Typically, dream feeds are done around 10 or 11 p. The idea is that a baby will sleep longer through the night and, ideally, until morning on a full stomach. If you want to give your baby a dream feed, put them down for bed at the time you normally would. Then, around 10 or 11 p. When the feed is done, gently place your baby back in bed and slip out of the room. Your baby may also start waking up frequently at 3 or 4 a.
But if you want to try a dream feed, you could have dad or a non-breastfeeding parent give the dream feed with a bottle of pumped breastmilk or formula and allow mom to continue to sleep through until the next waking.
If your baby frequently wakes around a. The idea is to pick up and feed your little one before she wakes you, so you're giving her the nourishment she needs, but not rewarding her for waking and crying.
If you have to do this early-morning dream feed, make sure you give a little less milk than usual. If you're nursing, just feed on one side for this second dream feed. If you're bottle-feeding, add double the amount of water the formula directions suggest just for one feeding for a few days.
Diluting for this wee-hour feed is totally different. The purpose of the extra water is to fill the stomach with enough ounces, but fewer calories. That can help babies sleep through to morning…when they will be hungry and ready to eat again. Remember, your goal is to provide the same amount of calories in a hour cycle but to shift more of the feedings to waking hours—this adjustment can significantly improve nighttime sleep!
You want to be loving when you feed your baby, but not encouraging her to think that it's time to play. Remember, your goal with dream feeding is to help your baby sleep from the time you go to bed through until the morning.
As stated above, 5 to 10 minutes on each side should be enough for most babies. All babies are different, so there is no specific age recommendation. My general rule is that you can bid adieu to the dream feed 2 to 4 weeks after your baby is sleeping well from the time of your dream feed on through to the morning.
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It can take a couple of weeks to master. For the first few nights, you might find that even though your baby is filling up at the dreamfeed, they are still waking at the same times they previously were.
Try and remind yourself, we are dealing with tiny little human beings here, not robots. It simply takes time. If night 1 your baby wakes at am, night 2 they wake at am, night 3 they wake at 3 am and so on, your baby is one step closer to having that long-awaited longer stretch of sleep.
Sometimes, this late night feed actually interrupts their deep sleep and makes it really hard for them to fall back to sleep. There is no set age that a baby stops Dream Feeding. If the Dream Feed works for you, keep it! If your baby has started to consistently sleep through and you feel they are ready to drop it, drop it! There are a couple of ways this can be done, both gradual.
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