Wondering how to do a dream feed? This post will tell you exactly when to do dreamfeeds, how to make sure baby stays awake, and when to wean them.
Oh these little squishy babies…
I remember the first time I heard about a dream feed with my firstborn.
What is it?
Why do you do it?
Who came up with these names for things?
Why, oh why do a dream feed?
I read around and then tried to implement it with my baby girl. It took a while, but eventually we got the hang of it and Oh My Goodness… game changer.
If you don’t currently do the dream feed then this post will help you for a few reasons.
And if you’re serious about making a few nightly changes, I suggest using a baby log to help clear our head and get it on paper.
In This Post...
What is a dream feed, anyway?
A dream feed is a feeding you do in the late evening hours before you go to bed. You’ll usually have to rouse baby for this feed.
Or rather, baby will be sound asleep typically and you will feed baby while they’re still mostly asleep. Hence the name: dream feed.
I’ll get into the details… keep reading.
Read: End Your Baby’s Fussy Evening Hours (Witching Hours) In A Few Steps
Why do you do it?
First, let’s tackle why we want to do a dream feed in the first place. Here are the two main reasons dream feeds are a good idea.
Necessary? Of course not! Helpful? Absolutely!
- You get a longer stretch of sleep each night | By feeding baby in the later evening, before midnight, you’ll hopefully get yourself a longer stretch of sleep. Sleep is very important to moms for sanity (lack of sleep is literally like torture), healing, and to help you get back to your normal self in the postpartum fog.
- Baby will eventually sleep from after the feed then sleep until your desired wake time | It’s hard for a baby to sleep from 7 pm to 7 am. When baby is old enough, adding in a dream feed can get baby to sleep from the dream feed until your desired wake time.
Read: Baby Bedtime — 4 Essential Elements To All Evening Routines
The Why, The How, & When To Stop This Feed
So let’s dive into it. By the end of this post I hope you’ll have all you need to know about the dream feed and why its so useful.
Read: Simple Baby Advice That Stands The Test Of Time
When to offer this feed
Ideally, you want to dream feed right before you go to sleep, but usually no later than 11:30 or else it is simply a night feed.
Somewhat, the time you feed depends on what time you go to bed.
You want to feed baby right before you go down to sleep. So if you go to bed around 10:00 then feed baby at that time, then lie down to sleep.
Feed baby while keeping him swaddled (how to do that here) and not fully rousing him, then baby will sort of feed in his sleep and “top up” his tummy.
Doing a dream feed between 10:00 and 11:30 is usually a safe bet, but any later than that becomes a night feed.
Read: The Ultimate Sleep Schedule For Newborns For The First 6 Weeks
How To Feed When Baby Is Drowsy
Those first early hours after you’ve put baby to bed are often baby’s deepest sleep. The sleep from bedtime to midnight is the deepest most restorative sleep, so babies are usually conked out at this time.
This means it can be tricky to rouse baby enough to get them to feed.
That’s okay.
We don’t want to force it when it isn’t working.
However, often you’ll be able to rouse baby enough to take a feed, even half a feed, and this can help them sleep longer at night.
For those first few weeks, there’s really no need for this feed.
Try these things to wake baby up a bit
When baby is drowsy, here are some ways to rouse him enough to give him the feed.
- Unswaddle from the bottom to change his diaper.
- Rub a wet wipe or cloth across his cheek.
- Tickle the bottom of his feet or cheek.
- Put some milk on his lips.
If these don’t work, then put baby gently back down. Then, if you’re still up half an hour later then you can try again briefly. If it still doesn’t work, go to bed.
Keep trying nightly until baby is used to taking this feed. This helps push the next feed off until later after midnight and gives you a few uninterrupted hours of sleep which is good for mama.
Read: Want A Content & Happy Little One? Use The Foolproof Baby Schedule
Here’s a video that may help
Cluster Feeding CHECKLIST
Use our checklist to use cluster feeding to your advantage without feeding every hour all day every day!
Does It Always Work?
Now, I’m a big believer in the dream feed. I know – having had 5 babies – it’s the reason they routinely slept until at least 7 a.m., if not on closer to 8, even as tiny babies.
They were given milk at the dream feed which enabled them to sleep later in the morning.
Next – when they were ready – I dropped the dream feed and they slept all night!
That said, sometimes they can be a bit tricky. When you wake your baby for a dream feed at 11:00 pm and baby wakes at 12:30 am for another feed, mom might be resistant to that.
If you find a dream feed wakes your baby up right after midnight, drop it and see what happens.
It might work out better for baby to simply go to bed at night, sleep a long stretch, and then wake up for that 12:30 am feed. This will mean baby sleeps a long restorative stretch.
You can, with time, add in that dream feed if you want them to sleep later.
Often babies will start sleeping through the night but waking up at 4:30 or 5:00 am and not want to go back down. This is why the dream feed is so helpful. They will feed at 10:30 pm or so and then sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 am instead.
Unless you need baby up that early to leave the house, it’s a more pleasant proposition for baby to sleep later.
Read: A Quick & Easy Way To Survive The 4 Month Regression
When to wean the dream feed – this is important!
Let’s reiterate here that if you only have one feeding per night, it’s very helpful if it’s a dream feed. It should – theoretically – be the last feed you drop.
Here’s the reasoning…
By having a dream feed you are helping baby sleep longer stretches between night feedings. Baby may need a 3:00 am feed and a 5:30 am feed then sleep on until 7 or so.
You’ll eventually drop that 3 am feed and focus on the 5:30 am one. After a while, you’ll work to drop that 5:30 am feed so they are sleeping later in the morning.
Then, they are going from the dream feed all the way until the morning time.
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This feed!
If you haven’t had a dream feed and baby is under 5 months but not yet sleeping through the night, try adding it in.
See if it helps baby sleep later. I always kept the dream feed even though I dropped all the others because that extra time in the morning meant a lot to me.
Read: 7 Month Feeding Times That Work Like A Charm
28 Things To Do If Baby Won’t Sleep CHECKLIST
Here’s a handy dandy list of 28 things to try so baby will stop fighting sleep and sleep longer and later.
FAQ on dreamfeeds
The dream feed is the last feed that you drop. You usually drop the dream feed when baby sleeps from bedtime until their morning wake time with only the dream feed. This should be dropped by 6 months.
After 6 months dream feeds can trigger more wakings. By 6 months if baby is doing a feed at 10:30 p.m. then waking again at 1 a.m., it could be that the dream feed isn’t working anymore.
Yes, try and give baby a full feed which should last them a few hours before the next waking.
If you have a newborn who wakes frequently, introducing the dream feed may get you a longer stretch of sleep. Try it out for a few days if it triggers more after midnight wakings, just drop it.
If you can easily burp baby without waking him, yes. If not, rub baby’s back on the left side (stomach side) and up the back to get out any air bubbles and simply put baby back down to bed.
Dream feeds should happen while baby is sleeping. If baby will wake up if you put him upright, don’t do it. You can feed enough to satisfy baby and get a good long stretch of sleep without going through great lengths to burp.
Unless baby is leaking, changing the diaper isn’t needed. If baby isn’t unhappy, don’t wake them to change a diaper. If you feel you need to, however, change the diaper before feeding so baby will remain asleep for the feed then be put straight back to bed.
The best time to do a dream feed is between 10 and 11. Much after that is a night feed and much before that is just a regular evening feed.
Sources:
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Hi Rachel,
I’ve just stumbled across your blog whilst looking for help. My LO is 9 months old, we have been giving him a dreamfeed since he was 2-3months at 11pm. However he has always still woken up between 5-6am! When he was younger I thought this was ok and as he got older he would sleep longer after weaning but no luck. He is having 3 meals a day with the last one being between 4.30-4.45pm. Throughout the day he is having 4 bottles of formula of 5-6oz then the dreamfeed on top. I feel like he is having a lot but he still doesn’t want to sleep later in the mornings. I have a 3 year old daughter, and she is constantly being woken up early. Which in turn makes her very grumpy! If you have any advice I would be so grateful!
I have the same problem of baby waking up around 6 AM and being done for the night. He is 2 months old and we do a dream feed around 10 PM each night. He wakes for feedings around 2-3 AM and then again between 5-6 AM. We can rarely get him to sleep again after 6 AM. I feed him between 7:15-7:45 AM each day to try to get his metabolism to get used to that time for waking and being hungry, but still no sleep after 6 AM for us thus far.
Exact same issue with my 6 week old by. Doesn’t sleep after 6 am. Please help.
He is too young. Try sleep training from 3 months onwards.
Totally depends on what you mean by “sleep training”. Those early weeks are about building healthy sleep habits and setting the scene. So yes, no official major changes in those early months, but you can set the scene and focus on sleep associations while avoiding sleep props and that’ll mean there is so much less training to be done.
Hi,
I just thought I would leave a comment incase anyone is experiencing problems with a 5:30 – 6am wake up – I had this with my son, but it turned out to actually be due to needing to drop his 3rd or 4th nap (I can’t remember now!) – if you find this is happening and you are confident that it is not a hunger issue, try dropping a nap or changing to a cat nap. Even though they seemed completely unrelated, once I tried dropping a nap he slept through, no problem!
Great advice! I wrote a whole new post on early morning wakings and this is a point, that if they are getting their slee pneeds met a lot with naps they will simply not be able to sleep that long time at night because they’ve had enough sleep!
My baby is 12 weeks old. I breastfeed him at 10:00 pm and he will religiously wake up every two hours to feed! Is he too young? Sometimes I try for him to take more milk but he will just spit it out
Sleep training him at 3+ months. Mine slept through the night after night 2 of training
Thanks for sharing your experience, some babies truly only take a night or two!
How do you work to get rid of feedings like the 3 and 5 times? Do babies just drop them naturally? I have an 8-week old that does a 6pm, 12am, 3 am, 5am, and then is up for 7am on through the day.
Kelly, I found baby just naturally started to drop the feeds. I usually kept the 5 am and the dreamfeed and then dropped the 5 am first, then the dream feed
Rachel – my 5mo dream feeds around 10:30pm and still wakes around 4am. She’ll stay awake unless I feed her (eats for a few minutes then falls back asleep until 7ish; I wake her to take older son to school). Trying to figure out how to get her to stay asleep until 6 (which would be an ok start time for our day). FYI – she goes to bed around 7-7:30 and takes 3 naps a day. Any advice?
Hi Rachel, love your blog, I have 13 week old twin boys, I have been dream feeding since 6 weeks and it works a treat, I dream feed them about 10:30 and they sleep through till 6:30-7am. I am wondering when and how I drop the dream feed?
Cheers
Jackie
At what age should you start dreamfeeds? My baby is almost 5 weeks old & falls asleep between 7-8:30. He will sleep at 3.5-5 hour stretch & is waking to eat two times. I have a two year old, so no matter what, I’m up at 6:30. Therefore, I’ve been sleeping when baby does. If I did a dreamfeed, I would have to set an alarm to wake myself, so I’m not sure if it would benefit me right now. I dreamfed my older son but can’t remember when I started!
Rachel we have a 4 1/2 month old baby boy who has all of a sudden for the past couple of weeks has not been wanting to sleep, take naps, and waking up at crazy times during night. He is also teething. He has never been a big sleeper but he atleast use to go to bed around 730pm would wake up around 3am feed and sleep till 7am. We would like him to get back like that go to bed around 730pm and wake up around 7am if possible. His naps he will only sleep maybe a hr at most. We have been trying to get him to take 3 naps if not he is so ill and fussy. We would like to know what you recommend on getting him to sleep all night and nap better during day? Also what times are best during the day for nap times and what is the best bedtime for his age. Thank you so much.
Hi Kayla you should look into a 4 month old sleep regression, I had the same exact issue once I finally came across the sleep regression and moved his bed time to 6pm no later than 6:30pm it worked like magic. Good luck !!!
Hi I have a week old baby boy who will not let me sleep at night. He will cluster feed continuelly all night stopping and starting. Is he too young to introduce a dream feed? He sleeps during the day sometimes.
Hello, I am wanting to start my 6 week old on a routine & will need to start the day around 5am. What could a routine/schedule look like for that start day time?
I have an 8 month old who falls asleep by himself between 6:30-7 and sleeps through til about 4-5. I then breast feed then he goes back to sleep til 6-6:30. I want to drop that feed. He eats plenty during the day. Can starting to dream feed at maybe 3:30, make things worse or is it worth trying. He overall does really well, I’m just over that last feed.
I’m answering this in the post above to help others as well!
Hi Rachel
We just started working with our 7 weeks old baby and it’s working good. But For the last couple of days he’s been having a bath around 8-9 and then he does a long stretch 12:30-1:30 dropping the dream feed that he should’ve got at 11-12. He wakes up one more time at5:30-5 and then I start The first feed of the day at 7am
Should we just leave it like that? Should I wake him up at 11/12 for that last feed instead of leaving that long stretch he does after the 8-9 night feed? Please help!
Patty, I’d say keep the dream feed because you’ll want it when you’ve droped everything. The dream feed is usuallyt he LAST feed to drop. So keep the 530 one and then in a month or two months or so, wheneever it seems right for him, drop that morning feed. THEN the dream feed!
Hi, I stumbled across this article and thought this might be of somehelp to this stressed mum. I have a 13 month old, goes to bed by 8, everynight wake up at 12 and then every 1.5hr. He wouldnt settle without a bottle. This has been happening since he was 5 months. I understand that the bottle may now be a sleep association. Would a dream feed ar 10 help him sleep longer?
Hi Pooja, a dream feed is usually not going to work at that age. It’s most likely a habit that is causing this. Will he eat plenty of solids during the day?
Hi Rachel, yes he does.
So if he’s getting plenty of food during the day and only waking from habit, you’d want to eliminate the habit in a way that you’re comfortable with.. Have you taken my free course?
Hi Rachel, no i havent taken your free course. Wiuld you be able to send some information please
IF you scroll to the bottom you’ll see where it says top 3 reasons babies don’t sleep. It’s a free email series and it’ll help :)
Hi! I had a question. My son almost overnight became a WONDERFUL sleeper at about 14 weeks, and it lasted until 18 weeks. (Was doing 7-7 with a dream feed at around 11pm, and then 6-6 after daylight savings, still with dream feed. He seemed to not want to stay up later than 6 and we decided not to fight it.
However, starting at 4 months he went through a 4 month regression, followed by learning how to roll (He still gets stuck on his belly at times in the middle of the night) and then an illness. As a result, he’s now 5months: and not interested in eating as much during the day, and gets very hungry at night right before bed. We try the dream feed, but it doesn’t work as well as it used to (only takes 2-3oz), and now wakes up at about 3:30 for a full feed. I SO miss the full nights of sleep. Any tips?? He is not yet on solids.
Hi Mila, honestly with all that’s happened it’ll likely take time to get him back to normal. AND the 4 and 5 months are so hard because their body is gearing up for solids so they are legitimately hungry, yet we are told not to feed until 6 months (which I’m not disputing) so it means they are, kinda, sort, basically, really hungry through that 5th month. I’d keep feeding as much as baby will take during the day and offering a pacifier or something similar (dad going in instead of you) at night for a bit and see if the habit breaks. If he’s waking at 3:30 a.m. every morning it’s likely a new habit that has formed. Sickness will totally do that!
Hello! First of all: My god, I LOVE your blog! I am obsessed with baby sleep, it’s kinda the project J pour all my “creative energy” into nowadays (for lack of time for seeing, writing, painting haha). My 4 month old boy is actually doing pretty well and I am absolutely sure that it’s because of so many things I set right early on (like bedtime routines etc) even though lots of people seem to think that it’s just because he’s a naturally good sleeper. Oh well, I’m sure u know that and how it feels haha. Anyway: I added in a dreamfeed several weeks ago, feeding Babyboy at 10pm. It went well in the beginning, he dropped his 12:30am feed and only needed the 4/5am feed. But then like 3 or 4 weeks ago sth happened. He now wants to feed between 12:30 and 1:30 am and then he sleeps through til like 6:30/7am. I tried to drop the dreamfeed now thinking he didnt really sleep a longer stretch because of it, abd it worked for 1 night: bed (with feeding) at 7pm, waking for feed at around 1am, then through til 6:20. But the second night he simply woke at 10:30 “missing” his dreamfeed and wanting it. Also, we went on a holiday last week where we stayed up later so did the dreamfeed a bit later. In this week he awoke at 10:15pm 3 times wanting his dreamfeed! Obviously babyboy got used to being fed around 10pm, which isn’t bad per se. But: how can i now get rid of the night feed? U usually say there’s an early morning feed that eventually drops and then u can drop the dreamfeed. But we dont have an early morning feed at all. How do u drop middle of the night feeds? I tried pushing it a bit towards a later hour of the night, and sometimes he goes til 2am, once even til 4. But Would u recommend trying push that night feed out gradually over weeks? Or Do u have any other tips? Obviously I’m not in a bad rish to get babyboy to sleep through the whole night now, but by 6 months I’d like to try get him there, and as I’m (as said above) a big fan of early foundation setting I don’t want to “miss” the right moment for take-off ;-)
Anyways, even if u don’t have a tip here for me I am very happy to have found your blog. Sometimes I read it and my inside screams “Yes THAT! There’s someone out there who actually sums it up in real, understandable words!” :-D And so many good pointers too.. Thanks! Greetings from Austria
Hey there! So I think if he’s waking for a dream feed he’s probably hunger. I’d suggest keeping it feeding him and then waiting a bit longe runtil he’s on solids and you’ll likely find you can drop that dream feed quickly. Alternatively, you can make sure he’s getting more milk in the day if you really want to cut out the dream feed. But if he’s waking for it and taking all of it, he’s hungry!
Should the dream feed be the same amount of ounces as a regular feed? My 5 month old twins feed at 7pm, dream feed at 10:30pm, Then wake by 5am. We are trying not to feed them until about 6am(they stay awake that hour). Is that okay? My goal is to get them to sleep 7 to 7. How can I get closer to my goal? Thank you.
If they’ll take the same amount then yes!
Hi Rachel!
So my 3 week old eats every 2,5-3 hrs. I feed her at 9:30 pm, then 11ish and then put her to sleep and she goes until 5ish am. Is that a good routine for now?
She was born at 42 weeks, so she is like a 5 week old baby in terms of development. Thank you!
That’s excellent! At that 5 time, feed again with everything dark and put right back down to bed!
I have a really good bedtime routine that works great for our 6 month baby girl, however, during this quarantine days I have created a bad habit for her to let her nap every day, every single time in my arms… Is 6 months too old to start reversing this crutch I created for her?? How do I go about it? specially since I need to return to work a 2 days someone else will be taking care of her.
It’s never too late to start reversing a habit and give yourself grace, we’ve all been rearranged during this time :)
I loved using a dream feed! It worked so well and my kids slept longer and longer until they went from 10pm to 8am. Yay! Great tips!
Hi Rachel,
I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog! It’s been a fresh wave in all that’s out there. I’d love your help with my little baby. He’s 7 months, 1 week old. He sleeps consistently until 4/430 am and I’m considering trying the dream feed – again. I tried it for 3 days a few weeks ago. The first day he slept until 6 for the first time but then it went back to 4am. Is it too late (in his age) to do it now?
I am overall stumped as to how to make the baby sleep in later….I’ve tried limiting his daytime sleep to no avail. His room is pitch black. He falls asleep independently, white noise, sleeps straight until 4/430. He actually seems to adore napping during the day and from the schedule I saw, you recommend a bit more naptime than what I’v read in other places so I’d love your insight on that as well?
Does he eat a lot of solids? And is he warm enough? I’d try those first!
My question. Is should I drop his dreamfeeding I try it last night he slept all night he has been doing that for months bedtime is 8pm I dreamfeed him At 11pm he sleeps all the way to 8am he eats every 3 to 4 hrs 6 to 8oz bottles of breast milk i just feel more comfortable the dreamfeeding being his 5th feeding but I need to feel better making sure 4 feedings is ok
So I guess the question for you is whether you think keeping that will keep your supply up! If you thik your supply is okay and he doesn’t need it, then you can drop it. If you feel you need it for your supply (you probably don’t, but only you can tell) then you could keep it up!
Currently my almost 4 month old goes to bed between 8-9 so last Fred is right before. Then my husband who is up late feeds her 1.5oz around 1am. Then she sleeps until 6:30-7. How can we wean this feed?
I’d wean the 1 am feed first. You can remove an ounce or two at a time and add that to the dream feed or another day feed until that 1 am feed is very few ounces, then none!
Hi!
This wal really helpful !
I gave my 7 month baby a dream feed at 12:30 am but she wakes at 4 am screaming for more food. What should I do?
About a month ago the dream feed was perfect , it was at the same hour but she was waking at 7-8 am . I don’t know what happen
Mary, 7 months old is particularly difficult if baby isn’t having a lot of solids. Once solids are established they will usually continue to sleep. They are more hungry at this age for sure.
I have a 7 month old that goes to bed at 7:30-8pm but gets up anywhere between 10:30pm and 3am to feed. Then will go back down, and like a little personal alarm rises at 5:30 and is up majority of the morning. Will a dream feed help him to sleep through the night. He has never slept through the night since being born, so if this could work I would get some much overdue rest.
7 months old is usually too early to start a dream feed if there wasn’t already one. I’d suggest not putting him down for a morning nap until 9 am or so and then encouraging him to sleep later that way!
Hi Rachel :) this blog post is probably among my most-visited websites… both with child one, and now with number two!! Your insights are so helpful. Couldn’t survive without our dream feed ??
Kayla, absolutely love to hear this :) WE COULDN’T EITHER!
Hi Rachel-
My babies (triplets) are 12 weeks actual- 6 adjusted and we are doing a dream feed every night at 11:30. Before that they eat at 7pm. Lately- 2 have been waking up every morning at 3:30 and then again at 4:30. I don’t think they are hungry because including the dream feed they are taking in about 24-25oz of milk. Sometimes I feed them 2oz at 4:30 to just top them off until their 7am morning feed. Any advice on why they may be waking or how to get them to stretch past those hours? The third baby sleeps from dream feed until the morning.
Thank you!
Sarah
Hi!
I’m getting ready to drop the dream feed with my 9 months old son. I know it may be late, but I’m still scared to drop it. He had been sleeping 12 hours with a dream feed since 3 months.
My main concern is that he is going to be hungry and wake up early.
He eats 30oz formula and solid 3x/day.
Pediatrician said at the 9 months wellness check to try to reduce the formula intake by 12 months between 18-24oz.
I’m trying to figure out how to do it and how to drop the dream feed.
Any advice would be appreciated!!
So I’d start by reducing the amount in the bottle so you can be assured he’ll sleep, then increasing it by that amount at the first feed of the day!