too long between feedings?

[aradams]

thank you both for helping us figure this out.  i definately agree that the recent sickness could be part of the problem.  but even before he was feeling poorly, he was beginning to eat less and less at the df and i've been feeling like it wasn't doing him much good.  i'd be all for trying something that might help us get in the bed a little earlier!  when i go back to work, he'll have to get up at 6:00 a.m., so i'd like to figure out a routine that will allow us to still only get up once during the night.  my husband might kill me if i change the schedule in such a way that makes the baby wake up twice in the night!   
he usually eats every 4 hours during the day.  so, to make sure i'm following you, are you saying we might could do the 3 p.m. feeding, a 6:00 p.m., bath and bed, and and a 9:30 p.m or so?  i wonder if 9:30 is too early and may cause him to wake twice?  and if wake him to eat at 9:30 to eat, he may have only been asleep for 1.5 hours or so (it takes him a while to wind down), so might that interfere with his sleep cycle? 
thanks again for your help!

[* Paula *]

I would not wake your lo to feeding during the night.  This might start to cause problems and may be harder for you to get him to sleep again after waking him.

I agree if he is not taking much at the DF, you can cut out the cluster feeding and concentrate on the dreamfeed.  If you see that this is helping him take more at the DF, then you can carry on without the clusterfeeding.

If he still takes a little at the DF, then you know that the DF is not the way to go, and that clusterfeeding may work better for you.

Hugs, I know how hard it can be when your lo gets sick, everything seems to go out of the window.  My DS has just gotten over his cold, and now he has given it to me  argh.

Please keep us posted on how you get on.