A Dreamfeed is a late-night feeding, typically happening between 10-11 PM
Results:
No–Baby wouldn’t wake up!: 8 votes (13%)
No–I didn’t want to: 2 votes (3%)
Yes–50 votes (83%)
Total of 60 votes
A Dreamfeed is a late-night feeding, typically happening between 10-11 PM
Results:
No–Baby wouldn’t wake up!: 8 votes (13%)
No–I didn’t want to: 2 votes (3%)
Yes–50 votes (83%)
Total of 60 votes
Man, it seems like I always need advice huh?! 🙂 Oh well. Ok, so I mentioned that my daughter (almost 5 mo) wakes up in the morning around 5:30 and whines/cries in her crib for awhile. She is still getting the DF (although now it is at 9:30) and she gets fed 6 times a day, w/ 4 naps. I was going to try to drop the fourth nap, thinking that maybe she is getting to much sleep. I have been working on that. She goes the bed at 8:30, which is the ultimate goal of moving the DF back to that time-then of course her other times would have to move too. I don’t think she would eat much if I fed her at 7 and then again at 8:30. 🙂 Anyway. You said I should get rid of the DF before I moved her to a 3 1/2 hr. schedule. Here’s my problem. When I get her up after 3 hrs. (I almost always have to wake her up from her naps to eat) she is really lazy about eating. It takes about 30-35min. to get her to drink her whole bottle. She stops, and I burp her, and then I try some more. It’s like she isn’t really that hungry yet. So it makes me think that I should move her to a 3 1/2 hr. schedule, but yet she is still getting the DF and still waking up in the morning. So what do you think? Or what does everyone think?
One idea would be to drop the dreamfeed all together and see what happens. Some babies sleep better after the dreamfeed is dropped than they did with it. I know a BW mom who is always saying that it is worth a shot! You can always go back to the way things were if it doesn’t work out.Another idea, you could move to a combo 3-3.5 hour schedule. If you do this, I wouldn’t do it so that you end up dropping a feeding in the day. I would pick a feeding or two that she seems least interested at 3 hours and do 3.5 for those ones. Your night might move back a little, and in that case you really could just drop the DF and see what happens. If you are wanting to end up with an 8:30 bedtime ultimately, you could shift the schedule so that her last feeding starts at 8, so two feedings would move to 3.5. Then do no DF. Just let her sleep and see what happens.Also, when she wakes at 5:30, it might just be the thing where they wake and play for no apparent reason. Good luck!
Great idea abou the Blog Index – thanks.My son (5 mo) usually sleeps 2/3 naps for 45 mins. So in order for me to keep him on a 3 hour schedule, I often have to amuse him for a while (which he is happy to do) before I feed him – he doesn’t seem hungry before 3 hours. He also has two feeds of solids a day.I’m cutting back his DF which is now at 8.30 pm (bed by 9 pm). I feed him at 7am, then approx 10am, 1 pm, 4.30 pm (sometimes 5 pm), normally 7.30 pm then put him down for a sleep until the DF at 8.30 pm. I find this time confusing and feel like I’m muddling through, especially as he normally sleeps for 45 mins so I’m following a pattern more than a schedule. My questions are – am I doing the DF thing right (feeding at 7.30 pm then 8.30 pm)? It seems pointless to me sometimes to do the 8.30 pm feed as he’s just been fed at 7.30 pm.Should I stick to a 3 hour schedule – I extend it to 3.5 hours sometimes when he sleeps for longer?
If you have been moving the Dreamfeed back and are now an hour apart, I would just drop it completely now. See what happens. If he needs the dreamfeed still, I would do it at 9:30 or 10:00 if the last feeding is at 7:30.You can do a combo 3-3.5 or even 4 schedule. That can be the norm. If you find certain times of day he can go longer between feeds (because he is still asleep), then you can make it the norm to eat 3.5 or 4 hours for that interval.Have you see the Getting a Consistent Schdule post?
Thanks again for your advice.Just a thought – should I be extending his night sleep (currently 9pm – 7am) if he’s sleeping so poorly during day and is normally on a 3 – 3.5 hour schedule? Would this be disadvantaging him in any way?He does a 4 hour schedule when he has a really good nap, as you say. But normally he’s awake between 1 hr 20 – 1 hr 30 then sleeps for 45 mins so at best that’s 2 1/4 hours from his last feed. And if I leave him about 15 mins to see if he’ll go back to sleep for a bit (which he sometimes does), it almost reaches three hours. I do get him up and play with him until his next feed time (stretching to over three hours sometimes because he’s not hungry) but it does cut into his waketime because he really seems to need to go back to bed at about 1.5 hours of being awake.I think he’d do well on a 3.5 – 4 hour schedule but he can’t stay awake very long and sleeps such a short amount of time during the day that it often won’t work.
You extend nights before days, so that should be fine. Unless he is waking early from naps because he is hungry. In that case, you don’t want to remove a feeding. You might just have to wait it out for him to be able to stay awake longer. Hang in there!
I LOVE this blog! It has already helped so much! I have a couple of questions though! My 7 week old and I are doing BW and I love it, but we seem to be on more of a routine than a schedule. I am a stay-at-home mom so I have 2 weeks to really spend on this. She does great at naps (never cries) during the day and that’s at waketime 7:30am, 10:30, 1:00, 4:00, 7:30ish for evening feeding and then I give her a bath and put her down. I have been trying to wake her up for the dreamfeed at 10:30 but she won’t wake up. I change her diaper, tinkle her, sit her up, turn on the lights, etc. Last night I tried again and she still wouldn’t wake up so I put her back down and she slept til 2:00. Then I fed her, put her down, she was then back up at 4:30 for a snack and was awake from then on. I was up every hour after that trying to get her to go to sleep. Then at 6:30 she went to sleep and slept til I woke her at 7:30 this morning. Could she not need a dreamfeed? I would like to dreamfeed her at 10:30 and then her go the 6-7 hours she can go til 4:30 or so. How do I get the dreamfeed in and alter her night time sleep to accomadate the schedule. It’s like she has shifted her schedule and almost got her nigths and days mixed up?? Do I wait and give her a bath at the dreamfeed to wake her up and then nurse her and put her to bed for the night?? It’s just that no matter what it seems like at 7:30’s naptime she is down the night and won’t wake up! Do I need to just keep her up for a couple of nights from 7:30 to 10:30 to make sure she’s awake for the dreamfeed? Please help, I’m exhausted and totally confused! I would appreciate any help on getting her schedule down! Thanks!
Beth, I am glad this site has helped! Some babies just won’t wake for that dreamfeed. My daughter was one. She ate at about 8:00/8:30, then went to bed for the night. She would not wake up for the dreamfeed, but would wake twice in the night. I would have preferred her to wake for a dreamfeed than twice in the night, but it was the way it was. She eventually moved that 8:00 feeding back to a dreamfeed time. I would just put her to bed at 7:30, then you go to bed early. I know it isn’t the most fun, especially in the summer, but it is totally doable and only for a short time. She should get better about it soon.
I have a question. My first son did a dream feed and slept until 7:30am which was my first feeding time. My second son (10 weeks) though will not take a dream feed. I feed him at 8pm and then theres nothing you can do to wake him up! He sleeps 8pm-5am and then wants to eat and then i wake him up again at 7:30am for the day. My question is this, how do i extend his night time sleep if theres not a dream feed to drop? Will he just one day not wake up at 5am or should I try to have him sleep longer by not feeding him right when he wakes up? Thanks for the advice!