Newborn babies eat a lot. Breastfed babies feed about every two to three hours, formula-fed babies drink milk every three to four hours…… And this doesn’t stop when bedtime comes. In fact, bottle-fed babies will usually continue to be fed at night until around 6 months, while breastfed babies may continue up to one year old. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to suppress night awakenings. If your child wakes up hungry every night, it’s wise to increase the amount of milk they give during the day (studies have shown that babies who receive more milk or solid feed during the day are less likely to eat at night) and increase their calorie intake at night by dreaming milk. Think of your dream feed as filling up your car’s fuel tank…… This way there is no need to refuel on future journeys. Providing your baby with the ideal feeding will eliminate (or at least delay) one of the main causes of babies waking up at night: a rumbling belly.
What is Dream Feeding?
Dreamfeeding is when you wake your baby up before going to bed (but don’t wake him up completely) and feed again. Babies who go to bed between 6 and 8 p.m. often wake up in the middle of the night with hunger. But studies have shown that secretly feeding between 10 p.m. and midnight can reduce the number of nighttime awakenings and help babies stay asleep until a more “reasonable” time in the morning. This can be part of your child’s regular sleep schedule.
How Do I Dream Feeding?
The goal of ideal feeding is to provide your little one with one more meal before you eat hay so that you and your baby’s schedules are better synchronized…… And you all sleep better. Ready to try?
Step 1: Gently lift your baby out of the bassinet or crib between 10pm and 12am or when you go to bed. Keep the room dim and quiet, except for white noise. It’s ideal to do this during your baby’s more active REM sleep. During REM sleep, your baby may shake his eyelids, make slight squeaks and rattles, or move around more often than usual.
Step 2: Wrap your baby in swaddling clothes. If your baby is willing to feed like this and the diaper is not soiled, there is no need to unwrap the swaddling cloth or change the diaper. (If your baby is very sleepy, you may need to gently scratch their toes to wake them up.)
Step 3: Touch your baby’s cheek with your breast or bottle. Placing a breast or bottle on your baby’s cheek or lower lip will awaken their foraging reflex and allow your baby to start eating.
Step 4: Provide a short summary. Breastfeeding for 5 to 10 minutes on each side is encouraged. For bottle-fed infants, try about 3 ounces.
Step 5: Burp your baby. Many parents ask: Does the baby burp after feeding? After feeding (or any feeding) in your dream, you need to burp your baby before putting them back in the supine position.
How to Get Your Baby Back to Sleep After a Dream Feeding？
Often, babies who have just enjoyed a fantastic feeding can return to the cradle without waking up. However, if your child wakes up during or after a dream feeding, you can get them back down with the help of 5S: swaddling, side/stomach, shhh
First, if you’re not ready, wrap your baby in swaddling clothes and play some rumbling white noise. I recommend playing white noise all night long, but you can turn up the volume when you put your baby back in bed. The white noise that is most effective for sleep is continuous, monotone, and bass.
At the same time, gentle, rhythmic movements can help babies fall asleep peacefully. In fact, a 2019 study by PLOS ONE magazine found that the magical combination of swaddling, white noise and shaking “immediately elicits a sedative response” when caregivers soothe babies and use cradles.
Other time-tested techniques to help your baby fall asleep in their dreams include rocking the rocking chair, holding your baby for a walk, bouncing on a fitness ball, and providing a pacifier, all of which satisfy the sucking part of 5S. As an added benefit, studies have shown that bedtime PACI can help reduce the risk of sudden sleep death (SIDS) in infants.
When you put your baby back in the bassinet, perform my quick wake-up and sleep technique, which will teach your baby to fall asleep on his own. The main point is as follows: After putting your baby down, gently scratch your baby’s feet and gently wake them up until they can barely open their eyes. After a few seconds, they close their eyes again and fall back asleep. If your child is irritable, pick them up for feeding or cuddling, then repeat the procedure of gently tickling to wake them up.
Let Your Baby Achieve the Success of His Dream Feeding
As I mentioned earlier, adding calories during the day and food in your dreams once or twice can really do wonders and help babies sleep longer. Try offering cluster feedings from around 4 p.m. until bedtime. Group feeding is a series of rapid feeds given to your baby every one to two hours. They are designed to load your child’s system with calories so that they can stay well nourished at night. At the same time, keep your child safely in the swaddling clothes and turn on the trusty white noise. Think of this as another “dream team” to help your baby sleep better!
Why Dream Feeding is Great for Your Baby？
One of the wonderful things about dream feeding is that it doesn’t interfere with your child’s need for nighttime feeding. Conversely, dream feeding only slightly changes your baby’s feeding schedule, which is also more conducive to your sleep schedule. Also, dreaming of feeding means…
- Your baby will get the extra calories they need to sleep better.
- Your baby eats at a convenient time, so you can sleep longer too.
- It’s important that you’re not responding to your baby’s crying with food, because it’s responding to crying with feeding
- Your baby may be inadvertently encouraged to eat more at night.
- Your baby eats less at night and is therefore hungrier in the morning, which increases the amount of food eaten during the day.
Should I Wake up My Baby for a Second Dream Feeding?
If your baby often wakes up around 3:30 a.m., despite an earlier dream feed and using strong, rumbling white noises, consider setting an alarm and doing another dream feed at 3 a.m. Again, it’s best to keep the lights dim at this time and not talk or hug too much. You want to show love when feeding your baby, but you don’t want your little one to think it’s time to play! The idea is to pick up and feed your baby before they wake you up so you can give your baby the nutrients they need but not reward them for waking up and crying.
If you must have an early morning dream feeding, reduce your feeding at 3 a.m. every three days and feed a little less than usual. If you are breastfeeding, you can do a second dream feeding by simply feeding on one side. If you’re bottle-feeding, you can try doubling the amount of water recommended by the formula instructions – just once and only for a few days. This is very important: diluting infant formula as a meal is dangerous. It can cause serious health problems. Diluting the feed for an hour in a short period of time is different. The purpose of the extra water is to fill your baby’s stomach with enough ounces, but with fewer calories. This can help your baby sleep until morning…… That’s when they’ll be hungry and ready to eat the whole bottle again. Again, this is a temporary fix that only works for the 3 a.m. dream feed, and only for a few nights.
When Should I Stop Dreameating?
All babies are different, so there is no specific age recommendation to stop dreaming milk. My general rule is that 2 to 4 weeks after your baby has slept well, from dream feeding to morning, you can say goodbye to dream feeding. (Find out when your baby starts sleeping through the night.) Of course, if dream feeding doesn’t work for you, there’s no need to continue!