Hellobee Boards

We've done one the last few days bc he was waking up earlier and earlier for his overnight feed. We've done a bottle while Ed in his crib and no burping. First night he drank two and a half ounces and slept almost eight hours, his longest stretch ever. The next two nights haven't been as successful and he's only drank an ounce but it has still moved his feed back to one or two instead of eleven and allowed him to fall into a deep enough sleep to make it to six am or seven. He's down around 730 or 8 and we've done the feed at 10. I think well keep doing it for a while and see what happens, it can't hurt I guess.

It worked wonderfully for my son. He would dream feed and go right back to sleep. He was a great sleeper though. My DD wakes up if I make even the slightest sound. And then she's UP for an hour. So DFs definitely dont' work on her.

It's my understanding that with a dream feed you don't burp. Sadie will take a dream feed just fine, and not wake up, but it doesn't affect her sleep at all. Its just two extra ounces she doesn't need. I was hoping it might make her STTN, but at 6 weeks she only has one night feeding, so I really can't complain.

@SleepyMonkey: there was a dream feed thread last week, and I think the consensus was that it doesn't work with boob. You'd have to pump or do formula if you wants to try it!

@SleepyMonkey: @photojane: I do it while breastfeeding. I do compressions so a bit of milk comes out then just place my nipple in front of her nose. It takes a couple seconds but she'll start rooting and then she'll begin nursing! She usually nurses for fifteen minutes or so then stops ... I unlatch her and put her down w/o burping.

i've tried dream feeds before, but usually stopped after a few days as i saw no result (i.e. her sleeping longer, going longer between night feeds). however, about a week ago i tried again and stuck with it. the first few days she kept waking up a few hours after the dream feed at her normal time (12am ish), however, the last few nights she is slowly going longer and longer, 1am, then 2am, and last night she didn't wake up for a feed until 4am. hoping it sticks! she has never woken up during a dream feed. i just go in her room and nurse her in the dark, pat her back a little just to make sure no burps are stuck, and put her right back down. she moves a little, but her eyes never open. i am hoping it continues to work and she goes longer and longer....

We started dream feeds with CIO. I see it as a ninja surprise feeding for him to prevent him from waking up, wanting food and attention. Last night, he woke up a bit more than I would like during it. Once I finished feeding him, he burped and went back to sleep until his pacifier fell out of the crib.

ETA: He's 7 months old, CIO started a couple of weeks ago.

I'm not sure if I fully understand what dream feeding is, but DD has always wanted milk while still asleep! It was obvious even when she was very little since she'd squirm trying to suck on her arms. If I didn't feed her a bottle fast enough, she'd wake up crying and it'll take awhile before she slept again. But if I managed to feed her before she woke up completely, she'd continue sleeping. When she was young, it would happen once a night. If I tried to burp her, she'd wake up.

My daughter is 8 months and we (my husband- I am usually in bed by then) still do a dream feed every night. We started when she was about 3 months and she is a great sleeper. She goes down between 7:30-8, dream feed at 11:00, awake between 6:45-7:15. She is kind of like a zombie baby, she is mostly asleep, drinks her bottle and goes right back down. There have been a few times when we changed her diaper after her dream feed and then it takes her a little longer to go back to sleep, about 10-15 minutes.
My only problem now is I have no idea when to stop the dream feed. We are going to keep doing it until it eliminates itself.

We do them in LO has been napping a lot before bedtime. Normally she'll eat 1-2 ounces without waking and it does stretch her sleep by an extra hour or so.