Whitney passed along this mama tip to me and now I’m telling you; if your baby is starting to skip that 10pm feeding and you want to stretch those sleeping hours to ones that are more convenient, try the dream feed. She says it didn’t work for them, but we used the dream feed technique for several months (on two different babies) and are ready to try it again.
Pssst, the Baby Whisperer also recommends it if her word is worth more to you.
Now, it takes a very steady hand and I never tried it myself because I had the lucky job of pumping during feeding time (consequently, Alec is the pro in our house) but here’s the deal:
- Warm the bottle
- Feed the baby while he sleeps — you don’t even have to rouse him from the crib
- Now, you go to bed and enjoy the extra ZZZZ’s
Basically, the sucking reflex is so strong that Holden could down a 4 oz bottle (and later almost 6 oz!) while still sleeping. I think Alec played video games on his phone with his free hand.
I hear that some people are able to do a full-on nursing session without waking the baby this way.
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it IS possible to take your baby out of the crib and nurse them while they sleep. i was hestitant to try it at first. after spending all my energy trying to get my son to sleep, why risk it? but i figured if he did wake up, we’d rock him back to sleep as usual and he’d be up to eat at some point anyway….
i nurse my son laying down on my bed — it is easier to get up without disturbing him than from a chair. sometimes he opens an eye or two but is fast asleep by the time i put him back in his crib. and he usually burps on the way back to his room!
We 100% endorse the dream feed. We did it with formula, but still. It made the nights SO much easier when each of us was “on duty” as it were for only 1/2 the night. Its great. Totally great.
Is there not an issue with burping? When I read this, my first thought was that they’d wake up screaming with a gas bubble soon after… After reading some of the “testimonials” it seems that’s not a problem. Has anyone had any issues with gas?
My first son was a major spitter-upper — total reflux kid — but he didn’t have this problem with the dream feed. I suspect his little body was so relaxed during the entire process, but I don’t really know. I can just say what we did.
My second son was less of a puker. He used to cry out “WAH!” as soon as the bottle ran out each time but he remained asleep other than that noise.
Go figure.
hi, i didn’t even know this was an actual method when i did it. and i did it cause i wasn’t able to stay up and wait for her next feeding. so she’s been sleeping all night since 6weeks old.
hi, my son is 6 months old, and I still dream feed him. When do they stop doing it? I am afraid to hear him scream in the middle of the night if I stop giving him a bottle @ 10pm. Please share your experience.
Ann, I’m a night nanny that helps getting babies to sleep all night, I use the dream feed Method about 90% and it works, I would start the dream
feed @ 9:30 for the 1 st week then 9:00 for the second week and so on
8:30 and eventually that how we cut the dream feed and cosistency is the key
good luck
check out my website http://www.ocnightnannies.com
I can attest to this – not with a bottle, but with the breast. I cosleep with my daughter (6 months) and she still eats a few times a night. She just latches on when she’s hungry and pops off when she’s done – and sleeps through the entire thing. I get roused when she latches, but am able to go right back to sleep. It’s the only way we both get any solid sleep.
Due in March 2012….This sounds like it will be terrific if it works!!! But what about burping? Thanks!!
I nursed and did a dreamfeed – and my DS slept in his crib. I just pulled him out and nursed him. He was totally asleep by the time he was done nursing. No burping issues, and he was a ridiculous spitter.
I did a dreamfeed til about 6 months. Eventually weaned it down to one breast, moved the time up, and then dropped it completely.
I have heard that a lot of people endorse the dream feed. This wasn’t possible with use because of a multitude of feeding problems (both with DD and with me). I would like to try it with the next one though, because waking up 4 or 5 times a night was not a positive thing, haha.
My only concern with it is once the LO gets teeth. Breast feeding is one thing (the milk shoots to the back of their mouth and doesn’t touch their teeth) but bottles would concern me. Thoughts?
I’ve been told that ‘rocking your baby to sleep’ is actually a BAD habit to get into because then they will always want it, and will never learn to self settle. My sister in law is STILL paying for that piece of bad advice (the one where midwives tell you babies don’t know how to settle themselves…SO not true!!), and her baby is 8 months old and still not sleeping through the night. I was able to watch my sister’s mistakes of rocking her baby to sleep, and learn what not to do.
Of course, I am only a new mum and every baby is different. But I’ve seen things work better when we started from the very beginning by NOT rocking her to sleep, but putting her down in her crib while she is awake and calm, and if she is chucking a huge tanty, we firmly press her arms to her chest (been told they feel like its being in the womb again) and wait until she calms down. We dont pick her up if she’s screaming, but wait until she’s calm before we pick her up so that she doesnt get the idea that if she screams she gets what she wants.
Dont get me wrong, we had some MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR breastfeeding issues when she was first born (and I had a terrible pregnancy and birth). She hasnt always been an easy ride. But we’ve found this consistent strategy of discipline (i.e. letting her chuck her tanty but calming her while she remains in her crib by holding her arms to her chest), eventually bubby will stop screaming and realise she has lost the battle. Sure, it will be painful for YOU for awhile, but trust me…eventually the battle will get less and less to the point where bedtime is no battle at all. Remember, YOU are in charge, not your baby.
We tried the same strategy with breastfeeding and it worked a dream! Not only that, but this same strategy has meant that our bubby now sleeps through the night as well. My piece of advice to new mums is this: not every cry means bubby needs to be picked up. Learn to distinguish distressed cries from tanty cries. If bubby is burped, fed, changed, and has had a play, then likelyhood is she is just chucking a tanty and is better off left to cry it out (unless she is teething, which is a whole different story!) Good luck guys, I hope this bit of advice helps.
I’m still dream feeding my almost 10 mos old. She fusses in the night enough to rouse me (it seems I can sleep through fake outs
) and I can pick her up from her crib, have a little nurse and put her back down. She never wakes. She is a great sleeper and happy, confident child. I don’t feel like my sleep is really disrupted as I’m half asleep during feeding and I fall back to sleep easily! Plus I could always sleep in since she sleeps 14 hours at night! Now we’ll see if I feel differently when I go back to work 
For mamas asking about burping, eventually around 5-6 months, babies can begin to burp themselves! So no need to worry about it, keep dream feeding, its awesome!
To Cora: my daughter is over 2 YEARS old and still doesn’t sleep through the night. We have literally tried everything. Some kids just suck at sleeping. Please keep your judgements to yourself.
Yep! Works while breastfeeding. I am a co-sleeper as well and he just latches on when he wants still sleeping really. I am trying to give him more sleeping opportunity in his own crib…the last two co-slept with until about 3-4 years old. Our youngest (1) is our last, so I am hoping we can transition him easier and sooner.
I love the dream feed, it worked so great with one of my kids. I did have to pump each time which was kind of annoying, but then my husband fed my son the bottle and I got to go to sleep sooner.