If you want to know about dream feed a breastfed baby, this video will explain how to dream feed a breastfed baby Dream feeding is when a baby feeds during their sleep Dream feeds can be done equally well with babies who are breast or bottle fed The process of dream feeding generally means that a baby who is already asleep is picked up gently from their cot, placed in their parents arms and fed The baby is not woken, their nappy is not changed and they are not stimulated to the point of being awake They suck while they are still asleep and after they have finished sucking they are placed gently back in their cot to continue with their sleep The whole process of dream feeding is that the baby does what comes naturally to them, in this case sucking, whilst they are asleep During dream feeds, babies tend to feed in a calm and steady way and when they are full, pull away from the nipple or teeth Dream feeding is one way for parents to try to influence their babies feeding in sleep cycles by manipulating the timing of their baby's feeds rather than waiting until the baby demands to be fed Essentially, the baby is already full and has had their feed at the time in the late evening when they would normally wake for it The goal is that they then continue sleeping through the time when they would normally wake and because of this, parents get to sleep for longer overnight So, how can a baby suck when they are asleep? Some babies suck better when they are sleeping than other babies Some sleep so deeply that they really can't rouse themselves to suck effectively and just go straight back into a deep slumber But others actually feed better during dream feeds than when they are awake This is often the case with babies from around four months onwards who have discovered there's a whole world to look at and can be quite distractable when they feed during the day Newborn babies do not have the brain maturity to be able to separate night from day Their metabolism and small stomach size mean that they need to be fed every few hours around the clock Of course this is exhausting for new parents, especially after the initial novelty of new parenthood has worn off in their own reserves of energy start to wind down Babies also have much shorter sleep cycles than adults do so they wake more often and do not follow predictable patterns of long hours sleeping But as they mature and there is more regularity and routine to their feeding and sleeping behaviors They start to sleep for longer at night and not need to feed so frequently By around three months old, many babies have more of a predictable awake asleep play patterns happening Ideally, a long and continuous sleep of six hours starts to occur in babies who are getting sufficient milk during the day evening to grow and thrive Sometimes this can happen as early as six weeks And it is this longer sleep period which allows parents to make up for the hours of their own Lost sleep which has occurred in the first few weeks of their babies life Sometimes babies don't feed as well through the day as they should This can be due to a lot of reasons like sickness, distractability or sleeping for long periods In which case it's valuable to offer a dream feed to make up for missed feeds during the day evening But be aware that the more milk a baby has during the night, the less they may demand through the day So parents need to be in control of dream feeds, not their baby How old should your baby be to do a dream feed? Basically, there's no perfect age to introduce a dream feed There are too many variables for why a dream feed may be necessary You may want to consider doing one of your baby has been asleep for a few hours and you are keen to go to bed yourself For example, if your baby last fed at around 6 pm and it's now 10 pm and they are still asleep Then a dream feed may be useful Dream feed may also be useful if your baby is past the newborn period and has started to have a longer Continuous sleep at night This can happen from six weeks onwards Or if your baby has not fed as much as they usually do during the day and you think That they need a feed to make up for this If your baby has been unwell and you think they need an extra feed to maintain their hydration If you are a breastfeeding and your breasts are very full and uncomfortable If you have been at work and come home and just need to reconnect with your baby If your breast milk supply is low and you need the extra stimulation of doing more breast feeds If you would like more help with ways to get your baby to sleep well Join my newsletter You will get tips to get your baby to sleep well Free ebook Baby SleepSolution audio program Secrets of the SuperMum Parenting with minor Special offers and many more Don't forget You