dream feed, did you do it? does it help babies sleep longer?

[amyinNC]

Every night I debate whether to try to wake up ds for a dream feed (10 or 10:30 feeding to try to get him to sleep longer through the night) -- but I'm just not sure it's working. It seems he wakes up at 3:00 or 3:15, whether he's been awakened at 10 pm for a feeding or he sleeps through from 7 pm. Maybe I'm better off just trying to get to sleep as early as I can, since I'm getting up at 3 in either case?

Did you wake your babies for a feeding before you went to bed each night? Did you notice they slept longer those nights? Any tips or hints?

Thanks in advance!
Amy (mom to 2 boys, july 03, march 06)

[randomkid]

I tried it...I didn't really wake her, I would just feed her in her sleep. I noticed no difference whatsoever. Whether I fed her or not, she would wake at the same time. The only thing I accomplished was getting to bed later. I would skip it and go to bed earlier, esp. if you don't see any difference with the dream feed.

[Momof3Labs]

I tried it with DS1 and it never seemed to make a difference.

[jgriffin]

I used to sometimes dreamfeed at night (around 9-10) and always every morning (5-6) before I went to work. The dreamfeed at night didn't seem to have an effect, but the morning one allowed DS (and DH!) to sleep for another couple of hours.

[kboyle]

i tried a dream feed too, around midnight...sometimes by nursing, sometimes by bottle. using the bottle was WAY easier than getting her to latch on in her sleep. either way, he pretty much woke up at the same time as when he didn't get a dream feed.

[kboyle]

i tried a dream feed too, around midnight...sometimes by nursing, sometimes by bottle. using the bottle was WAY easier than getting her to latch on in her sleep. either way, he pretty much woke up at the same time as when he didn't get a dream feed.

[tarahsolazy]

I did this staring when my guy was older, around 8 months. It really helped. Prior to that he'd nurse at 6, go to sleep, wake at 2am to nurse, then sleep til 6ish. If I nursed him before I went to bed, usually around 10:30 or 11, he'd often sleep through.