For the last 2 nights LO is taking a long sleep stretch of 6.5 hours (knock on wood this continues...after weeks n weeks of hellish sleep). She will eat at 7pm, in bed by 7:30, and up for a feed at 1:30....the problem is, after this feeding she is up every 2 hours or so and is ravenous. So she will wake around 330 and 530 and is up for the day at 730. I go back to work soon and I'd love to just wake up once in the middle of the night and then feed when I wake up around 5am. Does anyone do a dream feed? Does it help your LO go longer between feeds at night? What time should I do it at?
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We feed around 6:30 and then wake her again at 10:00. Then she wakes up around 3:30/4:00 and sleeps until about 7:30.
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We did a dream feed every night around 3:30am, and it would be enough to hold her over until 6 or so.
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@mrsmenow: that's awesome!! I would be happy with those wakings, I was thinking 10/1030 for a dream feed as I go to bed early
@LivsMama: wow, that's a good stretch of sleep!...330 might be too late for her since she wakes before that, but good to know it worked for u
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I used to cluster feed between 5:30-7, put DS in bed, and then dream feed him around 11. When he dropped that, I used that as an extra pump session. Good luck!
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I made sure that I was nursing enough during the day to get him to sleep well at night. They'll take in a "set" number of ounces in a day, so if you can get those into her during daylight hours, she'll hopefully sleep a little longer at night. I'd try a dream feed and clustering your day feeds closer together.
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@Mrs. Stroller: I second this. It was kind of a pain for LO to be eating every 1.5-2 hours during the day, but she's always been an awesome nighttime sleeper.
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I used to cluster feed right before bed and it really helped LO sleep through the night when he was younger.
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We didn't have the best luck when trying a dream feed. It kind of encouraged them to start waking and expecting to eat around 9 instead of making it a few hours later. But that's just us.
Can you give a bigger bottle before bed or at the first feed at 1:30? Or maybe you're already doing this.
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@T-Mom: I try to cluster feed too, sometimes she does it sometimes she's not having it!
@Mrs. Stroller: @Weagle: @littlek: I try to feed her as much as possible during the day, but for some reason lately she doesn't seem interested in nursing before 2.5 hours has passed and when I try to get her to eat more frequently she just gets mad and throws her neck back... She is a lot more distracted during the day now that she notices everything around her
@MerryC: she won't take a bottle right now, but I could try to see if she would take in more at the 130 feed....thanks!
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@NovBaby1112: I also used to pump in the morning and give him an extra 2oz after nursing 'til totally empty at bedtime. Just a little top-off that we did until he was 8m old and just stopped wanting it.
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We do a dream feed but it doesn't make things perfect. DD feeds from 6:30-7 and then I take her for a dream feed at 10:30. After that is is up around 2, 5 and is up for the day at 7:30-8. Without the dream feed she wakes at 11.
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I did the dream feed right before I went to bed, so at around 10:30. It took a week or two to kick in but after that it was a lifesaver! Good luck!
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@autumn865: how old is your Lo? That is similar to what mine does except she wakes more frequently is the early morning hour
@betsyboop: why does it take a week or so to kick in?I tried a df last night at 10 after putting her down at 730, and she still woke up at 130, 330, and 5, and up for the dat at 630! Gah soooo tired! I cannot keep up this routine and function at work
So my questions are...once the dreanfeed kicks in, will she realize she's not hungry at 130 or 330? I am just so confused by all this.I tried just rocking her back to sleep when she woke at 330 and 5, bc I KNOW she can't be hungry only 2 or 1.5 hours after just eating but she was not having it, kept bobbing at my chest and sucking her fists and finally I fed her and she drained one side. Obviosuly I don't want to starve her, but this is a little much...do you think it could be a growth spurt? It's been going on for a week now. But then when she wakes in the morning she doesn't want to eat and it throws our EASY off. Is she too young to try a controlled CIO?? She will be 13 weeks on Mon.
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@NovBaby1112: I'm not sure but my LO was inconsistent with the results of the dream feed, initially. I remember this because my friend had recommended I try it but the first couple of nights it didn't work and she told me to keep at it, so I did and by 2 weeks she was STTN. I'm no expert but I personally think 13 weeks is a little young for CIO. I wouldn't have felt comfortable trying that until my LO was 4 months. We ended up sleep training at 4.5 months and it worked beautifully. Does your LO take a pacifier? That might help with her night wakings.
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She won't take a paci
yea I think 13 weeks is young too, I'm just exhausted and hope this ends soon! Do you think I shpuld make her bedtime later, like 830 or so so that she sleeps her longest stretch later?
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@NovBaby1112: my LO is 10.5 weeks and still has a late bed time. I started using @Mrs. Stroller:'s suggestion of the 1-2oz top off at her bed time feed and it made a huge difference for us! I cluster feed through the evening then do bath time around 8, and start her last feed around 8:30. Then she falls asleep between 9 and 9:30 and usually sleeps until 6:30 am. If she wakes before 5 I give a paci and rock her back to sleep. I don't feed her earlier than 5 because I know she doesn't need it and I want to keep her night weaned.
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@NovBaby1112: We followed Weissbluth's method and his theory is that babies actually sleep longer when they have earlier bed times. In our experience, this was true. We used to put our LO down at 6:30 or 7 but he suggested we try it at 5:30 at 4.5 months without a dream feed (he's the head pedi at our practice), and I was skeptical but it worked! When we were dream feeding though, we would put her down at 6:30 and then dream feed at 10:30. I think the Baby Whisperer recommends doing the dream feed roughly 3.5 hours after the baby has gone down for the night?
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@MamaMoose: wow that's awesome sleep!! I'm going to try and fill her up more at bedtime and see if that makes a difference
@betsyboop: Omg he is your pedi? I read his book and I did see where he said earlier bedtime equals longer sleep, so maybe we just need more time for it to kick in. Maybe I will try the dreanfeed at 11 then. Thanks for the tips! So did he help you with your CIO at 4.5 months? How did it go? How long did it take? Sorry for all the questions lol, just curious!
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@NovBaby1112: He's not our pedi (he actually only does phone consults related to sleep now) but he is the head physician at our pediatrics practice. He runs a parent support group at the office every week so parents can attend with sleep-related questions and he advises them on what he thinks they should be doing. At 4.5 months we followed his CIO instructions, which were basically along the lines of stop dream feeding, put your LO down at 5:30, and let her cry until she falls asleep, and it worked! It took 2 nights and it was 100% worth it. She is a different (happier) baby, and the overnight sleep training translated to longer naps during the day too!
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@betsyboop: wow, that's awesome!!! Where are you from? I want to call him for a phone consult!
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Check out http://www.sweetbabies.com. That's his practice's website and has information about phone consults. We're in Chicago. Good luck!
yea I think 13 weeks is young too, I'm just exhausted and hope this ends soon! Do you think I shpuld make her bedtime later, like 830 or so so that she sleeps her longest stretch later?
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