March 10, 2025

What Is Dream Feeding and When Would You Need to Do It?

In early parenthood, you wake up for midnight snacks more often than you’d ever believe, but you’re not the one who’s snacking. Newborns and young babies often rely on nighttime feedings to keep their bellies full and get the nutrients they need for growth and development.

As you learn more about your baby and track insights from their baby sleep monitor, you might wonder when you’ll finally get more sleep or worry that when night feedings stop, your baby isn’t eating as much. So, you want to learn a bit about dream feeding.

What Is Dream Feeding?
A dream feed is a nighttime feeding initiated by the parent. You might sneak a dream feed in just before your own bedtime or wake up in the middle of the night and initiate a feeding before your baby wakes up. During a dream feed, your baby is mostly or entirely asleep, and you do not wake them up to change their diaper. You gently take them out of their bassinet or crib, nurse or bottle feed your baby, and put them back to bed.

Why Do Parents Use Dream Feeds?
The most common reason parents choose to dream feed their babies is to get a longer stretch of sleep between the time they go to bed and the baby’s first nighttime wakeup.

Another reason a parent may dream feed is to maintain natural breastmilk production. Nighttime feedings may boost milk supply because of a hormone called prolactin, which supports breastmilk production. Levels of this hormone are higher at night. If breastmilk production decreases as your baby starts to get longer stretches of sleep, you might introduce dream feeds, but an alternative is nighttime pumping.

Lastly, a parent may start dream feeding their baby for added nutrition if their little one needs more calories. Talk to your pediatrician before dream feeding for caloric intake, as it has the potential to lead to reverse cycling, which means a baby wants more nighttime feedings instead of daytime.

When Would You Start to Dream Feed?
Newborns generally have smaller sleep windows, so they wake up naturally more often. A parent may see themselves initiating dream feeds as their baby starts to enter longer stretches of sleep. Generally, dream feeds trickle off as you stop breastfeeding or your child goes long stretches without needing you to feed them.

What’s the Best Way to Dream Feed?
The best way to dream feed is a way that causes the least interruption to your baby’s sleep. That could be different depending on your and your baby’s sleep habits. You will want to limit stimulation or disturbance to the sleep space. Make sure the room is at a good temperature with a baby temperature monitor for the room, and keep the lights dim (parents may be superhumans, but they don’t have night vision).

Not every parent has to dream feed their baby. It doesn’t make you a better or worse parent for doing it. You can always discuss dream feeding with your pediatrician if you have questions or concerns, but it’s not always a necessity.

Sources:

1. National Childbirth Trust (NCT). "Tips to Help Your Baby Sleep." Available at: https://www.nct.org.uk/information/baby-toddler/caring-for-your-baby-or-toddler/tips-help-your-baby-sleep

2. Legendairy Milk. "Night-Time Feedings Are Important." Available at: https://www.legendairymilk.com/blogs/lactation-support/night-time-feedings-are-important

3. La Leche League UK. "Breastfeeding at Night." Available at: https://laleche.org.uk/breastfeeding-at-night/

March 10, 2025

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April 10, 2025

A Quick Guide to Sound Machines for New Parents

Technology is helpful to new parents with a young baby looking for support. Rest assured, baby tech, like a smart baby monitor developed by pediatricians and scientists, is tested repeatedly before its release. That said, these products may have features you want to learn more about, like a built-in sound machine that plays white noise and lullabies. If you have heard how sound impacts a baby’s development, additional information can help you decide what’s best for your baby’s environment.

The Truth About Background Noise
White noise or lullabies serve as background noise while your baby sleeps. They help soothe your little one and calm them while blocking out other sounds. This benefits parents and babies, allowing them to get more restful, undisturbed sleep. However, too much of a good thing can have a negative impact. “Too much” means the background noise is too loud and playing too long. You can use a sound machine or a baby sleep monitor that plays white noise or lullabies at a lower volume without causing any discomfort for your baby.

The Science Behind It
A baby’s ears have smaller ear canals than an adult. Over time, repeated exposure to sounds above 85 decibels (dB) could negatively impact hearing. For reference, 80 dB is typical for an average alarm clock (remember those?). When your alarm clock was on your nightstand, around the same level as your ears and within arm’s reach, it was very loud. When you moved it across the room, it wasn’t blaring as loudly in your ear.

Similarly, the decibel level an inch from an infant sound machine may be different than that of the decibel level by the time it reaches your baby’s ears. So, both volume and distance from the machine affect the noise level, and you have the freedom to adjust the volume and distance and follow user instructions to use baby tech properly. That way, you keep your baby monitor hub at a comfortable distance and volume for a good noise level.

A Comfortable Noise Level
A high-quality baby sleep machine has a cut-off decibel level to ensure it doesn’t reach a level that could impact hearing development. This means it shouldn’t go over 85 dB. That’s not the default sound level for the baby tech product, either; it’s just the maximum threshold. Keeping the volume between 20 and 50 dB can help create a comfortable sleep environment for your little one.

Along with a sound machine on a hub, a baby monitor can also feature a baby cam and a smart sensor attached to an ankle band. These features allow you to track changes to heart rate, oxygen saturation, and external skin temperature (as well as the room temperature thanks to the hub). By monitoring any changes to your baby’s sleep patterns, you can make changes as needed, including the volume of white noise or lullabies and where you place the hub.

Whether that’s a baby monitor that plays white noise and lullabies or a data-tracking sensor on an ankle band, you can use all the support you can get. Whenever you have a question about your child’s well-being, you can also reference the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and talk to your pediatrician.

January 28, 2025

Crib Safety: Things to Know

Crib Safety — What’s In, What’s Out?

Safety standards are always changing, especially when it comes to keeping newborns and infants safe. In 2022, the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) released updated guidelines on safe sleep. We broke down a few key points for you to keep in mind as you settle into a bedtime routine.

How To Choose a Crib

One of the most heartwarming things about welcoming a baby into the world is how generous friends and family can be with hand-me-downs. Many parents end up swimming in second-hand baby gear, from onesies to stuffies to blankets. However, cribs need extra scrutiny. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a crib:

~The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends avoiding cribs that are older than 10 years, as safety standards can change in that time.

~Avoid broken or modified cribs. All slats should be intact, and gaps should be no greater than 2 ⅜ inches apart.

~Make sure all the hardware is present and in good working order.

~Cribs with a “dropside” design are no longer recommended, as babies can accidentally fall out of the crib.

What Goes Inside The Crib

If your baby is still under a year old, SIDS can be a scary prospect. Your baby should be placed on their back to sleep for every sleep. Other ways to minimize risks include:

~Choose a firm, tight-fitting mattress. Make sure there are no gaps between the mattress and sides of the crib.

~Swaddles or sleepsacks only. All of those adorable stuffies, blankets, and pillows you got at the baby shower will have to wait. Keeping these things out of the crib will help prevent suffocation.

~Keep cords away. Whether they are curtain blinds or baby monitor cords, make sure they are out of reach.

~Hälsa Baby? Of course! While the Hälsa Baby wellness monitor is no substitute for following the above recommendations, it does give you an extra sense of security by monitoring your child’s heart rate, oxygen levels, and more, so you’ll know if something is amiss the second it happens.

The first year of a baby’s life can be stressful. Anything that brings you extra peace of mind can be indispensable. That’s why we offer BabyLiveAdvice. If you have questions about your little one’s sleeping environment, we’re here for you.

Tips and advice have been reviewed by our partners at BabyLiveAdviceTM

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and should not replace medical advice from your doctor, pediatrician, or medical professional. If you have questions or concerns, you should contact a medical professional.

December 16, 2024

New Year, New Baby: Goals for the New Parent

New Parent New Year’s Resolutions: Setting Goals for You and Baby

New year, new you takes on a whole new meaning as a new parent. You may have very different goals from the ones you envisioned in prior years—and before your new baby. Creating a comfortable environment for your little one is now at the top of your goals. This precious life you brought into your home deserves everything you can give it. As someone navigating a new phase of life and diligently watching a baby cam every night, setting achievable goals can help you build confidence and create a positive space for your baby’s development.

Goal #1: Cozy Sleep
There’s a lot to say about the importance of sleep. The first three to six months of being a parent can look like you have a little baby bean attached to you, and you love that (mostly). Still, separate sleeping schedules are inevitable. While you are content to enjoy those sweet contact naps in the beginning, for which you are fully awake, you want to encourage sleep habits that work for your lifestyle. That means you need to create a comfortable and secure sleep environment.

Your baby should have a flat surface where they sleep on their back without nearby obstructions like pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets. This space could be a crib or a bassinet. If your baby sleeps in their own room, a baby monitor lets you know when they wake up.

Your baby monitor can be a simple camera or a more advanced system. An all-in-one baby monitor can track heart rate, oxygen levels, skin temperature changes, room temperature, and humidity. It may even have a sound-machine function. These advanced systems are convenient and informative, helping you create a comfortable sleep space while giving you peace of mind. You’ll know when your baby wakes up, and you’ll also know when there are any significant changes to their surroundings or vitals.

Goal #2: Bonding with Your Baby
Most parents can bond with their babies in the first weeks after bringing them home, especially if they use parental leave. Bonding can look like contact naps, playtime, singing them songs (letting your baby hear your voice), or showing them around the home and outside area. In the earliest parts of parenthood, bonding is spending time with your little one—you don’t have to overthink it.

Goal #3: Prioritizing Mental Health
Parenthood is a new phase of life that brings many physical and mental changes to your routines, habits, comfort levels, work, and social life. It’s a big change. Prioritizing your mental health is crucial when taking care of your little one. In order to do so, make sure you do what you must to create space for yourself. You may have a high-quality smart baby monitor, but you’re also your own mommy or daddy baby monitor. When you’re using a baby monitor that alerts your phone to any changes, from your baby waking up to changes in oxygen levels, you can focus on yourself for a little bit, whether that means taking time to listen to your favorite podcast or even scheduling an appointment for yourself with a healthcare provider.

Setting goals as a new parent can feel simple with some tips like these. Achievable goals that support a healthy home environment are the best way to enter the new year with you and your little one.