aug, 24th - dream feed....

day 193:

so....we've introduced a dream feed. 

as the name suggests, it's a feed that the baby has whilst still sleeping (haven't we all wished that we could manage this at some point). here's a bit more info.

anyway...the idea is to give the baby a warm bottle between 10:30 and 11pm, just before you go to sleep and preferably without waking them...in the hope (beg, pray) that they will sleep for longer.

up until now....although the yoga mums have all been advocating the dream feed since week 3, i've been a bit reluctant to introduce it. to me, it seemed a bit foie-grasesque to feed a sleeping baby, especially when they're not hungry, just to get them to sleep longer for your own benefit. i liked the idea that limi was setting her own patterns and waking and eating only when hungry.

but...*groan....over the past week, she's started waking up twice a night (2am and 4am) instead of just the once (4am)....and i'm feeling the pain....i need sleep and that's more for HER benefit than mine.

so, after debating for awhile, i decided to give the dream-feed a go. and.....my foie-gras-baby is now sleeping through the night (well, except for the strange dream that she's having at 11pm of being chased by a bottle). the interesting part for me is that although i am waking up with a bounce that's been a bit stunted for 6 months,  limi also appears to be enjoying the longer, uninterrupted sleep and is waking up looking very rested, with an even bigger smile....

now, we just need to discuss the 6:30am start time!