  i find dd doesn't really burp when she's fast asleep and often doing it slides her out of her swaddle or wakes her up a bit.  thanks again!

[LŠuren]

...Can i ask you a couple questions: 

1.When you fed your lo at 5:30, did you put him (hope that's right) down again and if so how long did he sleep? 
I'm finding also when i put dd down after that middle of the night feed (3:30) she doesn't go back to sleep soundly and is usually up again for good by 5:30.  Should I feed her and put her down again? i know i want her to but it also seems like morning?  When we do put her down after 5 she doesn't usually sleep that long anyway. 

2.Also when you did the 4, 6 and 8 cluster feed did you still give the regular amount of formula (if you bottle fed)?  My dr. makes a big deal about her babies not eating too much (going over 30 oz in 24 hrs) so i'm always worried about "going over"! Or did you increase the last bottles before bed?  I'm going to try stretching those 4 and 6's like you suggested. 

3.Another question:  when doing the dream feed (and this may be a stupid question) do you burp your lo?  i find dd doesn't really burp when she's fast asleep and often doing it slides her out of her swaddle or wakes her up a bit.  thanks again!

1. you would need to post your routine, there may be may factors that make her wake early ( I am battling this as well) the main thing is make sure she gets enough sleep, aim for a 12 hr day i.e. 7am -7pm - in may case I have started putting DS to bed temp. earlier until I can get rid of the early wakings.  Also it is not unusual for LO as young as yours to carry their 3hour routine throughout the night, are you feeding her enough at 0330? I put Calum back to sleep and woke him at 7am, anything before 7am I used to treat as a night waking/feed.

2. I used to give full bottles, it was DS that dictated the CF, he was always hungriest in the evening and wanted to tank up. I worry about doctors and HV sometimes, your baby will eat as much as she needs, although there are guidelines, she will definitely only take as much as she needs. Please don't restrict her milk intake on the basis of what your doctor has said. An excellent piece of advice my HV gave me was; if your LO is draining their bottle, they need more - if a baby has had enought they tend to leave about 1/2oz in the bottle of the bottle.

Have you tried tracking her routine and seeing how many OZ's your LO takes in a day, you will find that it is roughly the same each day (except over a growth spurt).

3. No, don't burp her, I was having this same discussion with another BW the other day, here is more info on CF and DFing: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54662.0

HTH's

[newmommyl]

I am glad to hear you say that about the amount of a feed.  My dr has really made me anxious about overfeeding.  Plus we just recently found out she had a milk allergy and had to change formulas.  It's been a solid 3 weeks since then though and her temperament has been so much better which is why i'm trying to implement some good routines now.  My dd usually takes her whole bottle and even fusses some when she's done but after a few min she's ok.  However sometimes she's showing signs of hunger again w/in 2 and 1/2 hours and she's been a 3 hour eater right along and she definitely does not leave a 1/2 ounce!.  But i am always worried about increasing her formula simply b/c of the unknown, even though everyone says if she's hungry feed her! 

Like i said we are typically on a 3 hour sched.  She usually can be up and alert and contet up to about an hour and a half after a feed.  In the midst of cluster feeds and dream feed, I have also started laying her down for naps and getting a  nap routine going.  She was awfully fussy for the first month and i held her 90% of the day so i really needed to teach her to lay down adn fall asleep on her own out of my arms.  She's taking to her naps pretty well so far.  they are lasting for about 30 or so min. and it seems like she needs one almost every feed cycle.  As for nighttime sched.  we have tried to shoot for btwn 7-7:30 pm for a bottle and wind down.  Since we've started this she has pretty much fallen sound asleep until (and thru the dream feed).  The last few nights she's slept thru the dream feed, then woken anywhere from 2:30-3:30, feed again then and back down like i said not quite soundly sleeping until anywhere btwn 5-6.  I don't know if this is enough info on our sched.

I'm trying to do a lot right now i think!  Introducing a lot of variables...naps, new nighttime routine etc...plus she's getting over thrush.  i'm big on routine and want to do the best i can to make it consistent for her.  i also am afraid if i play too much w/ the amount of her nighttime feedings it'll affect her daytime feedings.

you are being very helpful thanks :0) 

[LŠuren]

i also am afraid if i play too much w/ the amount of her nighttime feedings it'll affect her daytime feedings.

Hiya, it is actually her daytime feeds that dictate her night time feeds.