cluster feed or dream feed?

[elliesmama]

hey all...ellie is now almost 10 wks and she doesn't wake up for the second cluster feed, and I have to work to get her to eat the dream feed.  when she eats the df, she sleeps until 7am (her first feeding is at 7:30am), but she usually has a really hard time taking it so i have to wake her up a little for it.  when she doesn't take the df but takes the second cluster feed (she goes to bed at 7:30 and the feeding is usually at 8:30pm) she wakes at around 3-4am or even later to eat.  she usually doesn't want both the last cluster feed and the df.  which is the better feeding to cut out or does she need both? 

my other concern is that she's at maybe 9 1/2 lbs.  is she too small to be going for so long without food?  i've heard that babies need to be 12 lbs before they sleep through the night (which would be a bummer, because i'm pretty excited to be getting 7-8 hours the past few nights!) when i give her only the last cluster feed, i get nervous that she's should not be going so long without food...the other night she would'nt wake for the df so she just got the last cluster feed and then woke up at 6 am!   that feels like too long without food.

i hope this makes sense...thanks for your advice.

[KLT001]

Sorry I cant help as Im new and learning too, but my bub is 12wks and I thought she was going too long without food too. I dont wake my bub for the DF because its her really solid sleeping time. At around 2am, I actually get up and do a dreamfeed then. She doesnt cry but she is eating her hand in her sleep. The reason I dont let her go through the entire night is because she is suppose to get 5 bottles per day at 180mL, which means if I dont do the DF then she would only be getting 4 and would probably be hungry at irregular times throughout the day. I dont mind getting up once as she is still only 12wks and apparently at 4months she will take more per bottle which should satisfy her more throughout the night. I hope Im not creating a habit though.

I hear people say however if she doent wake then let them sleep as if they were hungry then you would know about it. The way I look at it is if she is sleeping through the night thats fantastic, but Id assume she would eat her quantity throughout the day. Is she on the 3hr EASY?
Also what is a cluster feed? Silly me but I never actually knew what this is?

[Grace's Mom]

 

I would do which ever is working better for you!
If doing the df works better than doing the cluster than stick with the df.
We never did the df or a real cluster so it all depends on what works for your family.
Somethings work differently for different people.

For sleeping through, I would say let her sleep.  My lo at 10 days (7lbs) was going 6+ hours so I wouldn't worry about it one bit.  She will wake when she's hungry.  And if she wakes, just feed her and put her back down.

Congrats!
Melissa

[elliesmama]

thanks...i think i'll probably stick with the df and not the cluster.   that works better for my schedule anyway, which is nice.  thanks for the encouragement about sleeping.  last night she ate at 11 and then slept until 7am.  wonderful!!  i get nervous about the feeding times because she is a definite angel baby and sometimes just doesn't make a fuss if she's hungry-she just licks her lips and stuff.  i've had to really work at figuring out her cues and working with EASY has made a great difference, too, in anticipating her needs.  sometimes i worry that if i don't make sure she eats she won't!  but i think you're right--she'll let me know if she's hungry at night.

laurie