Dream feed baby with reflux

Learning how to dream feed baby is quite simple. Yay! Yet dream feeding is one of those terms that gets tossed around so much that everyone assumes that everyone else knows the exact meaning of the term. When you dig a little deeper, you see that people have WILDLY different definitions of the same exact term!

Last Updated Jan 27, 2021.

Photo Credit: Zach Lucero

So What Is a Dream Feed?

Just so everyone is on the same page…

A dream feed is when:

• a parent goes to their sleeping infant,
• picks them up to breastfeed
• or props them up either in their crib, or in a caregiver’s arms, to offer a bottle,
• feeds the child,
• and then puts them back down *asleep* without the baby ever having woken up.

A dream feed is NOT a dream feed if a child:

• opens their eyes at any point in the process,
• or if the feeding is in response to the baby waking up.

Generally speaking, a dream feed is done between the hours of about 9:30pm and 12:00am. Technically, if all other terms are met, but the feed is done outside of these hours, the feeding is still a dream feed.

The Right Age for Dream Feeding

Dream feeds are a great tool from birth (or a few weeks after, when babies are not quite so sleepy), through to when a baby is done being swaddled. It is very challenging to dream feed a baby, even a very young one, without waking them up if they are not swaddled. Generally speaking, it’s wise to stop dream feeding around 14–16 weeks of age. After this age, babies become a lot more awake and aware, and dream feeds tend to disrupt the rest of their overnight sleep.

Check out my Newborn Sleep Program!

Benefits of Dream Feeding

Let me first dispel a myth. A dream feed does not necessarily prevent a baby from waking up to eat at night. Although, sometimes it does work. I like dream feeds for young babies because I appreciate the “insurance policy” of extra calories at night. As long as a baby is young enough that the dream feed itself does not wake them, and fracture their remaining nighttime sleep, a dream feed can insure as many calories as possible during each 24-hour period.

A gift to reflux-y babies!

Some babies respond beautifully to a dream feed. Especially those with reflux! From about 7pm on through to about 2 or 3am, the body is flooded with the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is responsible for many things. Chief amongst them is making the body feel drowsy, and relaxing the long muscles  (abs, legs, and arms). Since the abdominal muscles are relaxed, it’s common for babies with a lot of reflux to tolerate a dream feed without spitting up. And even possibly negate the need to be burped, or held upright afterwards. I can speak to this from personal experience with my own extremely reflux-y, wholly unmedicated daughter. Since the concern for calorie intake is so high with reflux babies, dream feeds can be especially useful for them.

Burping After a Dream Feed

If you feel your sleeping baby needs to be burped, go ahead and attempt to burp them as you normally would during the day. Check in with your pediatrician to ask how long to attempt a burp before giving up and putting baby back to sleep.

The bottom line is that a dream feed done correctly can benefit baby AND parents by offering an extra dose of nutrition, while also possibly helping baby sleep! (Which means YOU can get more sleep too! Win!)

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So remember, to properly dream feed your baby…

1. Enter their room (keeping it dark!), and prop baby up either in their crib, or your arms, and immediately start feeding them the breast or bottle.
2. Dream feed between 9:30pm-12:30am (or whenever you are heading to bed yourself!)
3. Baby should NOT wake up AT ALL during the entire feeding. (Baby should be put back down in bed just as asleep as they were when you starting the feeding. )
4. You should stop attempting dream feeds when baby starts to sleep unswaddled. (Or around 14-16 weeks old when these feeds can start to become disruptive to their nighttime sleep.)

If you want to learn everything I know about babies under 16 weeks, check out The Newborn Sleep Program. This program can help set up your newborn (and you) for the best possible sleep! And if your baby is older than 16 weeks old, and you’re looking for affordable, hands-on sleep training support, check out my online training series: The Baby Sleep Trainer Program + Support. Use the code DFbaby for 10% off either program.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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Reflux in a child does not sleep at night

What is reflux?

Reflux is an extremely unpleasant phenomenon at any age; And for children under one year old, this is a fairly common problem, due to the underdevelopment of the lower esophageal sphincter. Food mixed with gastric juice, moving in the "wrong" direction, enters the esophagus, pharynx, or even into the oral cavity, irritates them and causes vivid pain. If this happens in adults, we call it heartburn.

Babies with reflux often spit up, eat small meals, sleep restlessly, wake up with a sharp cry, experience pain after feeding, and therefore have difficulty falling asleep after eating.

For many children the problem disappears by 12-14 weeks, other babies cope with it closer to the year. But until then, sleep will remain very restless . And it happens that all the mother's efforts aimed at teaching sleep: creating favorable conditions, maintaining a comfortable sleep regime, consciously teaching how to fall asleep on their own, do not lead to a calm, predictable sleep. The child continues to sleep in fits and starts for 20-30-40 minutes, often wakes up crying, behaves restlessly, refuses to go to bed after evening feeding, does not fall asleep after a snack at night.

How to recognize reflux?

It is important to know that although the most obvious sign of reflux is frequent spitting up and vomiting, it is also impossible to calm the baby at the time of the attack, because. he cries in pain. Reflux can also be silent. Shorter than peers, thirty-minute sleep cycle can also indicate problems with digestion.

If "behavioral" methods of improving sleep do not lead to the desired result, there may be an occasion to once again talk with a pediatrician or pediatric gastroenterologist.

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Signs of reflux can be:

1. Very short sleep cycle - no more than 35 minutes (especially if the baby is over 6 months old).

2. Frequent regurgitation, vomiting.

3. Frequent awakenings with sharp crying.

4. The child eats restlessly, with pauses, sometimes lets go of the breast or the bottle crying, refuses to take it again.

5. Dislikes lying on his back, especially after eating. Likes vertical position.

6. The kid mastered the skill of turning over from back to stomach and from stomach to back quite late, much later than peers, after about 5-6 months.

7. Crying after eating, especially in a horizontal position

8. Sometimes a child in a lying position may shake his head or, turning over, hit his head on the mattress (in this way he helps himself to burp).

9. Frequent mouth breathing, as stuffy nose (especially after waking up in the morning or after naps).

10. In general, reflux often causes breathing problems, which can be said:

a. Sweating during sleep.

b. Noisy breathing, deep voice.

11. Reflux can be associated with allergies, especially cow's milk protein allergy.

12. In general, children with reflux are often more moody, whiny, and always look overtired.

How can I help my child with reflux sleep?

If reflux is diagnosed, how can mom help:

1. Do not feed directly at bedtime . Eating at least 30 minutes before bedtime.

2. Be sure to hold your baby upright after eating for 15-20 minutes.

3. If you are breastfeeding, avoid dairy products in your diet. Eliminate other foods and factors causing your allergic reaction. It will take at least a few days for the mucous membrane of the stomach and esophagus to “heal”, and the baby will feel better.

4. Your baby will be more comfortable sleeping in a head-to-toe position. Raise one part of the mattress (put something on it) to form a slight angle (15-20 degrees). To prevent the baby from sliding down, you can put a thin blanket rolled into a tube in the form of a horseshoe (or the letter U) under the stretch sheet, and lay the child with his legs inside the formed horseshoe.

5. If the baby freely rolls over from back to stomach and from stomach to sleep, put the baby to sleep on the LEFT side or on the stomach (again, not immediately after eating).

6. Do not wear clothes with tight elastic bands around the stomach and do not tighten the diaper too tightly.

7.On the first awakening (30-40 minutes after the start of sleep), immediately lift the child vertically and simply hold. Then put back to sleep in the crib or help to fall asleep in your arms.

8. Be sure to ask your doctor to prescribe acid-reducing medicines indicated for children with reflux. These medicines relieve pain for at least a few hours - this will help you sleep more peacefully.

9. Start learning how to fall asleep on your own after you get your reflux under control.

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Reflux in Infants: Symptoms and Treatment

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Post-feed regurgitation is common in the first few months of life. This is usually harmless and completely normal, but parents should read about gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) in infants and how long it lasts to give them peace of mind.

We look at signs of reflux in babies, symptoms of different types of reflux, and how to help a child with signs of reflux. If you require further information, always contact your healthcare provider.

So we know reflux is common, but what causes reflux in babies? Because young children have not yet fully developed the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), that is, the muscle at the bottom of the esophagus that opens and closes to let food into the stomach and keep it there, food can easily pass back up the esophagus.

Acid reflux, also known as gastroesophageal reflux (GER), is a normal reflux that occurs in babies. This type of reflux is considered normal and occurs in 40-65% of babies.

If a baby is spitting up milk after a feed, it is most likely acid reflux. As babies get older, GER usually goes away on its own without any intervention. If a baby has complications beyond just spitting up a small amount of milk (such as feeding difficulties and discomfort), they may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Symptoms of GERD include:

• baby arching during or after feeding;
• crying more than three hours a day for no apparent reason;
• cough;
• gag reflex or difficulty swallowing;
• irritability, restlessness after eating;
• eating little or not eating;
• poor weight gain or loss;
• difficult breathing;
• severe or frequent vomiting.
  

GERD usually occurs when LES muscles are not toned in time, causing stomach contents to back up into the esophagus.

Another type of reflux, laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), also called silent reflux, is when the contents of the baby's stomach leak back into the larynx, the back of the nasopharynx. This type of reflux does not always cause external symptoms, which is why it is called "silent". Babies can have GERD and silent reflux at the same time, but their symptoms are somewhat different.

Some of the symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux are listed below:

• trouble breathing;
• gag reflex;
• chronic cough;
• trouble swallowing;
• hoarseness;
• regurgitation;
• poor weight gain or weight loss.
  

We have looked at the signs of reflux in infants, now we will move on to the treatment and duration of silent reflux in children, as well as the treatment of GERD.

Breastfeeding mothers may need to review their diet if their babies show signs of reflux. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends breastfeeding mothers cut eggs and milk from their diet for two to four weeks to see if their baby's reflux symptoms improve or disappear. It may be worth eliminating acidic foods from your diet.

In most cases, GER and laryngopharyngeal reflux go away on their own. Typically, children outgrow reflux in the first year of life. If a child has persistent symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux, parents should consult a doctor. If your baby has severe vomiting, blood in the stool, or any of the symptoms of GERD listed above, parents should contact their pediatrician as soon as possible.

Reflux symptoms in infants usually go away on their own, but the following tips may help relieve symptoms:

1. Thicken food with rice or a special milk thickener.
2. Hold the bottle at an angle that fills the nipple completely with milk to reduce the amount of air your baby swallows. This can help prevent colic, gas, and reflux.
3. Try the AirFree anti-colic bottle, designed to reduce air swallowing during feeding.

4. Let your baby burp during and after feeding. If the baby is bottle fed, parents can let him burp after every 30-60 ml. If the mother is breastfeeding, she may let the baby burp when changing breasts.

5. Hold baby upright after feeding. As a rule, in order for the milk to remain in the stomach, after feeding the baby, it is necessary to hold it in an upright position for 10-15 minutes. But, if the child has reflux, parents should keep him upright a little longer.

These tips may help relieve symptoms, but they do not replace a doctor's advice.

Parents should not change their infant formula formula without first talking to their healthcare provider.

Don't panic! Reflux is very common in babies during the first three months of life, and most babies outgrow it without any consequences. Although GERD is a slightly more serious condition, there are many treatments, ways to manage it, and help newborns. Feel free to contact your doctor with any questions or concerns you may have.

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