should we top of babies at 11pm

I don't normally post on here but I read it often and value all of your opinions. My name is Tiffany and I have almost 4 month old twin boys. They used to eat every 1.5 to 2 hours around the clock. They are just recently eating a bottle at 7 pm sleeping until about midnight and then we pacify them till 2am. At 2 am they eat and then sleep till 5 or 6 am.

Here's my question. A doctor (not my ped) recommended that we dream feed them at 11pm and then they may sleep till 5 or 6. I am skeptical and afraid to try because they just recently started going for longer stretches at night and i don't want to disrupt it. Of course if it would work I would do it. Also at what age will they sleep 10-12 hours at night.

I'd like some opinions or if anyone has tried this does it work. I have no friends with kids so I don't know what I am doing. Thanks in advance!!

 

I would try it. Is there any way you can feed them still in their bedroom, so that way they might not wake very much when you do the dream feed? It's not going to hurt anything, might as well try it!

 

I always fed my girls at 11-11:30 at night. When they were on an every 3 or 4 hour schedule they would get up at 2 or 3am for the next feeding and then 6 or 7am for the next one. When they were about 4 months old they all of a sudden just slept from 11pm till about 6 or 7am. I continued the 11pm feeding for a long time, I really can't remember when I stopped it but I do think it was before a year but it was a great way to get some good sleep in. Hope this helps.

ETA: I never turned on the light in their room. just the hall light so that I could see. I would change their diaper, feed and then right back in the crib.

 

definitely try it out! it worked great for us.

our girls go to bed at 6:30pm & then get a dreamfeed at 10:30pm. we don't change their diapers because that always wakes them up. the idea behind a dreamfeed is to try and avoid waking them up completely to eat. it may take a couple of nights for them to get the hang of it, but they'll be pros in no time. my girls usually doze right through their feed & burp. we feed them in their room with the light off (we have a night light in there, so it's just enough light to see by).

whatever you do decide to try, stick with the change for at least 4 days as that's how long it usually takes to see any results.

my girls don't technically sleep 12 hours yet, but after the dreamfeed they sleep until 6:30am, so that's 8 hours. Danika started that at 6 months and Riley just started about 1.5 weeks ago.

 

I would try it, it never worked for my babies but I know it works for others.

 

I tried it for my girls and it just didn't work. THey still woke for that 3am bottle no matter what I did. They were stuck on that for sooooo long it seems. Just when I thought that 3am feed was becoming a habit they started sttn from 8pm - 6/8am. It just happened all of a sudden recently. I still paci them a lot from 5am on but it beats that 3am feed! But I know some moms & dads swear by that dreamfeed.

 

Definitely wouldn't hurt to try it. I feed mine for the last time around 10:30 and they go to anywhere from 4:30 - 7:30. My twins are the same age also (about 3.5 months). Mine are sometimes still awake then, but if they aren't, I wake them up feed them and then put them to bed. If they are asleep and I wake them, they only eat an ounce or two, but I figure that little bit will hold them off some.

Good luck!

 

Mine were on a 1.5 hr schedule until about 4.5 months. Since then, we're still on a 2 hr schedule - slowing inching our way to 2.5 [maybe 3] hrs.

As far as the dream feeds.. like PP mentioned, it's not going to hurt to try. Also, what works for some babies may not work with others. Figure out what's best for you and stick with it

 

QUOTE(TandC @ Feb 6 2009, 09:51 PM) [snapback]1179053[/snapback]
I don't normally post on here but I read it often and value all of your opinions. My name is Tiffany and I have almost 4 month old twin boys. They used to eat every 1.5 to 2 hours around the clock. They are just recently eating a bottle at 7 pm sleeping until about midnight and then we pacify them till 2am. At 2 am they eat and then sleep till 5 or 6 am.

Here's my question. A doctor (not my ped) recommended that we dream feed them at 11pm and then they may sleep till 5 or 6. I am skeptical and afraid to try because they just recently started going for longer stretches at night and i don't want to disrupt it. Of course if it would work I would do it. Also at what age will they sleep 10-12 hours at night.

I'd like some opinions or if anyone has tried this does it work. I have no friends with kids so I don't know what I am doing. Thanks in advance!!


I vote to do it! I always dream fed my two and never had a problem with it. Yours are young enough to adapt without any problems. I was always afraid of changing the routine of my two and they adapted no probs. Try it and you might be pleasantly surprised! Mine used to eat the dream feed at 11.30pm and go through to 7am. GL!

 

I used to dream feed my two at around 11pm it worked great....it would hold them off till 7, 8 sometimes 9!! I would change their diaper and feed them. Sometimes they woke up a bit but as soon as I laid them down they were out! Once they stopped drinking full bottles then I stopped dream feeding (my DD was first and then a few weeks later my DS) and now they sleep most nights from 7:30/8:00pm to 6:30-7:30am....although sometimes i still dream feed my son as he tends to wake up early at times (5:00am) if he has a cold or if his schedule was mixed up that day, etc...

 

I would try it. We've done it a little bit. I read about it in The Baby Whisperer - I really liked her ideas in her book. Tracy Hogg. She had lots of good info on it. She suggests a 7p bedtime with a dreamfeed at 11p then sleeping until 7a...

We started giving an extra 3-4 oz EBM bottle after their 7pm feed and that seemed to tie them over until morning. I recently tried to get rid of it (b/c I'm tiring of pumping...) and they started waking back up between 3 and 5a...

Its always something. But I agree with the PP try it for a few days and if it doesn't work try something else.

 

That's what I'm doing right now with Caleb and it works. I feed him around 11:30, and then he's usually asleep until 7:00am. I never tried it when the girls were babies.

 

QUOTE(TandC @ Feb 6 2009, 02:51 PM) [snapback]1179053[/snapback]
Here's my question. A doctor (not my ped) recommended that we dream feed them at 11pm and then they may sleep till 5 or 6.

Also at what age will they sleep 10-12 hours at night.


We did this beginning at 3 months and our LOs slept until 6 or 7am the next morning. We figured it was better to dreamfeed while we were still awake, then to have our sleep disrupted in the middle of the night. We stopped the dreamfeed at 7 months and they were consistent with sleeping through on their own then. GL with whatever you decide!

 

I would try it, it can't hurt anything! Good luck!

 

QUOTE(TandC @ Feb 6 2009, 09:51 PM) [snapback]1179053[/snapback]
Also at what age will they sleep 10-12 hours at night.


Mine started going 12 hours at around 4 months of age.

 

My boys are 5 months old now and pretty much sleep through the night. We topped them off at 11-1130 for the first 3 months or so and found that they would end up sleeping until 4-5. We had to stop doing this the last month or so because we found that they started waking up during the feeds/changing and we would be up for the next hour trying to get them to sleep. Plus we eventually wanted to go to sleep earlier. Now we put them down between 8-830 and they sleep pretty much through the night. The first week or so it was a bit of a struggle and the next week we just tried to pacify them back to sleep if they woke up before 5am. That worked great though but the first couple of weeks doing it were a little tough. Good luck.

 

Thank you ladies for all the advice and opinions. I still haven't decided what to do yet but I appreciate your responses!