How To Do A Dream Feed?

How To Do A Dream Feed
What exactly does it mean to feed one’s dreams? – Tracey Hogg, the person who initially came up with the phrase “dream feeding,” defines it as the act of feeding a newborn infant while the infant is sleeping. You may achieve this by holding your baby in a feeding posture while it is asleep and attempting to trigger the rooting reflex by massaging your baby’s lips and providing your infant a breast or bottle.

Numerous infants are able to breastfeed in this manner without waking up (Hogg and Blau 2005).
However, the phrase “dream feed” might be interpreted otherwise by some.
For example, pediatrician Harvey Karp discusses the practice of purposefully rousing a sleeping baby in a post on his blog, titled “Dream feeding,” in which he defines the practice as “waking your baby to feed one more time before you turn in for the night” (Karp, n.d.).

And some people refer to any attempt to persuade your kid to “tank up” before you go to bed as a “dream feed,” using the term to represent this type of feeding. You have the option of rousing your infant for this purpose, or you may give the feed to your infant when he or she is already awake.

When can you start dream feeding?

When to begin giving your infant a pacifier as a dream feed – Because their stomachs are still developing, newborns have to feed at least once every two to four hours. When your infant reaches the age of two to three months, on average, and demonstrates that he is able to go extended periods of time without waking up for a feeding, you may want to experiment with dream feeding.

It is possible to begin dream feeding older babies as well; but, by the time they are around 4 to 6 months old, the majority of newborns will log approximately 10 to 12 hours of sleep each night (though this number might vary), with just one or two feedings during that period.
Therefore, if you’re fortunate, at that moment, a dream feed might not even be necessary anymore.

Due to the fact that the first sleep is the most restorative and the most restful, giving the infant a dream feed when they are this age might do more damage than good. As a result, disturbing your baby during this time might result in a lower quality of sleep for your infant.

Should a dream feed be a full feed?

When would be the ideal moment for a dream feed? If you are going to try feeding your baby while they are dreaming, the best time to do it is while they are in the first and deepest stage of sleep throughout the night. This begins at around 6:7 pm and continues till 11 pm.

Therefore, the best time to dream feed is between the hours of 10 and 11 o’clock at night, before you enter the next stage of sleep.
If you wake up at 11:30 p.m.
And realize that you missed your dream feed because you fell asleep, you should go back to sleep.
Tonight, you should skip the dream feed and wait for your baby to wake up naturally hungry at some time rather than trying to feed them throughout the night.

Your baby’s digestive system will learn that they will have another feed in a couple of hours, thus there is no need to have a full meal at bed time if they are dream fed prior to 10 o’clock at night. This will simply promote the bed time feed to not be as full or complete as it may be.

How long should I do a dream feed for?

When should I stop dream feeding my baby? Because every baby is different, there is no age advice that specifies when you should cease dream feeding your child. After two to four weeks have passed during which your baby has been sleeping soundly from the time of your dream feed until morning, you can safely discontinue the practice of giving your baby a feeding during the night.

Can dream feed backfire?

Are Dream Feeds Something That Should Be Considered? – Providing a dream feed to your infant who requires frequent feedings may be a beneficial short-term technique; but, dream feeds have the potential to backfire as your child gets closer to the age of four months.

A baby’s natural sleep schedule begins to develop between the ages of three and four months. During this time, kids will begin to transition between stages of light and deep sleep. They now go through discrete phases of sleep much like adults do. This is going to be a long-term (and positive) change. It is also possible for you to undergo the four-month sleep regression during this time frame.

The sleep that your infant gets during the early portion of the night should be the sleep that is the deepest and most restorative overall during the course of the night as their sleep routine grows and matures. Even if you have the impression that your baby does not fully wake up during their dream feed, you have still interrupted their natural sleep pattern, which may cause them to have trouble falling or staying asleep for the remainder of the night.

Do you change a diaper during a dream feed?

After my baby has finished their dream feed, should I change their diaper? – A: Only if you believe it’s essential to do so. After giving a dream feed a shot for a couple of nights, you’ll have a better idea of how it works. One more time, the goal is to stimulate your child the least amount feasible.

They might get aroused by having their diaper changed, so try to avoid doing that if at all possible. If, on the other hand, your infant wakes up an hour or two later because of a damp diaper, it is possible that you will need to perform a brief diaper change after the dream feed and before you put them back to sleep.

We suggest that you use The Zen Sack if you discover that your infant requires a diaper change immediately following a dream feeding. Its softly weighted core will help keep your baby quiet and asleep, which will allow you to secretly utilize the 2-way zipper to conduct a quick diaper change and get a longer stretch of sleep for yourself! How To Do A Dream Feed

Does dream feed count as sleep?

What should I do if I discover that my infant does not experience “large stretches” of sleep during the night? – Great question! The dream feed does not truly extend sleep; rather, it reorganizes how sleep is distributed throughout the night. If you haven’t been able to see any longer spans of time during the night, I teach a class that might be able to assist! My session on newborns will teach you how to gently promote longer stretches during the newborn stage, in addition to a lot of other useful information.

Does dream feed cause night waking?

Is Dream Feeding the Method That You Should Use? – That is open to debate. Dream feeding often occurs during the first few hours of a baby’s sleep, which is also the period of time during which they sleep the most deeply; hence, there is a possibility of waking them from a deep slumber.

What if my baby wakes up during a dream feed?

How long should a dream feed last? In the majority of cases, you should strive to give your pet a whole meal while they are receiving their dream feed. It’s very normal for some infants to totally wake up while being fed during their dream. Just make sure that the lights are kept at a low level and that the amount of stimulus that they are exposed to is kept to a minimum so that you can easily put them back to sleep.

How do I know if my dream feed is working?

The Dream Feed – WHAT IS A DREAMFEED? [The Dream Feed] The dreamfeed is the very last feeding of the day for your little one. It usually occurs between between one and two hours after your baby has finished their last feeding before bed. This takes place about 10 or 11 o’clock at night.

As an illustration, the final time you feed your baby is at seven o’clock, and by seven thirty your infant is sound asleep. Your baby should have one more feeding before you (or your spouse!) turn in for the night. This should, in theory, make them feel more satisfied and put them in a better position to sleep for an extended period of time.

Because our infants have a nice, full stomach from their recent feedings, both they and their parents should enjoy a restful night. HOW DO YOU DO THE DREAMFEED? Because the dreamfeed is administered during the deepest phase of a baby’s sleep cycle, the infant does not typically wake up over the course of the feeding.

At approximately 10 or 11 o’clock at night, take up your infant carefully while still ensuring that they are wrapped in their swaddle or sleeping bag.
When you are feeding your infant, you should attempt to offer them either the entire bottle or both sides.
There is no need for concern regarding the baby’s burping.

Because our infants are in such a calm state here, there is no need to burp them because they are not taking in as much air as they normally would. Put them back where they were. WHAT HAPPENS IF MY BABY WAKES DURING THE DREAMFEED? They need to be held until they are peaceful, and then you may put them down so that they can go asleep on their own.

Even though they have awakened, they are still in the “deep” stage of their sleep cycle, which means that it should not take them very long to go back asleep when they wake up.
HOW OLD DOES MY BABY HAVE TO BE IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE EFFECTIVE? The plan is for you to start using the Dream Feed whenever you notice that your baby no longer needs to be fed every three hours while they are sleeping.

This occurs every three months on average. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR IT TO ACTIVATE? It can take you a few weeks to get the hang of it. Even if your infant is getting enough to eat during the dreamfeed, you may notice that for the first few nights, they continue to wake up at the same times as they did before beginning the dreamfeed.

Try to bring it back to your mind that we are not dealing with robots but rather with very little human beings.
They won’t be able to adjust to this new circumstance overnight.
There’s just no way about it.
It is just a matter of waiting.
YOU WILL KNOW THAT IT IS WORKING FOR YOU IF EVERY NIGHT, the length of sleep grows longer and longer than it was the night before.

If on night one your baby awakens at 12:30 a.m., on night two at 1:45 a.m., on night three at 3 a.m., and so on, this indicates that your kid is getting closer to experiencing that much-anticipated extended stretch of uninterrupted sleep. YOU WILL KNOW THAT IT IS NOT WORKING FOR YOU IF YOU GIVE IT A WEEK AND YOUR BABY IS STILL AWAKENING MULTIPLE TIMES DURING THE NIGHT OR IF THEY ARE UNABLE TO EXTEND THEIR SLEEP.

Sometimes, this late night meal may actually wake them up from a deep sleep, making it extremely difficult for them to go back to sleep when it has passed. Unfortunately, the Dream Feed isn’t a solution that can help all infants. * If your infant does not take the bottle, it is possible that they are not old enough for it yet.

WHEN & HOW DO I DROP THE DREAMFEED? There is no predetermined age at which a child will no longer require Dream Feeding. Keep using the Dream Feed if you find that it helps you. If your infant has begun to routinely sleep through the night and you believe they are ready to be weaned, then it is time to wean them.

There are a couple of ways that this may be accomplished, and they are both done in stages.1. Start bringing your baby’s Dream Feed forward a little bit at a time. Start by reducing it by 15 minutes once every three nights until you reach 8 or 9 o’clock, and then stop doing it entirely. OR 2. If your baby is being fed by bottle, gradually reduce the amount of milk given at each Dream Feed by 20–30 milliliters until he or she is taking in around 60 milliliters.

At this stage, you need to consider if it is time to entirely cease feeding the animal. If you are breastfeeding, you should try to reduce the length of time your infant spends eating by two minutes once every three nights.

When should I drop the 10pm feed?

It’s true that the times we have to get up in the middle of the night to feed our babies are some of the most precious and bonding times we have with them, but as time goes on, it’s possible that getting up multiple times a night to feed them won’t seem quite as precious as it did when they were newborns.

Your baby typically only requires one or two feedings each night by the time they are between three and six months old. These feedings should take place once at the beginning of the night (this might be a dream feed), and once in the wee hours of the morning. It is doubtful that they will require any more than that unless there is an issue with their current weight.

By the time they are 6 or 7 months old, most babies are ready to stop having any nighttime feedings. Bear in mind, however, that many babies continue to require a feeding in the early morning (between 3 and 5 a.m.) until they are 12 months old! Babies that wake up more frequently than that probably aren’t hungry but rather want to be comforted; this is the most likely explanation for their behavior.

Is it OK to put baby to sleep without burping?

Because the majority of what newborns consume is in liquid form, new parents often find themselves caressing their children’s backs in an effort to calm their infants’ rumbling stomachs. And if the meal you just gave your baby concludes with him drifting off to dreamland, it might be difficult to convince him to burp while he is asleep.

Even while it may be tempting to put your baby to sleep and then stealthily leave the room, it is still necessary to make an effort to get that burp out of your system.
In point of fact, if your infant does not properly expel gas after being fed, they may experience discomfort and be more likely to either wake up or vomit after the meal.

The following is a discussion of several techniques for waking a sleeping baby to burp it, as well as what to do in the event that you are unable to coax your dozing infant into cooperating.

Can a dream feed disrupt sleep?

Dream feed according to the age chart –


Dream feed by Age	Why it is the optimal age
Dream feed at 6 weeks old	6 weeks is a great time to add a sleepy feed to your baby’s feeding schedule. Around 6 weeks, many babies have just come out of their 4- to 6-week growth spurt and begin showing signs that they are ready to sleep for longer periods overnight.
Dream feed at 3 months old	3 months is a very popular age to add a last feed before midnight. By 12 weeks, many babies can go one stretch of about 3 – 4 hours (or longer) without a feeding. Adding a dream nursing or bottle feeding a couple hours before midnight may help your baby sleep until 1 or 2 AM.
Dream feed at 4 months old	4 months may be the most popular age to begin dream feeding. Between 4 and 6 months, babies will often experience another growth spurt and naturally show signs of needing an extra night feeding (even if they previously dropped an overnight feed). If this sounds like your baby, sleep feeding may be the answer!
Dream feed at 6 months old	6 months is another ideal time to resume or begin. At around 6 months, babies’ bedtimes typically get earlier, leaving more time for nighttime sleep. Feeding your baby again a few hours after they have gone to sleep for the night can be the “magic trick” that gives you and your baby peaceful sleep until the early morning hours.
Dream feed at 10 months old	Some 10 month old babies, who are still waking to feed at night, can also benefit from a last feed around 9 or 10 PM. A well-timed dream feeding at this age helps some babies sleep until it is time to wake up for the day. However, do note that a dream feed can interrupt a baby’s natural sleep cycle, and they may continue to wake in the early morning hours. Older babies may sleep better with one feeding between 3:00 and 5:00 AM rather than a dream feed.

Should I wake my 6 week old to feed at night?

How Many Hours Will My Newborn Sleep? The National Sleep Foundation recommends that newborns obtain anywhere from 14 to 17 hours of sleep over the course of a 24-hour period. There is a possibility that some babies will sleep for up to 18–19 hours each day.

The need to feed prompts newborns to awaken every couple of hours.
Babies that are breastfed require frequent feedings, often every 2–3 hours.
Babies that are fed with a bottle often eat less frequently, somewhere between once every three and four hours.
The feeding process should be interrupted for newborns who sleep for extended lengths at a time.

Start waking your infant up to eat every three to four hours until he or she demonstrates healthy weight growth, which should happen during the first couple of weeks of life. After that, you are free to put your child down for extended stretches during the night while they are sleeping.

Do you burp baby after dream feed?

Should you burp a baby after putting them down for a nap or a dream feed? – Yes, you should burp your baby even after a dream feed, which is a late-night feeding that you wake your little one up for before you go to bed. – A dream feed is when you wake your little one up for the purpose of feeding them before you go to bed.

What is the cause? Your infant may experience spitting up or gas after any meal, even a nighttime feeding while they are sleeping. Therefore, you should do all in your power to reduce that pressure. One tip that you may try is to fake a burp while your baby isn’t looking, such as when you swap breasts or when he takes a break from the bottle.

And if the position you’re trying doesn’t work, try another one; however, you shouldn’t spend more than around five minutes trying to pull a burp out of yourself.

Can a dream feed disrupt sleep?

How much should I dream feed?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question; you can do a little “snack” feeding of 2-3 ounces, you could do their typical 4-6 ounces, you could feed on one side if you are nursing, or you could feed on both sides! There are some infants who will only drink a very small quantity, while others will consume the entire meal.

How does a dream feed work?

Your brand-new baby has been dozing off for the past two hours (which, by the way, is incredible! ), and you are now ready to turn in for the night. The difficulty is that you are aware that your infant will probably wake you up in less than an hour in order to demand another feeding since he or she is starving.

The concept of the “dream feed” originates from this point forth.
Dream feeding is when you feed your baby while he is half awake, keeping his belly full so that he may sleep for a longer period of time before waking YOU again.
Dream feeding is sometimes referred to as sleep feeding.
The goal is for your infant to consume the meal and then put those additional calories to use by sleeping for a little bit longer.

So, just how do you nourish your dreams? You will be able to master the procedure of creating a dream feed with the assistance of these steps.

Take care when you pick up your child. You should make every effort not to wake him up, but if you do, you shouldn’t worry about it because feeding him will probably put him back to sleep. Do not change his diaper (unless it is filthy, in which case change it in between the feeds), and maintain the lowest possible level of stimulation (this includes minimizing lights, noises, and even eye contact!).
Make sure that your infant is sitting up straight enough so that he can properly swallow.
To assist your baby in latching on, place the breast or bottle directly on the bottom lip of his mouth. Imagine this: if you were sleeping and someone put a cheeseburger directly on your lips while you were out, you would definitely wake up enough to check it out.
If you feel that your infant is getting too drowsy, you might try tickling his cheeks or toes or turning the light down low. You may also try carefully opening your baby’s lips and giving him a taste of what you’re about to give him. Because you want your infant to consume enough food, you should continue to excite him even if he is having trouble staying awake (but not over-stimulate).
You don’t need to worry about giving your kid a burp right away. It is not common for babies to take in a significant amount of air while they are being fed during their dreams
but, you can try keeping your baby upright for a few minutes before placing him back in the crib (especially if he has reflux).

When is the right time to try out a dream feed? Your kid will hopefully go to sleep between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., which is most certainly not the same time that you go to bed. After you have finished getting ready for bed, the chance for a dream feed will present itself, since it makes perfect sense at that point.

When it comes to the age of your child, a good time to begin a dream feed is when your child is around 2.5 months old and has begun to sleep for extended periods of time while they are awake throughout the night. You should keep doing the dream feed for as long as it continues to assist in extending your baby’s first nightly sleep; but, after you begin sleep training (around 4-4.5 months), you may discover that your baby no longer requires the dream feed.

In addition to this, if you notice that your infant did not consume as much food as normal throughout the day, or if your infant is ill, you may want to consider giving them a dream feed. It is also a terrific approach for mothers who are nursing their children to alleviate engorged breasts or to enhance a poor milk supply.

So.does dream feeding tend to be successful with most infants? Dream feeding, like the majority of practices concerning newborns or sleep, is successful for some infants but not for others. In my experience, it is successful around fifty percent of the time. Babies wake up less frequently during the night if they are fed once or more times between the hours of 10 p.m.

and midnight, according to some study. This makes perfect sense. If you give your baby a dream feed right before (your) bedtime, it is almost certain that your baby will not wake you up within the next half an hour because they are hungry. On the other hand, if you do not give your baby a dream feed right before (your) bedtime, your baby may wake you up about an hour or so after you have fallen asleep because they are hungry.

Your infant has a complete awakening and quickly becomes overstimulated, making it difficult to put him back to sleep.
Your baby’s natural sleep-wake cycles will be disrupted if you wake him up, which will result in his waking up more frequently during the night. After 4 or 5 months, when sleep may have begun to stabilize on its own, this might be an extremely relevant point to consider.
Your infant is not taking the morning feeding because they are consuming too much throughout the night.
Your newborn either isn’t displaying any indicators that he genuinely needs the feed, or he isn’t showing any signs that he is interested in eating.

I strongly recommend that you give dream feeding a go for at least a few nights in a row sometime during the first few months of your baby’s existence. It’s possible that your infant will eat it sometimes, but other times he won’t. Keep track of how often your baby wakes up during the night for a few days.

Is she waking up at the same time each night, regardless of whether or not she had a feeding during her dream or her most recent meal? This might indicate that your infant is not necessarily waking up due to hunger, but rather due to routine, and that he or she may have formed a sleep connection with the idea of being fed in order to fall back to sleep at a specific time.

Don’t panic if your baby’s sleep patterns don’t alter or if he isn’t interested in the dream feeding because the practice isn’t for everyone. If, on the other hand, a dream feed appears to be successful for your infant, then that’s wonderful! You should be aware that you will want to wean your child off of dream feeding around the time that they reach the age of six months.

You can quit “cold turkey” or you can simply make the dream feed shorter and shorter every night for a number of nights in a row. Experimenting with the dream feed is something you should be prepared to do, but it’s absolutely something you should give a go to see if it helps your baby and you get a better night’s sleep.

Various sources may be found at the following website: https://www.pbcexpo.com.au/baby/baby-feeding/dream-feeding/ https://www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/baby/what-is-a-dream-feed-and-how-do-i-do-it https://www.babycareadvice.com/article/detail/Sleep Feeding