I need help from dream feed experts. In a pickle!

[laila 44]

Dd3 is now 12 weeks old. She eats a bowl of cereal at 4pm followed by a 5oz bottle. Then she gets 9.5 oz of milk at her 7pm bedtime. Now I go in at 1030pm and give her a dream feed. She's Super sleepy during this feed and it's a battle to get it done. She takes 4oz. The she still wakes anywhere between 330am and 445am for another 4oz. Now there's no way in hell this kid is hungry! She drinks well over 40oz all day. My question is, would u drop the dream feed?? I'm afraid if I do she will wake at 1am and then every 3 hours after that. I've noticed she can only do one 6hour stretch and if that's from 7pm-1am I'm screwed. By the same Tolken I don't know if the dream feed actually makes a difference? Not like she sleeps till 7am anyway. What should I do?

 

[CRWx]

If you don't think she's hungry, could it just be for comfort? Will she take a dummy? x

 

[Kazy]

I always used the dream feed to get them to 7am. So I think it depends what you would prefer first. If you drop the dream feed she may sleep until 330. But then you still have that esrly morning feeding. I'd be more inclined to push for eliminating the 330 by Using a pacifier or just patting her back to sleep.if possible. Then you are trying something new but not changing multiple things in her schedule.at once. Plus you are likely already up for the dream feed while the other requires you get less sleep. After trying that for a bit if it doesn't work maybe try eliminating the dream feed.

 

[Kazy]

On the other hand- dream feed is only useful if hunger is the issue. If comfort if the reason baby isn't sleeping the dream feed won't get you anymore sleep. I'm not sure how much you stick to sleep training or if you do at all but so much of it imo is knowing what your baby's needs are and making a decision from.there. so much easier said than done though! A little trial and error should show you though why she's getting up.

 

[Gem_Clem]

My DD2 is only 6 weeks, but im using same schedule that worked with DD1, and you defo want rid of that 3:30am feed first. I dream feed at 11pm then she would wake about 3 or 4am but I just gave her dummy sometimes she would go over right away, sometimes had to replace dummy a couple of times but no longer than 15 mins and she was back to sleep and would sleep till 6am, after a few times of doing this she no longer wakes at 3am just sleeps right through till 6am. So she is sleeping 11pm till 6am, she isn't waking at all at 11pm now (she sleeps in lounge in moses basket before this) so next week i'll move last feed to 10pm then 9pm etc I done this with DD1 and she was sleeping 7pm to 6am then having feed and sleeping till 9/10am, by 10 weeks she had outgrown moses basket in our room so we put her in her own room in her cot and she starting missing out the 6am feed too, so she was going 7pm till 9am. DD2 sleeps just like her so im hoping she follows same pattern lol! I read that as long as they are taking 27oz of milk during the day then they are capable of sleeping through for 12 hours.

 

[laila 44]

My DD2 is only 6 weeks, but im using same schedule that worked with DD1, and you defo want rid of that 3:30am feed first. I dream feed at 11pm then she would wake about 3 or 4am but I just gave her dummy sometimes she would go over right away, sometimes had to replace dummy a couple of times but no longer than 15 mins and she was back to sleep and would sleep till 6am, after a few times of doing this she no longer wakes at 3am just sleeps right through till 6am. So she is sleeping 11pm till 6am, she isn't waking at all at 11pm now (she sleeps in lounge in moses basket before this) so next week i'll move last feed to 10pm then 9pm etc I done this with DD1 and she was sleeping 7pm to 6am then having feed and sleeping till 9/10am, by 10 weeks she had outgrown moses basket in our room so we put her in her own room in her cot and she starting missing out the 6am feed too, so she was going 7pm till 9am. DD2 sleeps just like her so im hoping she follows same pattern lol! I read that as long as they are taking 27oz of milk during the day then they are capable of sleeping through for 12 hours.

I actually did exactly that with my dd1 and it turned into a dummy addiction and that was hell to break. Had to wake and plug her in every 30 mins all night long until I sleep trained her. My second slept through since birth but this one is trouble lol. I realized now she isn't drinking much at her dream feed nor at 3-4am so she isn't hungry it's purely habit. If she was 5 months id let her cry it out and it would be over but being 3 months old I never know if it's hunger or habit. The feed that is bothering me the most is the 1030pm because it's a nag to do bc she's so so sleepy and she still Wakes at 3-4! But if I don't give it then she's capable of waking at 1am (7pm until 1am) and then every 3-4 hours after that.

 

[BunnyN]

You could experiment with dropping the feed and see what happens when she gets used to it but it sounds like she is fairly settled on a scedual so maybe its better not to rock the boat? Either way to be honest her sleep sounds pretty normal for a 3 month old. I would have been delighted if either of mine had slept that well at 3 months. I think your 1st spoiled you . Some babies do sleep through from birth but it is the exception, not the rule and isn't necessarily according to what you do.

 

[laila 44]

You could experiment with dropping the feed and see what happens when she gets used to it but it sounds like she is fairly settled on a scedual so maybe its better not to rock the boat? Either way to be honest her sleep sounds pretty normal for a 3 month old. I would have been delighted if either of mine had slept that well at 3 months. I think your 1st spoiled you . Some babies do sleep through from birth but it is the exception, not the rule and isn't necessarily according to what you do.

You're right. I'm getting greedy lol. It's just because she was sleeping 8 hours and now she doesn't anymore since a few days ago. She wakes at 3am most nights then up for the day at 7am. That one feed at 3am is so so hard mostly because I have 2 other kids and school run in morning so I'm shot. Since last night she's been refusing her dream feed because she's in such a deep sleep from 7pm-1030pm when I wake her (she would never wake alone at that time). I think I'll try to skip it and see what happens. Not like she sleeps through anyway so what's one more feed! Lol

 

[BunnyN]

I hope it works and she soon goes back to sleeping 8hrs a night. Babies seem to go through phases with sleep.

 

[loeylo]

Cereal at 12 weeks?!

 

[laila 44]

Cereal at 12 weeks?!

Yes as per my pediatrician. All my kids had reflux and started cereal early with no issues

 

[Starlight32]

When did she decide to stop sleeping through? I've been so lucky recently because my daughter (almost 11 weeks) has been sleeping through the past 3 weeks ish and I don't think I can go back to the middle of the night feeds! Right now her last feed is usually around 5-7pm, sleep by 830ish (earlier if I'm lucky.. I have to go thru the whole rocking thing though lol) and up between 4-6am. I get up at 4am so that time doesn't bother me although I prefer to sleep by 7pm ish so I'm pooped when she is hard to get to sleep. Im not looking forward to the sleep 'regression' phase.

 

[Kazy]

When did she decide to stop sleeping through? I've been so lucky recently because my daughter (almost 11 weeks) has been sleeping through the past 3 weeks ish and I don't think I can go back to the middle of the night feeds! Right now her last feed is usually around 5-7pm, sleep by 830ish (earlier if I'm lucky.. I have to go thru the whole rocking thing though lol) and up between 4-6am. I get up at 4am so that time doesn't bother me although I prefer to sleep by 7pm ish so I'm pooped when she is hard to get to sleep. Im not looking forward to the sleep 'regression' phase.

3 of my 4 never had the sleep regression at all! Too bad it was my first 3. My 4th.sent me for a loop! So hopefully you won't have to deal with it. Seems like a long shot for most but hey .... you never know.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

When did she decide to stop sleeping through? I've been so lucky recently because my daughter (almost 11 weeks) has been sleeping through the past 3 weeks ish and I don't think I can go back to the middle of the night feeds! Right now her last feed is usually around 5-7pm, sleep by 830ish (earlier if I'm lucky.. I have to go thru the whole rocking thing though lol) and up between 4-6am. I get up at 4am so that time doesn't bother me although I prefer to sleep by 7pm ish so I'm pooped when she is hard to get to sleep. Im not looking forward to the sleep 'regression' phase.

3 of my 4 never had the sleep regression at all! Too bad it was my first 3. My 4th.sent me for a loop! So hopefully you won't have to deal with it. Seems like a long shot for most but hey .... you never know.

Mine were exactly the same, first 3 had no regression, 4th was a complete nightmare from then on out.

 

[laila 44]

Well I sleep trainer her this past week and she now goes until 6am ! A feed then back down until 9am. Bliss. Her naps are a breeze too, I just put her down and walk away...

 

[Kazy]

That's great! What did you end up changing first?

 

[Boo44]

Am interested in this thread! My LO is 15 weeks today and I dream feed him just like I did his brothers. They were both sleeping through from their 11pm dream feed until 6/7am from this age, and then I just stopped the dream feed in one go and they slept 7-6.30/7. Brilliant

This baby was 5 weeks early so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, but he's nowhere near that yet
He self settles beautifully on his own after his bottle by 7.30pm. OH gives him an 11pm dream feed which he is zonked for and barely wakes and only takes around 4oz Max. He then wakes at 4.30am if I'm lucky. Last night it was 3.40am. Now he's not particularly hungry, I managed with some effort and the dummy to get him to go back to sleep last night but by 5am he was hungry and had 4oz.
Last week I got totally sick of it and tried one night without the dream feed, I felt like you did, that it's not making any difference anyway so why bother? He slept 7.30pm until 3am solidly. But then after a feed he slept only until 6am and was starving. So for now we've decided to keep the dream feed as it gives us later mornings, but I'm still not sure it's the right decision.

How exactly did you sleep train?

 

[laila 44]

Ok so as of 3 days baby is now doing 7pm until 730am! With a quick dream feed. I'm wondering if it's time to cut it out for real. She sleeps so so soooooo well since I trained her lol.

 

[laila 44]

The way I sleep trained is a simple. A week ago I put her in her crib when I knew she' was exhausted and it's nap time etc. Then I let her complain and cry a bit until she fell asleep which was 26 minutes to be exact. Since that day she never said a word again during naps was put in her crib and fell asleep with no rocking or anything. This must have affected her nights because she started giving me 12-13 hours solid since! I see her waking on the monitor at night but now she just sucks her thumb, looks around and falls back to sleep. I think she understood how to self sooth. I can't tell you what a difference it has made! She's a different baby. Happy, rested and we're all in a great mood lol. As for the dream feed I'm still doing it but it's only 2oz at 1030pm and she's sleeping the entire time. I wonder if I should cut it. I will try one night without and see what happens ...