Ever tried a dream feed? Did it work?

[PMApsy]

Hi guys!

After reading Tracy Hoggs' books, Secrets of a Baby Whisperer, I decided to try the dream feed. Basically, the idea is to pick your sleeping baby in your arms between 10-11pm, gently insert the nipple of a bottle (works better than with the breast, she says), and wiggle it a little to trigger the succion reflex. Technically, the baby should start suckling and eat a full meal from the bottle while asleep or really sleepy. After that, you simply put the baby back in his/her crib and let him/her continue sleeping. It should allow the baby to sleep longer because of the extra calories.

I've tried it two nights in a row, with my own milk in a bottle (my son can drink from the bottle if we need him to), but it didn't work one bit. He woke up when I picked him, then suckled a minute or two from the bottle but fell right back to sleep and was so comatose that I wiggled the nipple in his mouth for about 10 minutes but he never drank again! lol! He went right back to sleep until 1am.

So if that technique worked for you, or if you have tips, they would be welcome. I think I'll try a couple more nights and then give up if it still doesn't work. What a waste of breast milk!

Take care guys,

Sophie

[riogirl71]

Well, we are co-sleepers so he sleeps next to me and I would set up the alarm for 3am and feed him while he was half asleep then he would go right back to sleep, never even woke up crying for food. So I am not sure how it would work with picking him up from the crib and laying him down, but it still works for me... the only way I can get sleep so I can go to work!

[PMApsy]

Hi there rio, long time no see!

So basically, your tip is to feed baby even before he wakes up and ask for food... tip noted!

Thanks for replying and take care!

Sophie

[anacris]

Hi Sophie great hearing from you...
It did work for me, from about 3 months to 6 months I gave them the bottle at 7:00 just before they went to sleep and then at 10:30 I gave them another bottle which they drank half asleep and then went back to sleep till 5:30-6:00 next morning... if I omitted this bottle they would wake up at around 1 or 2 AM which is a lot harder to wake up... after 6 months I took away the bottle and they sleep from 7:00 to 6:00...
I did not do anything special... I did have a 3 hour schedule before 3 months... so I fed them every 3 hours (because they are twins I wanted to keep them on the same schedule) so maybe they were used to getting the bottle even if they had not ask for it? I don´t know any tips, it just naturally happened for me...
Hope you can resolve it, it is a lot more restful when you can sleep from 11 till 6...

[kellym]

I did the dream feed for my twins and it worked. I would pick them up, stick the bottle in their mouths and they would eat. Sometimes they would fall back to sleep but I would keep twisting and turning the bottle in their mouths and it would wake them up enough for them to start drinking again.

They probably did their dream feed until they were about 7 months and then we weaned them off of it.

They starting sleeping through the night (except to have their dream feed) from 4 months (for my son) and 5 months (for my daughter).

Good luck!

[2ndtimer]

I started that at about 8 weeks and within just a few nights DS was sleeping through the night. He doesn't really wake up for that bottle, might fuss a little when he's picked up but then starts sucking & goes right back to sleep. For several months when he younger I could even change his diaper afterwards and not wake him. I was lost before I read the Baby Whisperer -it really helped me with the schedule.
NOW, I realize that I've kept this up way too long and I need to seriously wean down his bottles. He's 11 mos and still getting 5 bottles a day -whoops(time flies) So I'm thinking he will get one last one at around 8:30 and tucked in for the night. He is eating quite a bit of finger/soft foods at this point.
This first year is tough. Just when you get really used to one thing, it's time to change!
I would suggest keeping it up for a few more nights. Maybe give it a solid week or so. It really helps with the sleeping through the night.
Take Care,
2ndtimer

[TwinMommy]

I followed Baby Wise when the girls (twins) came home. (Not so much any more...) BUT we did dream feed till they were 7 months I believe? (They were preemie). We got them up at 10PM and fed them (before they woke up) and they slept longer. Sometimes they woke up during the feed but they had no problem going back to sleep.

Once I dropped that feed, the first 3 nights they woke up at like 2AM but I made them CIO. Now they still sleep 12 hours at night...Dinner at 6PM and bottle right before they go to sleep at 7:30. They get about 20 oz a day and they are almost 11 months old.

[PMApsy]

Hi ladies,

Thanks for the advice! It's great to hear about your experiences. The night I posted this, Jérémie successfully drank his whole bottle (about 2.5 ounces)... but he woke up at 1am and had a regular meal all the same. So it didn't change anything. The following day he had his doctor apt and she told me that she doesn't "believe" in the dream feed. She added that before 4 months, babies can't sleep through the night because they need to feed, so the dream feed would be useless with my 2-months son anyway.

...so I didn't give him another dream feed... but now reading your posts, I wonder if I should give it a few more tries now that he does drink while "sleeping". After all, I have nothing to lose, and maybe a couple of hours of sleep to gain! Plus my friend told me that several of her friend's babies started sleeping long stretches towards 3 months of age...

Take care,

Sophie

[riogirl71]

Hi Sophie,
Little ones need to be fed more often, I think that when my bean was 2 mos old I fed him every 3 hours and at night also, then at 3 mos he went to 2 - 4 hour intervals at night. Their tummies are so small I don't think they can sleep through the night. You should try to breastfeed so you don't lose the milk (that's the hardest part!) Can you get her in a rocker and feed her than put her back in the crib? Our situation is a little different cuase I kept him on the bed next to me so I would roll him over feed him and he never woke up. He hasn't cried in the middle of the night since he was 2 mos, but I am sure the crib will be an adjustment!
So glad to hear you are doing well!

[PMApsy]

Hello Rio,

Ahem, Jérémie is a boy! :D:D Thanks for sharing your experience again! Well, as I said I give the dream feed with my own milk, Jérémie never needed formula, so it didn't affect my milk production. I followed the doctor's advice because of what you said: their stomach is still very small, plus breastmilk is digested more quickly than formula, hence the more frequent feeds during the night. So I thought it was a bit useless. Jérémie is an excellent sleeper; he doesn't cry when he wakes up, he'll make little noises and I'll get up right away, pick him up, sit in the rocking chair, nurse him (he always takes 10 minutes max to feed) and he'll fall asleep and I'll put him right back in his bed. I don't even unswaddle him, I don't change his diaper (unless he poops!), and even if he wakes up he goes back to sleep on his own. The whole operation lasts around 20 minutes. I know I have it real easy, but last night I got around 4 hours of sleep in a straight line and it made a difference. If dream feeds can give me that, it's worth a try!

Take care,

Sophie