To Dream Feed or Not to Dream Feed?

Infant Sleep

May 25

Have you heard of a dream feed? Basically, a dream feed is when you slightly arouse your baby (usually right when we are going to bed ourselves) and feed them as they remain asleep/sleepy.

The idea behind the dream feed includes two things:

Shifting the last feed of the night from bedtime to when the parent goes to bed - You are ‘tanking up’ your little one right as you go to sleep, in order to encourage the longest stretch of night sleep to start as you are going to bed yourself. So, if your baby was giving you a 5 hour stretch from bedtime, and sleeping from 7 p.m. – midnight, by dream feeding at 10 p.m., the goal is that this will help your baby not wake again until 3 a.m. for their next feed, so you get the benefits of that long stretch of sleep.
You are rousing your baby just enough to latch to feed or drink from a bottle. The goal is for baby to remain very sleepy or asleep while taking in some more calories for the night, helping them learn to consolidate their nights sooner.

When can you introduce the dream feed?

Since most newborns are either going to bed later, or waking up on their own around the time of the dream feed, most families try to introduce the dream feed sometime around/after 6 weeks; around the time that bedtime is beginning to get earlier and babies may start sleeping a longer stretch at night.

How does a dream feed work?

The dream feed is based on an earlier bedtime falling between 6-8 p.m. About 2-3 hours after your child has gone to sleep for the night (between 9-11pm), you pick them up and gently rouse them just enough to take in a feeding. For a breastfeeding baby, this may be as simple as picking them up and placing them in a feeding position. Or it may mean you may have to tickle their chin or rub their cheek. For a bottle-fed baby, wiggling the bottle into their mouth may be enough to encourage them to start feeding.

Then, you feed as usual, keeping the lights low (better yet, use a red nightlight!) and stimulation to a minimum. A diaper change is up to you (although it may help to rouse the super sleepy babies) and you should still burp after this feed if your child needs it. Then, you place them back to sleep. If they wake up fully, it’s ok, just keep the stimulation low; and if you find it’s harder to settle them back to sleep after this feed, that may be a sign it’s not a good fit for your baby.

Does it work?

Most parents know pretty quickly if it is working for their child or not. And typically, it’s not going to be THE thing that is working, it’s simply one tool in your toolbox. There is a bit of an art to the dream feed in that you want to wake your baby just enough to feed without waking them fully.

Can it backfire?

Yes, and it’s the reason I feel ‘meh’ about dream feeds. If you notice any of the following happening while trying to implement the dream feed, then the dream feed may not be the best idea for your little one:

-baby awakens fully and has a hard time returning to sleep: it’s possible that the dream feed is actually interrupting a restorative part of their night sleep.
-baby is so sleepy that they aren’t feeding much: if your little one only nurses a few minutes or only takes a small amount of a bottle because they are so sleepy, then the dream feed isn’t helping them tank up at all.
-baby takes the dream feed well, but continues to wake for a feed at the time they were before implementing the dream feed, so it’s not doing anything to improve night sleep
-baby takes the dream feed well, but wakes even more during the second half of the night: for some babies, waking enough to feed during the hours of their most restful sleep throws off their entire sleep/wake cycle and leads to more broken sleep during the second half of the night

If you are experiencing the above, those are signs that the dream feed is not working, so it’s better to allow them to sleep through this time and wake naturally on their own for a feed.

We like the dream feed! But, how do we get rid of it?

If your baby no longer needs night feeds (usually between 4-9 months), you can wean this feed slowly and then drop it all together. You can do this breastfeeding by timing this feed and take a minute or two off of it each night until it’s gone. For bottle feeding babies, you can drop a ½ ounce-1 ounce every few nights until it’s gone.

To finish up…

As with any changes you make to your child’s sleep, if you decide to try out a dream feed, try it consistently for at least a few nights before deciding it ‘didn’t work.’ If you find it works like it sounds, a dream, then awesome, enjoy the long stretch of sleep it’s helping give you!

If you have a newborn that is starting to sleep longer stretches and has a bedtime between 6 and 8 p.m., there’s no harm in trying - it could help shift their overnight feed later and give you a longer stretch of sleep at the same time.

If you have a baby over 4 months old and their (and your!) night sleep is fragmented, it may be time to work on independent sleep skills instead of hoping a dream feed will be the fix. If you want to help your baby consolidate their night sleep, while maintaining a feed or two, check out how I can help you! If you are ready to make a change, contact me for an introductory call to get started.