Weaning off dreamfeed...advice please!

[Mamastalawatt]

My DS is almost 6 months and I'm wondering if I should think about weaning him off his dream feed?  He goes to bed at 7pm and wakes for a feed at any time between 5am and 6.30am, occasionally sleeping right through til 7am.  If I do wean him off DF, is it best to go cold turkey or to gradually reduce the length of a feed (he's breastfed).  I've noticed recently that he's feeding for up to 35 mins, whereas initially it was only maybe 10.

I've just stared weaning him this week too...babyrice everywhere 

Thanks,

Mama

[teezee]

just out of curiousity why do you want to wean the df now?? if it has been working imo i would keep it for another month or two..til it starts posing the problem of having more wakings rather than not. you may want to try weaning the other feed - at least this way lo will be having the feed at night and have an empty belly for first thing in the morning..although at this stage i think that a df and one night feeding is totally normal! your lo is still young - and will be going through a growth spurt in the next few weeks anyway - so you 'may' want to wait til then.

since you notice lo nursing longer and longer at night you may want to limit the amt of time and slowly cut it back every few days a minute or two - this is a very gentle way of weaning (although as i said lo may be waking up for a feed through the growth spurt anyway so it might be like chasing your tale for a few weeks..). you started cereal? how much? if you are feeding too much (even if starting at six months it is only a teaspoon to start with..) than lo may be filling up on that rather than getting the good bm with all the calories in it..and may be taking more at night as a result kwim? you may want to hold off on the solids for another few weeks..but that's jmo...i had a horrible experience starting solids early (on dr's advice) and wouldn't want to see anyone else go through that    a few wks is not a lot of time but can really make a difference in how lo's gut can handle it...anyway i will stop here as i don't want to sound too preachy..nonetheless if you choose to continue with the solids - be really limiting in the amts for the reason i stated - if lo isn't getting enough calories during the day lo WILL get them somehow - and that will contribute to the extended night feeding.

good luck!

[Mamastalawatt]

Hiya,

I don't particularly want to wean him off his dream feed, I just wondered if it was recommended.  A couple of my friends have already weaned their lo's off DF (at a similar age) and they're now sleeping through.  I'm happy to carry on with it for a while.  It would be handy for when we need a babysitter if they didn't have to worry about doing it, but that's purely selfish and isn't as important.

As for weaning, I sought advice from my health visitor because DS was showing all the signs of being ready for feeding, and I felt like I was struggling to keep him satisfied with breastfeeding and was getting very sore from his extended feeding times.  He's a biggish baby and my HV said to go by his cues he would let me know if he wasn't ready or interested.  He's not having any less breast milk and he's just having a little taste of food when he's almost finished feeding.  He wolfed it down too with a big smile on his face, so I'm happy that he's OK to start trying bits of puree and baby rice.

I really appreciated your comments on this.  Thanks for taking the time to write    I'll keep an eye out for that growth spurt...

Mama

[teezee]

sounds like you are doing just fine with everything!!

if u want to try and wean the df - you can always try - cut it down a few min every few nights...if it backfires ive the df again! it's your choice...it is suggested by tracy that 7 months is about the time to wean esp if it has been working for you...good luck with everything!

[brightside]

We have just cut the DF. I decided to do because DS was starting to take less at his first am feed. This is usually a good signal that they can go longer between feeds. I would wait until after 6 months though as DS seemed to hit a gs around that time. Then definitely do it slowly. I tried bringing it earlier each night but he still took the same amount so in the end I diluted it every couple of nights. There is a post on this board about diluting feeds.