So Confused ???? Dreamfeed or not dreamfeed?????

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

Hi,
I'm so confused about whether or not to dreamfeed.

I've started dreamfeeding my lo for the past couple of weeks when I started reading BW.  So far it's been going ok but Trevor always wakes up during the dreamfeed but will fall right back asleep after the feed.  As suggested in the book, I'm more on concentrating on the dreamfeed than the cluster feeds as Trevor won't tank up earlier in the evening. 

Anyways, I've been told by other moms (who haven't read the BW books) that I shouldn't do an 11pm feed (the dreamfeed) but to just let Trevor sleep until he wakes up for his bottle.  So instead of dreamfeeding I should just go to sleep until Trevor is hungry.  Does this make sense? I hope I'm explaining this right.  Point given was that if Trevor gets a bottle at 7pm he should be able to last until 1am, then feed at 2am and he should be able to last til 6am.

Anyways, I know it's a matter of opinion but I'm not sure if I don't do the dreamfeed will Trevor sustain longer in the evening.
So far when I dreamfeed, Trevor is able to last through most of the night but will wake up around 3ish for another bottle.  If I don't do the dreamfeed, I'm afraid that he may wake up more often in the night.

Can somebody offer me some advice on the dreamfeeds??

Thanks,
Melodie

[Kimberly®]

How old is your LO?

As for the dreamfeed itself, you need to judge whether to use it on if its working. When you wern't doing one what time did he wake up? and after what time does he wake up?

The point of a dreamfeed is to tank your LO up so he can sleep longer, and so that you can then sleep longer too.
What the other moms are telling you makes sence in that if you didn't follow BW and you didn't dreamfeed then thats what you would have been doing, however I myself and an avid believer in the dreamfeed. It gives your LO and you more rest and you both need that.
If you feel that this is working for you then continue doing it, to me it sounds like its working.

HTH

[estherofi20]

i don't know how old is your LO, but for us the DF was a COMPLETE succes.

The difference with him waking up hungry without the DF is that with DF ˇˇˇˇYOU!!!! control a bit more the sleep time

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

Trevor is 16 weeks old.  Before the dreamfeed he was waking up between 12am and 1am and again around 4am.  Now with the dreamfeed he is only waking up around  4am.  I think I like the idea that I can control the sleep time.  It seems more convenient.
Since DF is working well I'm going to continue with it.  I just wanted some reassurance that I'm doing something right.

[Kimberly®]

whatever you deside to do for your child is right, never let anyone tell you otherwise, accept advice when its given, but never do something just because everyone else said to do it, trust yourself

[estherofi20]

I agree with Karita!

Good luck!... and good job on the DF

[Jays Mum]

Hi, just to add that I liked the idea of controlling the DF time. My husband would do the dreamfeed while I went to bed earlier and then I got up for the 3 or 4am feed. When my DS starting to sleep through and get up at 6.30-7.00 am, I moved his dreamfeed time to 10.30pm and then to 10pm until he started his solids- three times a day. This way you get some quality sleep !!!

HTH

xxx

[annary]

HI! I just wanted to say thankyou for starting this thread. I was having exactly the same doubts myself. My baby is 4 and a half months, and i was told by midwife that I neednt do the dream feed as he doesnt need to gain excess weight(as an aside.........I am so sick of people saying "gee, cutey and alreadly soo big", actaully-he is absolutly normal!) i tried not giving the dream feed and it was a nightmare. He woke three times and it was really difficult to know which one was because of hunger.Woke at 12.00 I gave him his dummy to calm him a little so he didnt get to the really irritable stage whilst waiting for his bottle and by the time i had warmed the bottle he fell asleep. Then he woke a hour later , had his bottle and still woke at 4 am hungry. The knock on effect was that he didnt take much of his 8 am bottle...........anyway, I am sticking with the dream feed and slowly reducing the amount he gets at 4 am. It seems to be working, but it is early days yet. SOme days he is hungrier than others. Hope all is going ok with you and your boy now. All hail dream feed!!!

[Christy P]

My LO is 15 weeks old. We had not been doing a dream feed. I found the BW too late in the game. He usually wakes after 4-6 hours for a feeding. He goes to bed at 7:30. I would love to stretch him from 11-5 or 6 but I don't know if it is a good idea to introduce a dream feed this late in the game? From birth his best stretch of sleep has always been the initial stretch and then he wakes every 3 hours after that. Ideas?

Christy

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

I started dream feeding when lo was about 14 weeks old.  I discovered the book late as well.  You can start any time you and it may help your lo's sleep longer through the night.  I usually dream feed about 10:30pm and lo will sleep until about 4am when he wakes (sometime for another bottle or diaper change).  I don't know if your lo can sustain until 5am or 6am but you can try the dream feed and see what happens.  I've posted a couple threads about sleeping through the night and it seems that it's normal for lo's about this age to have at least 1 or 2 night wakings.  Check out the night wakings boards if you want more info.