A dreamfeed for a lot of men would comprise something along the lines of Chicken Balti and naan bread or a Chicken chow main with chips. But this dreamfeed is a lot more literal.

A dreamfeed where your baby is concerned is described as follows:

• You gently pick up your sleeping baby
• Place the bottle or breast ( only mums should use the breast ) on their lower lip and allow them to drink
• Take care at all times not to wake your child.
• When the feeding is complete, sit them upright for a few minutes allowing wind to escape. Still taking care not to wake the baby.

The origin of the name dreamfeed is obviously from the nature of the feed and it is a highly recommended way of giving your baby the final feed of the day. The idea behind the concept is to try and avoid you having to get up more than once in the night as well as allowing you baby a more peaceful night sleep.
Why Do it?
Dreamfeeding is only useful for babies that wake-up a few times at night for feeding.
By dreamfeeding your child just before you go to bed, chances are that your baby will remain asleep for a few more hours. Hopefully this will enable the parents to get a few hours of unbroken sleep. Going to bed knowing you’re going to be woken at any minute usually causes restlessness so hopefully this can be avoided by incorporating the dreamfeed
You are probably asking the question “why not to simply wake the baby up for feeding?”
The answer is because when you wake up your child, or wait for them to wake they will be tired and possibly grizzly. This can cause them to be upset. Then after the feed they may be wide awake and getting them back to sleep can take several hours. In some cases by the time you’ve got them back to sleep they are due their next feed.

What if it doesn’t work?
If it doesn’t work try again tomorrow. Babies will have periods of deep sleep and periods of lighter sleep and dreamfeeding is more likely to succeed if your baby is sleeping lightly. The thing is you’re going to need to be extra quiet and gentle if your baby is in a lighter sleep to avoid waking them up.
If your baby does wake up though don’t worry. Go ahead and continue with the feed as you would have done had he awoken in the night as usual for a feed.
If your dream feeding process initially fails you may wish to try again the day after but at a different time. Maybe by trying 15 minutes earlier or later than you did the previous night you with have a more successful outcome.

It really is a case of trial and error…..but remember even though the dream feed works on most babies, it doesn’t work on all of them.

Author: SuperDads

We’re here to make a difference. Superdads not only offers advice but we are her e to promote the importance of fatherhood. Many people are oblivious to the fact that Dads really do matter and this is something we’d like to put right.

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