Cluster & Dream Feeding Support/Chat

[Lªuren]

Hi Polly31

Someone asked this yesterday as well, so I have moved your post here.  You can find Tracy's answer on the my next post, in reply to CAWPU06.

HTH's

[Polly31]

Thanks Lauren - most useful!

[bussybuffu]

Hi Ladies

Can any one tell me about cluster feeding? I have a week old boy who likes to feed every 2 hours at night and every 3 or 4, sometimes even 5 hours during the day. Trying to change it over.
Do I worry about the amounts/ or time (we are working on bfding, but have to use a bottle for now) he takes in evening cluster feedings? Would this not promote snacking? Do I wake him for these feeds or treat them like dream feeds?

Thnks
Buffy

[Lªuren]

Hi Ladies

Can any one tell me about cluster feeding? I have a week old boy who likes to feed every 2 hours at night and every 3 or 4, sometimes even 5 hours during the day. Trying to change it over.
Do I worry about the amounts/ or time (we are working on bfding, but have to use a bottle for now) he takes in evening cluster feedings? Would this not promote snacking? Do I wake him for these feeds or treat them like dream feeds?

Thnks
Buffy

Tanking Up

One way of insuring that your baby eats enough is to increase his intake during the day, before 11 P.M. By “tanking up”, as I call this strategy, you get more food into his tummy, which, in turn, enables him to sleep through longer stretches at night. Tanking up is also great for growth spurts, those two— or three—day periods when your baby eats more than usual (see pages 115—119).

Tanking up consists of two parts: clusterfeeding, which is done at two-hour intervals in the early evening, at 5 and 7 or 6 and 8; and the dreamfeed, which is given somewhere between 10 and 11 (depending on how late you or your partner can stay up). With the dream feed, you liter-ally feed your baby in his sleep. You don’t talk to him, or put the lights on. It’s easier to do with a bottle, because you just wiggle the nipple into his mouth and that will activate the sucking reflex. It’s a little more challenging if you breast-feed. Before you give him your breast, stroke his bottom lip with your pinky or a dummy to get his sucking reflex started. Either way, at the end of the dream feed, your baby will be so relaxed you can put him down without burping.

I recommend tanking up as soon as your baby comes home from the hospital, but you can start using both strategies any time during the first eight weeks and the dream feed until seven or eight months (by which time your baby is drinking between 175 and 250 ml (six and eight ounces) per feed and getting a fair amount of solid food). Some infants are harder to tank up than others. They might take early evening feeds but not take a dream feed. If that describes your baby, and you have to choose one, concentrate on the dream feed only. Don’t bother clustering. For example, you feed your baby at 6, give her a bath and do the bedtime rou¬tine, and top her off at 7—she’ll probably only take a few ml/ounces. Then at 10 or 11 (if you’re normally up that late, or if your partner is) try to give her a dream feed—never later than 11. But don’t give up after one or two nights. It’s unrealistic to think you can change a baby’s habit in less than three days, and for some infants it takes as long as a week. There are no miracles here, but persistence usually pays off.


taken from Secrets of the Baby Whisperer p94

You would not treat these as dreamfeeds. 
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54662.0

[clarapist]

Hi there, I posted elsewhere regarding my DS not taking much for his first bottle, and got two responses (thanks!) that this was their "signal" to drop the DF.
I'm posting here to see what you think about this idea:  I wish I would have read this thread a LONG time ago b/c I have been one of those "bad mommies" that would DF at 11:00 or later. My LO would sometimes wake either for his DF or during it, and now I see why (and also see that I created this bad habit!) i guess I was thinking that I wanted him to go as long as possible so he'd be hungry and sleep longer.   We started solids a week shy of 5 mo. He's only on solids 1-2x/day currently. He drinks usually 4oz at the first feed (though 2.5 this am with my DH) and then usually around 6-7 the rest of the day (including DF) and he usually totals 32oz. Right now, we're on 2 TSBP of cereal mixed with formula plus a TBS of fruit an hour after first feed, and occasionally "dinner" at 5pm of 1=2 TBS of veggies. Firsat and last bottle at 7:30, bed at 8.

Here's what I'm thinking- first, just get the DF back to 10ish without worrying about how many oz he takes (I say that b/c it's darn near impossible to "add" oz to his day bottles- I pretty much make sure he's taking all he possibly can already) by incrementally moving the DF back by 15 min every 3 days or so.  This hopefully will get him out of the habit of waking out of hunger if he hasn't gotten it by 11:00.
So, once I get it down to 10:00, my theory is that he might actually decrease the oz on his own, anyway, since it's only 2.5 hours after last bottle. Could this be right? Should I start upping solids to 3x/day to increase calories? (Though we are only on stage 1 foods- no yogurt, etc. yet- when can you start yogurt, by the way?)
If you're still reading, thx. If you can figure out how to answer this post- thx again!

[* Paula *]

If you are going to offer the dreamfeed at 10:00 that is fine, this is not supposed to be a normal feed, just a way for your lo to tank up.  I would defintiely suggest bringing the dreamfeed to as close to 10:00 as possible. 

If you are getting 32 oz of milk into your lo that is great.  If you want to introduce a third meal, then you can do so, but you must remember that their milk is still their main source of nutrician until they are 1, and you need to watch to make sure that his milk oz don't drop too much.

We started yogurt at around 5 months.  You need to make sure that there is no dairy intolerance, so would introduce it early during the day to make sure your lo does not have any reaction.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[Polly31]

ARRRRGGGHHHHH someone tell me why I am bothering with this cluster feed/dreamfeed shennangigans!!

I've been cluster feeding and dreamfeeding for about a week now with my 7 week old and she still wakes up 3 hours after her dreamfeed for another feed, which makes me wonder why I'm staying up until 11pm to do this feed?

Does it takes a while to get cluster feeding and dreamfeeding established so that they go for longer stretches during the night?

I'm seriously losing the plot over this and feel like throwing the BW book to release some aggression!!   

[Lªuren]

Try a night without the DF, your LO may not be suseptable to it.

If you notice there is an increase in night waking with no DF then you know that it is working.

[Lªuren]

Just re-read your post, you need to do it nearer 10pm.

[Polly31]

But doing it at 10pm would be an hour after her second cluster feed and I know she would take about 0.5ozs at the most.

I really don't think dreamfeeding and cluster feeding is working for us.  Perhaps I should give it another go when she's older.

Thanks anyway.

[victoriab]

I started DF my LO at about 6 weeks and she still woke at about 4am for another feed.  The DF didn't get us a full nights sleep at first, but it helps them go longer and longer as they get older.  I stuck with the DF and eventually my LO started sleeping until 5 am and then 7 am.  If you feel like it is helping even a little, I would stick with it a little bit longer to see if it eventually gets your LO to sleep longer as they get more use to it.

[clarapist]

Thanks, TOM TOM.  My plan is to back it up by 5 minutes a night.  (Last night was 10:35)   I hope to KEEP GOING back 5 min/night until he drops it.   I'll let you know. My hopes is that he just rearranges his formula feedings to only needing 4 bottles/day, and just upping solids as needed. We'll see what HE thinks!  In any case, if I can get the DF to 10:00 and him not have a night waking (which he hasn't for about  months!!!!) then I will REMAIN VERY HAPPY and will worry about dropping it later in case he still needs it now. He's almost 20 pounds (12 kg), so he's not missing any meals!

[* Paula *]

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

[gayala001]

Hello, everyone!   A proud first-time mom here!    I have a question RE cluster feeding.  Tracy says in her book that formula-fed babies eat every four hours.  My baby girl [3.5 mos] is getting about 8 oz in each bottle.  If I cluster feed her at 5pm and 7 pm, how many ounces should I give her in those two particular feedings b/f her 8 ozs dream feed around 10:30 pm?  Thanks!!!

[* Paula *]

Welcome to the Boards

I would offer her as much as she will take at the 5pm feeding, and make up the same size bottle again at 7.  You soon will be able to guage and see how much she is taking.  After a few days if she is not taking as much of her second bottle then you could alter the oz. 

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