How do dream feeds work

This means they spend a lot of time in lighter sleep with more opportunities for awakening. Depending on where your baby is in his sleep cycle, he may wake up when you go to nurse him. But if your infant becomes accustomed to waking up to feed night after night, it may make weaning night feeds harder later on. What goes in must come out, so you may end up with a few more diapers. Choosing whether to change a wet diaper in the middle of the night is entirely up to you. Dirty diapers should always be changed immediately to prevent rashes and to keep your little one comfortable.

Still not sure if squeezing in this final meal before you go to bed is right for you and your little one? Are any of these true? Resetting his internal clock may take some time, but eventually, his body should adjust. Most newborns will continue to wake a second time in the early morning hours, but older infants may be able to last from the dream feed until morning. Newborns should eat every three to four hours, even during the night. This will help to train your little one to sleep longer stretches but without compromising her nutritional needs for growth and development.

If your breasts always feel too full before bed, squeezing in an extra nursing session should help to alleviate that uncomfortable feeling so you can fall asleep. This is a common problem many new mothers face when their milk comes in but should regulate over time. For newborns, this would mean missing out on feedings since they need to eat every two to three hours both day and night in the early days. Incorporating a dream feed can encourage your little one to stay asleep longer without missing out on essential nutrition.

In this case, you simply nurse or bottle-feed your baby with as little disturbance as possible. I suggest the latter so you can avoid waking them entirely. The exact schedule will vary depending on when everyone goes to bed at night as well as how old your infant is.

Newborns may wake several times a night because of their tiny tummies that can only hold so much milk. Older infants may only need to eat once or twice a night. In both situations, scheduling a feed right before you turn in at night should give you anywhere from three to eight hours of blissful rest before your sweet cherub wakes.

For younger babes, expect at least one to two additional awakenings. For older infants, a dream feed may be all you need. Newborns often have their days and nights mixed up so they may be waking every hour or two at first.

For most infants, this ends up being at one to four months of age. It helps to prepare your baby by establishing a regular bedtime routine and teaching him to fall asleep in different ways. Also, make sure your little one is growing appropriately on breastmilk or formula before encouraging longer stretches at night. Once again, this will really depend on your individual circumstances.

If dream feeding is working for you, you can keep it up. Some babies continue to need one night-nursing session until their first birthday. If only your little one could give you a few solid uninterrupted hours before needing to be fed again.

Dream feeding is exactly as it sounds. These feedings usually occur an hour or two after your little one has gone down for the night, generally soon before you go to bed yourself.

Related: We asked sleep consultants how to survive the newborn days. One of the best things about dream feeding is that there are no hard and fast rules. All babies are different, but in the early weeks, your baby will likely not have much of a feeding schedule at all. Newborns generally have their nights and days mixed up and will sleep very erratically, waking every 1 to 4 hours.

Between 1 and 4 months, most babies are sleeping 3 to 4 hour stretches or longer, and this is usually when parents consider adding in a dream feed. Again, dream feeding has no set rules. So while this is a basic dream feed how-to, you can adjust it according to your own needs and lifestyle:. If dream feeding is working for you and your baby, you can do it for as long as you wish. However, babies are always changing we know you know this! Babies need to eat very frequently in their first few months of life, including at night.

According to the Academy of American Pediatrics AAP , newborns eat every 2 to 3 hours, or about 8 to 12 times in 24 hours; babies are still eating every 4 to 5 hours at 6 months of age. Sleep deprivation can damage your physical health by changing your hormonal balance and metabolism and decreasing the functioning of your immune system.

It can also increase your risk of depression and anxiety. If dream feeding offers you a couple more hours of solid sleep, this is major benefit. The obvious drawback of dream feeding is that it may not work for your baby, or it may not work consistently. Some babies will be able to wake up slightly for their dream feed, go back to bed, and then sleep longer because their tummies are full.

Other babies will happily dream feed but still wake up an hour two later, ready to feed again. These are all normal scenarios. These times are approximations, and are based on a baby who wakes every 4 to 5 hours at night.

They should be fairly still and not super alert when you try to wake them. Make sure to keep the lights dim and limit sounds and outside stimulation. If you do want to give dream feeding a go, here are some tips to get you started:.

There are also a few cons to dream feeds and some families find that it does not work for them. You may want to bare in mind:. Do you dream feed your baby, or are you thinking of doing so? This week I want to touch briefly on that and explain exactly what I mean and […]. Bed , Cry , Naps , Night Sleep. Anyway, you know how hard things become; you drop something, and it makes you cry.