Dream Feed Archives - The Workout Mama

Josh and I decided early on before our first baby was born that we would be following the schedule outlined in On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the GIFT of Nighttime Sleep.

I blogged about our Babywise experience with Caden and several weeks ago shared how our experience was going the third time using the Babywise with Jesse. While I am no expert on sleeping babies, we have used Babywise twice before and had great success. If you are curious about Babywise or are using Babywise in your own home I hope you find this post and those that follow equally as helpful.

SwaddleMe Love Sack

Schedule

These last few weeks Jesse was successfully able to drop his dream feed and transition to sleeping 10+ hours at night.

Week 11

7am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
8:30am: Nap
9:30am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
10:30am Nap
12pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
1:00pm: Nap
2:30pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
4pm: Nap
5pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
6:00pm: Nap
7:00pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
10:30pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib (Dream Feed)

Week 12

7am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
8:30am: Nap
9:30am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
10:30am Nap
12pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
1:00pm: Nap
2:30pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
4pm: Nap
5pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
6:00pm: Nap
7:00pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
10:15pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib (Dream Feed)

Week 13

7am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
8:30am: Nap
9:30am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
10:30am Nap
12pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
1:00pm: Nap
2:30pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
4pm: Nap
5pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
6:00pm: Nap
7:00pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
10:00pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib (Dream Feed)

Week 14

7am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
8:30am: Nap
9:30am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
10:30am Nap
12pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
1:00pm: Nap
2:30pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
4pm: Nap
5pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
6:00pm: Nap
7:00pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
9:30pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib (Dream Feed)

Week 15

7am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
8:30am: Nap
9:30am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
10:30am Nap
12pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
1:00pm: Nap
2:30pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
4pm: Nap
5pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
6:00pm: Nap
7:00pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib
9:00pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib (Dream Feed)

Week 16

6:40am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
8:30am: Nap
9:30am: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
10:30am Nap
12pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
1:00pm: Nap
2:30pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
4pm: Nap
5pm: Eat/Waketime, Diapering
6:00pm: Nap
7:30pm: Eat, Diaper, Back to Crib

Nursing

Jesse is nursing every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day and is now going to bed around 8pm and sleeping 10 1/2 hour stretches at night!

Merge Three

During week sixteen Jesse dropped his dreamfeed and is now nursing 6 times in 24 hours. Jesse has successfully completed Merge One (combining his two nighttime feedings into one) and Merge Two (dropping his middle of the night feeding) and now Merge Three by dropping his dream feed . YAY!

If you look back at Jesse’s schedule you can see that his dream feed started at 10:30pm and over the course of the last several weeks was moved in 15 minute increments to get closer to 9pm. I have found that by dropping the dream feed this way I am able to better allow my body to adjust so I don’t wake up totally uncomfortable in the morning.

The dream feed is the last feeding for the day and is typically offered between 10pm – 11pm. The baby will already be in bed before this feeding. Any feeding that happens after 11:30 PM is not a dream feed and is considered a night feeding.

Waketime

Jesse’s waketime is his feeding time and 30-45 minutes after he nurses. He is awake anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes before he goes back to his crib for a nap.

During his waketime when he isn’t eating or getting a diaper change he is on his playmat smiling at the overhead toys or the ceiling fan, doing tummy time, or sitting in his bouncer.

Naps & Night Sleep

Jesse is still napping fairly well. We have been getting out of the house a little more as a family which has been nice and even managed to take a hike together last week. It was amazing. The only downside to doing these types of activities is that they coincide with his naps which is why we do so sparingly.

He just turned 4 months old so I was finally able to take out my Ergo Baby Carrier and used that for the hike. Up until this point I had been using my Solly Baby Wrap. He slept the entire time and I am hoping to be able to get some more family hiking days in during the next few weeks while the temperature allows.

I was a little apprehensive to drop the dream feed just because he was already sleeping so well but I knew he was ready to drop it for several reasons. He had been sleeping through the night consistently for over 4 weeks, I was having to wake him up for his dream feeds, and he was at an age where he would still be at an appropriate number of feedings during a 24 hour period without it.

To drop this feeding I just moved the time for the dream feed back by 15 minutes over the course of the last few weeks. See the schedule above for more details if you have questions.

He is doing really great at night sleeping since dropping his dream feed. Now I just need to retrain my body to not wake up several times at night so I can sleep just as well as he does ;).

On Becoming Babywise: 11 to 16 Weeks