Cluster & Dream Feeding Support/Chat

[AfonsoandDinisMum]

Thank you very much for your help...
I will keep you posted.

Sónia

[AfonsoandDinisMum]

Hello everybody
Things are going very well! 
Starting to do the df just a little early, around 11:30pm is working like a charm... Now he sleeps all night long  Thank you for your help... Let's hope that it continues like that!!!
Now another question, I'm giving my LO around 180ml of formula in his df, the same that he drinks during his other feeds, and he takes it all, is there a problem with that???

ThanK you

Sónia

[* Paula *]

That is fantastic that things are going so smoothly and that he is sleeping all night.

I cannot see a problem with the DF being 180ml - your lo would not take it if he was not hungry.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[SammyNik]

Hi hope you can help me. My DS is just 7 months old and he has been taking consistently taking less and less of his 1st feed of the day so we decided it was time to get rid of the dreamfeed. Well, night 1 dh did dreamfeed at 10pm with 4oz but ds pulled off after 2.5oz and screamed the house down which we put down to teething and I guess we were right as his 1st tooth arrived yesterday (yay!!). So deciding that was just a teething blip we decided to carry on with the wean and did 4oz at 10pm again last night but he did pretty much the same thing except he took the full 4oz and then took an hour to settle, not much fun when mummy was supposed to be getting an early night!! I don't really know what to do? He hasn't woken any earlier after either reduced feed but I feel like it is now disturbing him too much but am scared to go cold turkey!! Anyone with cold turkey success stories?

[* Paula *]

Your best bet is to wean by reducing the amount of oz and time of the feed.  So carry on as you are for tonight doing 4 oz at 10:00pm, and then the next 3 nights you can do 3oz at 9:30pm, and then the following 3 nights 2 oz at 9:00pm etc until you are done with the DF.

Are you waking your lo for this feed as the DF is meant to be done while your lo is asleep?

[SammyNik]

No thats the problem. He is waking during the feed when he has never done before and having a hard time getting back to sleep so was thinking that cold turkey is the way to go? Up until the last few days he has stayed sound asleep throughout dreamfeed but now it seems to be distrubing him loads.

[* Paula *]

Hmmm that might be the way to go then.  Sorry I miss read your post.

How about watering the feeds - have you thought about watering them down instead?

[SammyNik]

Hey thats ok. I still remember what its like waiting for a baby to arrive, especially when you are overdue!! Hope your little one arrives soon. I am going to give cold turkey a go tonight and if that doesn't work I will try watering down feeds. May have more questions but hoping you may have a little one to worry soon!!!

[* Paula *]

Good luck with the Cold Turkey -I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Please keep us posted.

[SammyNik]

Ok now I really don't know what to do!! Decided to go cold turkey last night but typically he only took 4oz at bedtime instead of his usual 8oz so I knew it wasn't going to work  . Well, it didn't, surprise surprise he woke at 11.15pm so I fed him his 4oz and he went right back to sleep but woke at 4.20am for some unknown reason and stayed awake crying on and off until 5.30am? So I let him have a little lie in and he is only just up now but still not bothered about milk. I really need to get rid of the dreamfeed so he will take his morning bottle again but i'm really not sure how to do it now? Any insight would be most appreciated.

[*Mona*]

sorry, haven't read all the responses but have you tried dilluting his bottle for df and offering less and less every few days? that's what we did, I was too scared to go cold turkey, and it worked great

[SammyNik]

Hi thanks for reply. My plan was to do the gradual wean following the method in the baby whisperer book, but the problem is that he is now waking after his dreamfeed and finding it hard to get back to sleep. He has never woken during or after dreamfeed before and at first I put it down to teething but his tooth is through now so don't think that is the problem. I had thought that maybe the dreamfeed was disturbing him too much now and I should just leave it but I'm so confused now!! I think that maybe if he had taken a full feed at bedtime he might not have woken at 11pm but obviously I can't guarantee it without trying again. Think I should give it a go again tonight? Things would be so much easier if they came with instruction manuals!!!

[* Paula *]

Even though a tooth has come through, there could be another tooth on the way.  The pain is not just when the teeth are cutting through, but also when the teeth are actually moving up in the gums.  Have you tried rubbing some teething gel on his gums a few minutes before a feed to see if this makes a difference?  We always found that with our DS when he was teething his last bottle of the day was usually the worst and found that the teething gel worked great.  Might be worth a try.

Hugs, I know how hard it can be. 

Please keep us posted on how you get on.

[SammyNik]

Oh what a good nights sleep . Before I put Samuel to bed last night I gave him some teething gel and some calpol and he took a good 7oz bedtime bottle and I didn't do dreamfeed just decided to wait and see what happened and he slept until after 6am . Yay . Now I probably should have tried to resettle at 6am until his usual wake up time of 7am but as he had been such a good boy I fed him at 6.15am and for the first time in ages he took a full 8oz. What a lovely little man . Heres hoping it continues to go well today and the same happens tonight!! Thanks to everyone for their help and support.

[* Paula *]

That is fantastic news  I am so pleased he had such a great night.

Keep us posted on how tonight goes.