To Dream Feed or not?
Updated: Jan 2, 2023
What is a Dream Feed?
A late night feed given to your baby while asleep, with the intention of filling them up to encourage a good stretch of sleep.
What are the benefits of a dream feed?
The idea of a dream feed is to top your baby up so that they sleep for longer, and in turn you go to bed and get a decent stretch of sleep too! Ideally you would get 5 hours + sleep from your baby after a dream feed, taking you through to 3am or longer. This would mean you only need to get up 1 time for a night feeding.

For Mums that struggle to resettle their baby this can also help as the baby will remain asleep through the whole feed, so no need to settle back to sleep. For bottle fed babies Dad can offer the feed, so Mum can head off to bed earlier and catch some precious Z's. It can be a great way to get more calories into smaller babies – particularly preemies.
How Does a dream feed work?
Quietly pop into your baby’s room. Keep the room dark and the white noise playing. There is no need to unswaddle your baby or change their nappy. Gently pick your sleeping baby up and place your nipple or bottle on their lips. Most babies will automatically start taking a feed (some will not and if this is your baby dream feeding might not be for you!). Once they are finished burp them, place them back in the cot and leave the room. Most babies will sleep right through the dream feed.
What age should I offer a dream feed?
3-6 months is ideal. Any earlier than 3 months they might be too sleepy to latch on, they wake frequently regardless, or often are only just going to sleep at this time.

What time should I offer a dream feed?
A dream feed should be offered around 10.30pm – ideally between 10pm and 11pm. Feeding prior to 10pm can teach the baby not to take such a big feed before bed. After 11pm is too late to benefit anyone, and you can just wait for them to wake naturally from hunger.
How much should I feed my baby?
Breast fed babies can drink until they stop – offer both sides. For bottle fed babies I like to keep it under 150mls. Any more can encourage wake ups as it activates digestion and can give them wind.
When and how to stop a dream feed?
It is a good idea to stop this before 6 months and encourage your baby to consolidate this part of their sleep. At 6 months it is likely a baby will naturally be able to sleep past 11pm, and allowing them to wake naturally is the best thing to do to encourage sleeping through the night. You will also be introducing solids around this age, which can help with longer periods of sleep overnight.
You can cut back gradually by reducing time at the breast each night, or mls in the bottle. You can also pull the feed forward by 15 minutes each night at the same time.
Some signs to stop earlier may be:
Baby is waking during feed and it is hard to get them back to sleep
Baby is not taking much milk
Baby is still waking within 4 hours of the dream feed
What are the cons of a dream feed?
It is important you are aware of the cons of a dream feed so you are well informed if you choose to try it out.
It doesn’t work for some babies and they still wake soon after
It can create a habitual hunger
It can interfere with sleeping through the night if not weaned off before 6 months
Baby wakes and is difficult to resettle
My personal experience as a Baby Sleep Consultant
I generally find these unsuccessful for the majority of my clients. This means they do not get a longer stretch of sleep after introducing the feed. Personally I prefer to teach my clients to work on consolidating that stretch of sleep, to encourage sleeping through the night in the long term. I have seen these work well for limited people, so definitely worth a try. Like anything with sleep, if you try it out give it a good 3-5 days to see if it improves night waking.
My personal experience with triplets
I had quite a successful experience with dream feeding my baby's, prior to entering the 4 month sleep regression. Sienna and Amelia (identical twins) fed regularly through the night and the dream feed was always followed by a stretch right through to 3 or 4am, so it was helpful for them (and me!). Olivia slept through the night with no feeds from an early age so there was no benefit to offering her a dream feed.
An example of a dream feed working well
A dream feed can work well if your baby is habitually waking just after you go to sleep (10.30-12.00pm for example). If you give them a 10pm dream feed, then they sleep through to 3am, and then wake for the day around 7am for the day this is perfect!
An example of a dream feed not working
You offer a dream feed at 10.30pm, then your baby wakes at 12.30pm, 2.30am, 5am and then 6.30am for the day.

Get in touch via email is you have any dream feed queries.
Alana x
Baby Sleep Consultant NZ. Making Baby and Toddler Sleep Easy.
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