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The “Dream Feed”! What is it? Sounds pleasantly relaxing but will it work?
What is Dreamfeeding?
Dream feeding is when you wake your baby just enough to take a feed, just before you go off to bed yourself. The goal is to top baby up with an extra feed whilst still asleep, then put them back to bed, in the hope that you will get a longer stretch of sleep yourself. The aim is to minimise the number of times baby wakes during the night.
How to work Dreamfeeding?
Newborns have small stomachs and a fast metabolism so they need to feed often. Once your baby is past the newborn stage (maybe around 6 weeks), you may start to recognise your baby’s needs and sleep patterns more easily. This might be a good time to initiate the dream feed.
A dream feed goes something like this:
Baby takes last feed at 7pm…at 10pm you wake the baby just enough to give him a full feed before dashing off to bed yourself…baby wakes for next feed hopefully later in the night or early morning.
Sounds like the perfect scenario to any new mother right? Well it might be for some, but it does not always go to plan for others as babies are all different.
Tips for Dreamfeeding
Here are a few tips that you should keep in mind when attempting the dream feed:
– Do not change the nappy unless baby has passed a motion. Do not wake the baby fully.
– Keep the room dark, no noise, no bright light. Just the feed then straight back to bed!
– Some babies may not like being woken up and could become distressed rather than more sleepy. If this happens a few times then perhaps dream feeding is not for your baby!
It may not work for a very alert baby. By waking baby to feed you are disturbing his sleep and could stimulate him to the point where he won’t go down and settle to sleep again. Once you’ve settled your very alert baby, just let him sleep.
– Always try to do the dream feed around 10-11. No later or it could affect baby’s night sleep.
– You should wait to do a dream feed for around 3-4 hours after baby’s last feed. If you try to dream feed your baby too soon, they might still be full and will not take any more milk. Yeah you’re tired and you want to go to bed, but staying up that extra half hour to space out the feed MAY get you an extra hour later…
Things to Consider when Dreamfeeding
– Some people argue that forcing a feed on a baby is not “demand feeding”. It might not be any different to quickly feeding the baby before you have to go to an appointment or for a long drive, but if you want to let baby find their own rhythms, dream feeding is not for you.
– Perhaps baby is associating the feeding with getting back to sleep. As baby grows it’s time to remove sleep associations such as feeding to sleep. Try to settle baby without a feed.
– Dream feeding may help you to increase your milk supply if you are concerned about your supply. More feeding=more milk production.
– Babies that do not feed well during the day, may benefit from this night time feed. Around the age of 4 months babies become increasingly inquisitive and distracted and so day time feeds may become more interrupted. The aim however, is always to try to get your baby to take full feeds in daylight hours to prevent many night awakenings.
– You shouldn’t try to dream feed older babies. The older they are the less chance that they need to feed at night. Best to try dream feeding with babies under 6 months of age.
– Once your baby is older (i.e. after 6 months) and taking solids you can start to wean baby slowly off the dream feed by bringing it forward a little every couple of nights.
– It may take time to implement the dream feed. We suggest trying it out for a week or so to really give it time to work. If it doesn’t work, then you won’t die wondering!
Cluster Feeding
An alternative to the dream feed is to try cluster feeding in the hours just before baby goes off to bed. The idea being that you give baby as much milk as he needs in order to promote a longer sleep. For more tips on breastfeeding read our blog here or visit the Australian Breastfeeding Association.
Feeding baby at 10 or 11pm is never a guarantee that baby will not wake again one or two hours later. It’s just a matter of trial and error to see if it works for you or not. A dream feed may be most effective when a baby is young (i.e. under 6 months). After that age they should be able to go for longer stretches at night without feeding. It also works better if you have young baby that is rather sleepy. I found that around 7 months my baby really wanted the breast to settle so I sent my husband into his room to console him instead. He got all the comfort and cuddles but without the smell of mother’s milk and this reduced the feed/sleep association.
Sleeping Arrangements
It will be easier to feed baby if he is close by at night time. Having baby in your room in his own safe sleep space can be beneficial to both mum and baby. You will be able to listen to his needs more easily and he will feel reassured that you’re close by. If you’re feeling a bit dreamy yourself while baby is feeding, remember to be careful and get baby back to their own sleep space as soon as they’ve finished feeding. It’s a good idea to make firm decisions about your sleeping arrangements with baby during the day when you’re alert. Discuss the sleeping arrangements with your partner so that everyone is aware of your decision. When you’re tired, it’s hard to make good decisions and you may deviate from your intended plan just because you are tired and want the quick solution, which may not be the safest solution. Read more about this very interesting topic in our blog on co-sleeping.
Using Bubbaroo to help
I regularly dream fed my children when they were young babies and would keep disturbances to a minimum keeping them swaddled or in their baby sleeping bag. I know some parents whose partners were the ones that gave the dream feed to the baby so that mum could get to bed early. Our Bubbaroo swaddles and baby sleeping bags are perfect for keeping baby settled and warm while you take them out of their cot or bassinette for a dream feed. The Joey Pouch Swaddle Wrap can be used from newborn, the Joey Pod Transitional Swaddle Bag or Joey Swag Baby Sleeping Bags are great as they grow. If your baby is swaddled, this could help facilitate moving the baby in and out of the cot as well as preventing the Startle/Moro reflex where baby could wake themselves. You can gently place baby, dozey or sleeping back in their cot safely covered and ready for bed.
Dream feeding may be worth a try!
