Dream Feed Question

I did this with my son for the first 4 months because we were instructed to (he had problems gaining weight and needed the extra calories). My son gave it up without a problem. We just stopped doing it and he continued sleeping through the night.

You could try the cold turkey stop and if it doesn't work wean them, eliminating 1 oz every 3 or 4 days. When you get down to 1 oz, if they wake for that feeding offer 1 oz of water. We did this when trying to extend my son's sleeping an extra hour in the morning and it only took 2 days of it. (he was waking at 5 for a bottle, then going back to sleep, but then I have to get him up at 6:45 to leave so I can go to work)

**Editted to respond to Dorothy's response**
There is no need for a baby to eat overnight unless they have medical conditions. I have never heard of the glucose issue she discusses except in diabetics.

Also, milk has sugar in it, and the sugar in milk, juice and candy are bad for teeth. We began brushing my son's gums at 4 months, as soon as the first lumps appearred, L. before the teeth actually came through the gums. My niece had to have 4 fillings at the age of 3 because of drinking too much juice and going to bed without brushing after her last drink. I refuse to let that be my son's issue!

Also, she mentioned about limiting juice to 6 oz a day. Most pediatrician's will tell you to avoid juice altogether except to aid constipation. Juice has no nutritional value for infants/toddlers and is simply empty calories that are known to lead to obesity.

I also gave my 2nd child a dream feed (my first was a great sleeper and never needed one). My husband would be the one to give the bottle of breastmilk and it worked beautifully - in my eyes this was the ONLY way she would have slept for a good stretch. I assume you are following the Baby Whisperer book? If so, she gives you a weight that a child can go for a long stretch, even the whole night, without *needing* to eat. If I remember correctly, it was around 15 lbs. Of course, you know your children and their eating needs so you should use your own good judgement on if they really need more food or not.

We did just stop cold turkey, and that worked for us. Just a few whimpy cries and a little fussing, but some soothing really helped. If your girls have never actually woke for the feeding, then you'd probably be fine just skipping it and giving it a shot. The water substution method is a good thing to try if they do wake and fuss and soothing doesn't work. Also, upping their daytime food/milk will help get those extra calories in so they don't need to wake at night. Some kids do great with change, others not so much (we had one of each!) :)

Regarding Dorothy's response - respectfully take it with a grain of salt. Kids, even infants, CAN and DO go 12 hours without food. Both of my girls did and they never had glucose problems, in addition to dozens of friends who have done the same thing. Perhaps low blood sugar runs in Dorothy's family and that is more than likely the issue, not the 'starving' lol. Of course, they will be so hungry when they wake up but once they get their breakfast they'll be fine. My kids are 4 and 2 1/2 and STILL sleep 11-12 hours without any food or drink and they are healthy and thriving. Waking up a child in the night for the sake of 'glucose' is ridiculous unless there is a medical reason for it - all this will do is set them up for weight problems and sleep problems, not to mention exhaust you. I work in the dietetics field, so I speak from education as well as experience.

Good luck. You know what is best for your children - trust your instincts, seek advice when necessary :)

Wow B. I am Mom of five Grandma of fourteen. Also a nurse. I would think that is way too long for their little bodies to be without sugar. I have a three year old at home currently. If she is without sugar too long she gets real mean. Just think if you went to bed at midnight. By seven am you would be hungry but by twelve noon-12 hours- you would be desprate for food. I would give them a mid sleep bottle with a diaper change perhaps when I get up to the bathroom. If your quiet they will go right back to sleep and be more comfortable. I took a four year old for a fasting blood sugar test once. The doctor did not call us for several hours. By this time my grandson was bouncing off the walls. When the doctor tested him his blood sugar was 45. The doctor ran around the office finding crackers and juice for him. I guess that was a real emergency. The brain really needs glucose. I am sure you really are tired at night with twins and work. I don't know how you do it all. You don't have to do this on a schedule just when you or they wake up at night. If your question was about the bottle at all at night. I would say this. I am sixty one. I had a bottle. I have all my teeth and they are strong teeth. Teeth are made of calcium,MILK. All my children have great teeth and had night bottles. One grandchilds mother did not like milk and thus gave the baby lots of juice. This child had severe problems with his teeth. The acid in the juice eats them up. Now the pediatricians recomend no more than six ounces of juice a day. I guess they finally figured it out. Best of luck to ya.

First offf, what the heck is a dream feed??? Is it like topping off? LOL.
As for sleeping 12hours...How lucky are you. My son is now 2 and even with a nap he doesnt sleep a total of 12hours a day, never did, UGH. Babies will wake when they are hungry. I had a light bulb moment when my pediatrician told me that my son was still waking in the middle of the night for a bottle because that is what I have trained him to do. HE was well over a year old. So I finally stopped cold turkey. But he continued to wake every night until he was 2years and 9months.
If this dream feed is like my topping off, I agree w/ the advice already given about backing off an ounce every couple days and then stop. I find its been harder on me as a mom to make these adjustments than it is on my kids. Good luck :)

I gave a dream feed to all 3 of my kids....I had stopped by the time they were 6 months though but then I had started them on a few solids so that probably helped. You could just try 1 night not giving it & see how they go. If you've not yet started solids then you could try introducing a bit of rice cereal at around 5pm & then give them there last milk feed before you put them down for the night.

I dream fed my daughter till she was about 6 months old. I just stopped cold turkey. You will know if they are ready to not get the dream feed if they still sleep till 7 AM. If they start waking up in the night they probably still need it. It was just trial and error with us. Good luck!