To Dreamfeed or not?

[MomOfTwoBoys]

Hi moms.  This is my first post.    My LO is 7 weeks old and has been on a three hour EASY since week 1.  Here is his routine:
6am BF
7-9am sleep
9am BF
10:30-12:00 sleep
12:00pm BF
1:00-3:00pm sleep
3:00 BF
4:30-6:00 sleep (or catnap off and on if out and about running errands)
6:00 BF
bedtime routine
7:30 sleep (sometimes 8pm)

He then sleeps without making a peep until roughly 2am.  I have been giving him his paci and he will go back to sleep until 3 or 4am.  Then I BF him and he sleeps fitfully (I think he has some gas/reflux issues) until 5:30 or 6am and the cycle starts over.

My questions are:

Although I am thrilled that he can go about 9 hours at night between feeds, I would much prefer it was on the back end of the night so we can get some good sleep.  I have tried waking him to feed him before we go to bed and I've also tried the dreamfeed a couple of times, but it seems he still wakes in the wee hours of the morning.  So, should I try the dreamfeed for a week straight or something to give it a good try?  Or cluster feeding, etc?  Or both?
I am afraid of messing up his good stretch of sleep, as he seems totally "out" during this time.
Or do you think if I just give him a few weeks he may extend that 3/4am feed and make it to 6am?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[daisymelan]

Wow, you are one lucky mama!!!  What a nice stretch of sleep.  I didn't know my ass from my ankle when my son was that age!   

Congrats on the new boy!  How exciting to add to the family.

I think it's hard to suggest waht to do.  Just looking at what you are doing, I think I would nurse him at 2 and then hope he goes until 6.  That way it's only one night waking.  It is in the wee hours, but it would only be once.

You coud do either the cluster or dream feed, or both for that matter, but I would suggest doing it for a week before you decide it's not working.  It takes a little bit for them to catch on.  I really don't know which to suggest, I think you can figure out what will work best for your lo.  But in saying that.  He obviously takes large feeds, so I think I would be tempted to do the df if you aren't satisfied with doing a 2am feeding. 

Sorry for rambling, it just seems like you got it good!  LOL 

[Carter'sMama]

Your little guy seems to be doing great if he is sleeping for that long stretch!  Congrats!  I think at that age I started Carter on cluster feeds and that helped him to sleep through longer.  I never did the dream feed so I don't have much experience with that although I know it has helped many many momma's get a good night's sleep!

Your lo might surprise you and start sleeping longer stretches as he gets older anyway.  You could always wait a bit and see what happens.  Babies change their schedules sooo often    As soon as you get a schedule you like they decide to change everything on you!!  Enjoy this while you can! 

[CaedensMama]

I think I would try some cluster feeding in the evening and see if it helps get him a little further. I actully tried the DF too a couple times and found it wasn't working so well at this age. I think I started doing it around 5-6 months successfully and was able to drop the 1-2 am feed then. Of course, we still had the 4-5 too and it is still a struggle around here, so maybe I am not the best person to be answering this!
But, I think he is sleeping pretty good for 7 weeks and things do change fast. I guess if it were me I would wait on adding the DF at this point and see how he progresses on his own.
Keep us posted!

[MomOfTwoBoys]

Thanks for the advice, Moms!  I will try the dreamfeed for a week and see what that does and maybe some cluster feeds.  Do any of you know if in Tracy's book she recommends stopping cluster feeding around week 8?
I also think my LO has reflux, so I need to check out the posts about that.

[CaedensMama]

I think she does suggest stopping the cluster feeds early, but I think often the breastfed babies need it a little longer - we cluster fed for a long time as it helped him get thru the night better. Breast fed cannot go quite as long as the formula babies - don't be afraid to keep cluster feeding if it is working well! You would rather feed more often in the evening then be up at night! 

[deenz]

We tried the DF with dd2 at a younger age too, and it didn't work (too sleepy to eat much, still waking at usual time in the early hours).  But then I tried it again at 3m and it worked much better then.  Dd2 started sleeping through from the DF at 4m, and we dropped the DF altogether about 3wks ago.