Will a Dream Feed Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night?
What is a dream feed and could this be a good strategy for your baby?
A dream feed is kind of like an insurance policy for your baby to get in a good stretch of sleep at the start of the night!
Let's say you lay your baby down for bedtime at 6:30pm. You're already struggling with sleeping through the night, and you are pretty sure that as soon as you close your eyes for the night, your baby will call out for a feeding. But what if you go into the nursery around 10pm, rouse your baby just enough to take an extra feeding, lay them back down, and go slip back between your sheets? You can help baby go longer through the night.
It's not always the perfect or needed strategy for every baby, especially when they get closer to 5-6 months and they really can be sleeping 11-12 hours at night without a feeding, but for babies who are still in the 3-5 month age range and working on sleeping through the night, it can be a really good and helpful temporary strategy!
How do you know if your baby needs a dream feed?
your baby is in the 2-4 month age range and doesn’t sleep through the night
your baby has previously been eating very frequently during the night and you don't just want to night wean cold turkey
your baby always seems to need a feeding as soon as you've laid down and closed your eyes for the night
your baby is sleeping well or you want to sleep train but the pediatrician wants your baby to gain a little more weight
How do you give your baby a dream feed?
These are the steps to giving your baby a dream feed at night:
Before you go to bed yourself, wake your baby up and unswaddle, keeping lights off
Offer baby the breast or bottle
Burp, re-swaddle, and lay baby right back down in crib.
Will you be trying this tonight? Comment and let me know!
Warmly,
Sara Skiles
Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant
Book a free 15-minute discovery call with me!
Click the image to get a free sleep schedule for your baby!