Good-Bye Dreamfeed

Since JoJo was a few weeks old we have been giving her a Dreamfeed at 10-10:30pm before going to bed. We had some success but it has been real spotty, some nights she will only eat 1 or 2 ounces and others she will eat more then 4 ounces.

I insisted on doing a Dreamfeed because I've read so much about it on multiple blogs and in a few different books. It was my understanding the it was the key to a baby that would sleep through the night. So we Dreamfed, and Dreamfed, until one night when we just stopped. I didn't have a bottled pumped and was exhausted that I couldn't stay away that long so I convinced my husband to skip it.

We dropped the Dreamfeed about three weeks ago and haven't not noticed a difference in her nighttime sleep. We did have a rough few nights when we started the 4th leap of Wonder Weeks but that seems to have past. We've actually have had some of her longest sleep stretches yet, 9, 10, and 11 hours!

She is making up for the dropped feeding with nursing longer at her 4pm and 7pm feeding and waking up happy in the morning so I'm not sad to see it go. Its nice for my husband and I to get to bed early without this last feeding hanging over our heads. Turns out the Dreamfeed isn't for everyone.

I won't lie, I think of it some nights and consider trying it again but then she sleeps great and I forget it.

Smooth Transitions Leaping

Have you heard of "The Wonder Weeks"? According to Dr. Plooij, developmental leaps are age specific and can be predicted down to the week.  These leaps differ from a physical growth spurt but can have some similarities. If you are unfamiliar with them and you have days that blow your mind because your baby is suddenly a different baby and it feels like maybe someone swapped them out overnight, read this book! There is also an app that includes a nice little chart predicting your babies sunny and stormy periods, along with a scary countdown until the next leap but it is amazing once you understanding the pattern and can help with some of the frustrations that come with those hard days.

We just started with the 4th leap, the leap of smooth transitions.  JoJo's typical leap behavior is a few cranky days followed by a sleepy day and then she will develop some new skill.  It's an amazing thing to watch now that we know what's going on. At first her cranky days threw us through a loop and we had no idea what was going on. She would go from getting up once a night to four times during the night leaving us exhausted and confused. This last week has been her cranky phase, multiple wakening at night and the witching hour has returned in the evenings.  Starting last week her sleep got progressively worse over a four day period leaving us with an overly tired baby in the evenings. Things then gradually got better over a 3 day period and we have now reached a new stage. Last night JoJo slept through the night for the first time, everyones definition of sleeping through the night is different so I'll clarify what it means to me, I put her to bed last night at 7:30pm and she didn't get up until 6:30am this morning. This was an hour before her usual wake up time but we went with it and will adjust the day as we go. I know this doesn't mean we have a new norm on our hands but I noticed she is shifting her eating schedule around, she has been nursing much longer before bedtime the last two nights then she has in the past but only time will tell if it will stick. 

So far JoJo seems to be much more aware of her lower body, she has started kicking her feet at the toys on her activity mat and started grabbing her knees. She also seems to get excited when anticipating something might happen. Your classic, I'm going to get you game, is becoming more fun! Can't wait to see what other new skills will arise with this new developmental leap.