dream feed questions

[A_Z]

I'm thinking of trying a dream feed with my 3.5 month old daughter. I've tried once or twice when LO was having a restless night, but have never managed to get her to latch unless she was already awake. For a while she was waking up for a dream feed all on her own, which was odd, but worked great. Since she started eating better in the evening, though, she's stopped waking up to eat before I go to bed.

For those of you who've done a dream feed, I have a few questions:

Which is easier, breastfeeding or giving a bottle? Pumping and then giving a bottle seems like way more work, but I feel like a bottle would be easier than the breast.

What do you do to get LO to start sucking?

How much do you wake LO up? I've heard some people do an actual diaper change. I'd rather not wake her that much, but it may be necessary.

Thanks!

 

[korndogger123]

When I was doing the dream feed I would give her the breast and not a bottle. I would get her outta her bed and put my nipple to her mouth, she would just kind of instinctively open and start sucking. When she was done she would pop off and back into her bed she would go. I don't really do the dream feed anymore though, she sleeps in longer stretches now.

 

[mellyboo]

We co sleep and I'll offer her the bottle when I get in bed which is rare because we always go to bed at the same time but the times I do dream feed her she wakes up enough to no the bottle is here and she starts sucking she's formula fed

 

[MiniKiwi]

I used to do a diaper change, as if I just grabbed LO from her bed she wouldn't bother drinking anything.

I'd just get her from her cot, lay her on my bed and change her then BF her in bed with me until she went back to a deep sleep and pop her back in her cot.

Every now and then though, the diaper change would wake her a bit too much and then I regretted trying to feed her ha ha! I don't even think dream feeding helped us much, we cut it out one night and she woke at the same time as usual after that

 

[veryfondoftea]

I bottle feed so can't answer your first question. To get my daughter to start sucking I just lift her out of the cot, sit down on the chair holding her in a cradle hold and put the bottle to her lips. She now expects it I think, even though she is asleep, so it's really easy but at first I had to rub the bottle teat on her lip and then when she took it in her mouth I had to turn the bottle slightly which stimulated her to suck.

I don't wake her up at all, just put her straight down again afterwards and she stays asleep through the whole thing.

 

[Beccaboop]

I dont know if its cos of his age but lo wont feed if hes asleep but a lot of the time he falls asleep while feeding and just stops sucking so i take the bottleout cos if a bit of milk comes out he chokes on it.
At night he normally wakes up once or twice but we have to try and get him to stay awake. by putting the lighton and hanging him orhe doesnt finish all his bottle o then he wakes up sooner!

Is it his age will he dream feed when hes older? Hes nearly 6 weeks

 

[A_Z]

Thanks, everyone! Last night I tried nursing, which didn't work, and then pumped a few ounces and tried a bottle. She sucked a bit at first, but then just latched on and stopped sucking. Every minute or so enough would drip out of the bottle that she'd give this big, gasping gulp, which didn't seem great, so I gave up.

Maybe I'll try again in a few nights. Oh well.