What is a dream feed and does it work?
A dream feed is the last feed of the night and is usually done while your baby is still half asleep (hence the “dream” part of “dream feed”). It usually occurs somewhere between 9-11pm, and for this feed you are actually going in and slightly waking your baby from sleep to try and get them to feed in a drowsy state.
Dream feeds can be helpful for babies to help promote a longer chunk of sleep for the first half of the night. The goal of this feed is to offer a full feed and then lay your baby back down, so hopefully you and baby can both have a long stretch of sleep afterwards!
What age is the dream feed typically helpful?
Typically a dream feed is most helpful for babies between 2-4.5 months, when babies have the ability to start sleeping longer stretches, but may struggle to get that long chunk of sleep without a feed. It can also be helpful in the newborn stage if you plan to wake your baby anyway to get a feed every few hours.
Around 5-6 months, babies become more aware and sensitive to the things around them, and a dream feed could potentially backfire if the child has a hard time going back to sleep after the feed. In this case, if nutrition is adequate during the day, especially as your baby gets older, a dream feed may not be necessary. However, dream feeds can still be helpful for babies that are older than 4.5 months in certain situations.
Why would my baby need a dream feed?
As mentioned, dream feeds can be helpful for younger babies to get a nice long stretch for the initial part of sleep. Keep in mind that babies 4-6 months can still require 1-2 feedings per night, and one of those feedings could be a dream feed.
Here are a few situations that a dream feed may be helpful…
If your baby is waking before 6am for the day. If your baby has a good stretch of night sleep with little to no wake-ups, but then is waking early, it is possible they are waking due to hunger. In this case, you may just want to offer a feed at that time and hope your baby goes back to sleep. But if your baby doesn’t go back to sleep, a dream feed between 10:30-11:30pm may help push that wake-up time a bit.
If your baby isn’t taking an adequate feed before bed or throughout the day. At times, babies can “snack” more throughout the day rather than taking full feeds. This can lead to additional wake-ups at night, leading to the potential need for a dream feed. Ideally, parents/caregivers are aligning feeds throughout awake periods during the day so that the child doesn’t go longer than 3-3.5 hours without a feed. If the child does have adequate nutrition throughout the day, a dream feed may not be necessary.
If your baby wakes at this time anyway. Night sleep can begin to consolidate for most babies around 3 months or so, and parents/caregivers can begin to see consistent patterns for sleep-wake periods. If a parent/caregiver is finding that their child is consistently waking between 9-11pm on their own anyway, then offering a quick feed during this wake-up can be a solution for you to catch a longer chunk of sleep with your baby!
When should I stop the dream feed?
Usually by 6 months you can stop the dream feed unless your baby continues to wake early in the first half of the night, in which case you may continue for up to 7/8 months or until it becomes clear your baby no longer needs it. But remember that babies may still take the feed when offered, even if they don’t “need” it. When night sleep consolidates on its own, waking your baby for a dream feed at that point could potentially be interrupting their normal sleep-wake patterns and in turn cause more night wakings. Also, if you find that when you wake your baby up for the dream feed and they just aren’t interested, no sweat! It is not the solution for every baby.
Additionally, if your baby is not going back to sleep after being woken up for the dream feed, then it is likely that a better solution is to wait until your baby wakes you for an overnight feed if it is still needed.
Deciding whether or not a dream feed is a good solution for you and your baby to get a longer chunk of sleep at the first half of the night will take some experimenting. Usually dream feeds work about 50% of the time, but it is worth a shot to see if you and your little one could get a longer initial chunk of sleep!