Cluster & Dream Feeding Support/Chat

[sarah13h]

Hello.  My ds is just over 7mths now and we've been df-ing, well, for what seems like forever!  lol.  From originally 9oz bottles, we've got down to 2oz (doing the 3 days then drop an ounce plan).  It seems to be working so far, but I was just wondering about the next few days.  Is it essential to continue all the way to 1oz?  It just seems like I'm disturbing his sleep for a very little bottle now.  Or is just dropping it after tonights 2oz bottle going to be too big a jump for his tummy to take?  We always offer 9oz bottles throughout the day (4 of them) and he's always taken what he wants (ranges between 4-9oz a bottle).  lol.  I suppose I'm just after some reassurance that dropping his df after tonight isn't going to mess everything up, iykwim?

[* Paula *]

The only way you will know is if you try.  I cannot say that your lo is not going to wake up.

If you think that you are disturbing your lo's sleep by offering such a small bottle, try not giving the 2oz and see how you get on.

Good luck, keep us posted on how you get on.

[sarah13h]

We've decided to keep going and stop at the weekend.  Last night my dh came in with me to give me a hand with the df.  He gently lifted ds's head & shoulders while I gave him his 1oz bottle.  That seemed to be far less disruptive for him as he didn't even need his dummy afterwards to settle him back to sleep.  And he's sleeping well too.

[* Paula *]

Good luck - please let us know how you get on over the weekend.

[Dana D]

Hi I'm Dana, having some problems with my LO sleep.  He is almost 4 months and was doing pretty good (slept thru 2 nights ) and used to only wake once to feed at night.  Now he has frequent night wakings, for about two to three weeks now.  He doesn't feed every time but has to be settled and usually eats around 4 am waking.

My question is should i continue the df or could that be causing the wakings?  my dh asked me to try and see if it helps. the last two nights he has woken around the df time to feed anyway.

Dana

[* Paula *]

At 4 months your lo goes through a growth spurt - this could possibly be the reason why your DS is waking so much in the night.

I would give it a few days and see how it goes, and if your lo is still waking in the night after about a week or so, then I would consider dropping the df and is may be causing the night wakings.

Do you clusterfeed before bed?

[Dana D]

Paula - I feed at 6:30 and top off at 7:30 (after bath).

Thanks for your reply.

Dana

[SupermansMama]

My DS is 11 weeks and weighs about 13.5 lbs. He's been eating about 30oz per day and sleeps well from about 7 pm to 5-6am.  Would dreamfeeding help him sleep until 7am? or is that just for night wakings...its not technically a night waking if he's getting up after 5am...not sure whether to just count our lucky starts that he sleeps that long or if we should try to get him to extend until 7....

[* Paula *]

Dana, it definitely sounds like a growth spurt then - see how things go after a week, and see if there is any improvement - if not then you could consider dropping the DF.

SupermansMama - You can always try a dreamfeed - but it can take up to a week before you actually notice any difference.  Do you clusterfeed at all?

[SupermansMama]

no we don't plan to cluster feed every night. right now hes on a 6am start until 7/7.30 bedtime with feeds about 3.5 hrs apart. Sometimes he ends up kinda cluster feeding, like he'll eat at 5  then at 7 before bath, top up at 7.30 at bedtime. would that be considered clustering??
also, i noticed in the solutions ... book that Tracy said something about "don't continue cluster feeding after 8 weeks unless its during a growth spurt"

[* Paula *]

Yes, i would say that is clusterfeeding. 

It was said in Tracy's book to not continue clusterfeeding after 8 weeks, however, a lot of mums do carry on with the cluster feeds as this tends to work for their lo's, and as their lo's get older they tend to grow out of the clusterfeeding.

Please let us know how you get on with the dreamfeed.

[SupermansMama]

i'm nervous to continue the DF now. we only did it once so far (last night at 11).  My DH wants to stick with it for a week since thats what we've read here for it to take effect. I am worried that he may awake more at night because I read that here also.....he's already sleeping 10-11 hrs consistently every night, perhaps I shouldnt try to fix this so-called problem

[* Paula *]

How did he do with the DF last night?

It is completely up to you on how you want to proceed.  10-11 hours of sleep at night at this age is fantastic.

[SupermansMama]

we decided not to do the DF last night.  i heard him around 11-12 stirring, no cries though so i didnt go in...i guess we all just fell back asleep and i didnt hear him until 4.30-5...again the same thing and then i heard him at 6.55...i was sooooooooooooo pleased.
perhaps he expected the DF at 11-12 back put himself back to sleep fine... one thing i did do differently though wa turn OFF his nightlight...its possible that he was really affected by the light in the morning and couldve been why he'd wake at 5-6 and not 7
he even went to bed quite early..6.45 we couldnt get a catnap out of him in the evening but he wasnt cranky so we just bathed him early and put him down at 6.45
today is another day though. i'm crossing my fingers

[* Paula *]

Wow that is fantastic.

Keeping my fingers crossed for today - let us know how you get on.