question about STTN

we fed the boys at 730. they were supposed to eat again at 10:30, then we usually put them to bed.
i was so tired that i decided to put them down at 930 then i too went to bed.

around 3 one of the boys began to fuss so i pulled him into bed with me. they are getting over a cold, still. they didnt wake up till 5:00 this morning! i was ecstatic! 7:30 - 5:00 am? could it be that they will now STTN? (or is it their cold, lol).

 

it could be STTN!! congrats! mine started STTN right around that age too and it was heaven to get more sleep! we did keep up the 10:00 dreamfeed until around 4.5 months though..

 

ok Joy. help me make them do it again, lol.
do i keep them up or feed them at 10, then hope they'll sleep later than 5? im always afraid putting them to bed around 8 will make them wake up sooner.

 

lol! i was always afraid of putting them to bed early too, but it really does seem to have the opposite effect and make them sleep longer.. counterintuitive, i know.. we would put ours to bed at around 7:30-8 and then do the dreamfeed around 10 and it worked really well. they would sleep til around 6 am at that point. i was always worried that they would wake up during/after the dreamfeed and have a hard time going back to sleep, but it was never a problem. good luck, once you have a good night of sleep you want more!

 

Same here. We put ours to bed around 7 and did a dreamfeed around 10-11. They would sleep until 3/4 in the morning for another feed and then until 7. At around 4-5 months is when they dropped that 3 a.m. feed and would sleep on through until 7. It was like heaven!

 

ok...so do you ladies suggest i wake them up at 10 to eat or just put them down round that 8ish mark.

 

I think I would put them down at eight & try the dreamfeed at 10:00 and see what happens. You could definitely be on your way to STTN!

 

OK. so feed them around 7, 8. then dreamfeed at 10. so what exactly is a dreamfeed?
do i wake them up at 10 if they are sleeping?

 

I agree with Tina (and others). Put them down at 8 then wake around 10/10:30 for dreamfeed. I hope the long legs of sleep last for you!

 

You don't fully wake them, just enough for them to drink. Be warned. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't! My fingers are crossed that it works for you!

 

ok got it. tonight we'll actully put them down to sleep then do the whole dark room feed as if its nighttime.

 

yep, exactly. keep eye contact to the bare minimum, lights off, you know the drill. we did always have to change diapers before we did the dreamfeed or they wouldn't wake up enough to eat, but they usually zonked out again after 5 minutes on the bottle and just kept eating. for burping after the dreamfeed, i always just held them up on my shoulder and rubbed their backs, no real patting or anything so i wouldn't wake them up again. and i always had to feed DD with her swaddle off because she was a spitter but i never had a problem reswaddling her while asleep. good luck!!