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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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January 15, 2026
How to Get Baby Back Into a Consistent Sleep Routine

Tips for Resetting Baby’s Sleep Schedule After Busy Weeks, Travel, or Routine Changes

After a stretch of travel, visitors, late nights, or changes to your usual schedule, you may be ready to get back into a more predictable routine. While adults can often reset quickly, babies and toddlers may need a little more support easing back into consistent sleep patterns.

The good news? Disrupted routines are temporary and with a few simple, consistent adjustments, your baby can settle back into a rhythm that works for everyone.

Here are a few tips to help re-establish healthy sleep habits and create a calmer transition back to routine.

Daytime Sleep for Babies
When schedules get busy, naps are often the first thing to shift. Getting back to consistent daytime sleep is one of the most effective ways to improve nighttime rest.

Try offering naps at the same time each day, even if your baby initially resists. Familiar cues – like dimming the room, closing the curtains, or using a sound machine on a newborn sleep monitor – can help signal that it’s time to rest. Consistency is key, and with time, naps typically fall back into place.

Extra Transition Time at Night
If bedtime has become unpredictable, allow extra time for a calming nighttime routine. Dim the lights, lower stimulation, and focus on quiet activities like reading, cuddling, or singing.

A warm bath or gentle wind-down ritual can help your baby recognize that sleep is coming. If your little one wakes more frequently at night, it may be a sign they’re still adjusting to recent changes. Tracking sleep patterns with a wearable smart sensor can help identify what’s different and guide small adjustments.

Create a Familiar Sleep Environment
Returning to a familiar sleep space can make a big difference. If your baby has been sleeping in new environments recently, re-establishing their usual crib or bassinet setup can provide comfort and predictability.

Pay attention to room temperature, lighting, and familiar items like a favorite blanket or nightlight. Small environmental cues help reinforce a sense of safety and consistency, which supports better sleep.

Give It Time and Grace
Resetting routines doesn’t happen overnight. A few days of consistency can go a long way, and flexibility is just as important as structure. With patience and a calm approach, your baby will adjust and restful nights will return.

Tips for Resetting Baby’s Sleep Schedule After Busy Weeks, Travel, or Routine Changes

After a stretch of travel, visitors, late nights, or changes to your usual schedule, you may be ready to get back into a more predictable routine. While adults can often reset quickly, babies and toddlers may need a little more support easing back into consistent sleep patterns.

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When the clocks “fall back” on November 2 this year, many parents expect to brace for disrupted sleep (which goes both ways). Babies thrive on consistency, so even a one-hour shift can throw off naps, feedings, and bedtimes. With a bit of preparation, you can help your little one adjust before Daylight Saving Time.

Start Shifting Early
With steady, minor adjustments, you can help align their internal clock without major disruptions. Begin about a week before the change, knowing that it may take longer than that for your little one to adapt. One idea is to move your baby’s wake-up, naps, and bedtimes earlier by just 10-15 minutes every day or

two. Consider keeping bedtime routines the same, including bath times, book reading, and lullabies. These are cues for sleep, even if the timing is slightly different.

Use Light and Environment Advantageously
Morning sunlight helps reset circadian rhythms, so open the curtains soon after waking. At night, dim the lights earlier than usual to signal winding down. Consistency in the sleep environment, such as comfortable room temperature, quiet, and darkness, makes the transition smoother.

Lean on Smart Monitoring Tools During time-change prep, an all-in-one wellness monitor that tracks oxygen saturation levels, body temperature variations, heart rate, sleep patterns, and even nursery conditions through a connected hub is excellent, especially for parents of newborns. By seeing trends in your baby’s natural sleep cues, you can implement gradual schedule shifts more confidently.

A built-in baby wellness cam offers night vision and two-way audio to observe if your baby is settling earlier or waking at new times. Environmental sensors for temperature and humidity levels help you fine-tune the nursery for comfort. At the same time, app notifications provide reassurance if your baby stirs more often during the adjustment period.

Stay as Consistent as Possible
Some babies adapt quickly, while others need a week or more. Once the clocks change, stick to the shifted schedule and resist reverting to old times. A little extra patience and help from your monitor go a long way.

When the clocks “fall back” on November 2 this year, many parents expect to brace for disrupted sleep (which goes both ways). Babies thrive on consistency, so even a one-hour shift can throw off naps, feedings, and bedtimes. With a bit of preparation, you can help your little one adjust before Daylight Saving Time.

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August 19, 2025
Should You Follow a Feeding Schedule?

Babies know what they need: milk, sleep, and comfort. They tell you when they need them. You sometimes wake up to the sound of your little one through the baby sleep monitor because they’re hungry. Yet, your little one doesn’t run on a schedule, and they can’t tell you the time. So, should you, as a new parent, follow a feeding schedule?

Daytime Feedings
The early days with a newborn swing between sleeping and feeding with a few (or a lot of) diaper changes in between. Sometimes, the day just feels like a series of feedings, and you can’t even remember what happened when you weren’t feeding the baby. Eventually, you notice a kind of pattern to the sleep-wake cycles. You can create a little strategy to give yourself one (or more than one) grown-up nap a day, letting your baby sleep in a comfortable environment thanks to a smart baby monitor. 

Nighttime Feedings
Newborns don’t really have a bedtime. They just take a series of naps until they adjust to a new schedule and develop their circadian rhythm, sleeping for two to four hours. When they’re not asleep, you should encourage them to drift off again after feedings, so they get into the habit of sleeping more at nighttime. 

Breast vs. Bottle
Sometimes, breastfed babies have to nurse more frequently than bottle-fed babies. While the size of a person’s breast doesn’t determine how much milk they produce, it does impact how much milk they can store. Women with smaller breasts sometimes store less milk at a time, so their babies may nurse more frequently. Women with larger breasts store more at one time, so there may be less frequent nursing sessions. 
On the other hand, bottle-fed babies can take in more milk per feeding and don’t have to work for a letdown. Your little one’s feedings may be more spaced apart if they’re bottle-fed, regardless of whether there’s breastmilk or formula in the bottle.

Babies don’t know the difference between night and day and need frequent feedings. Instead of focusing on a feeding schedule in the early days, keep everyone in the family comfortable and well-fed. 

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