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 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.

December 02, 2024

Winter Bedtime for Baby: The Best Cozy Baby Vibes

Bedtime for Baby During Winter: Tips to Support Baby’s Wellness

There is never a bad time of year to welcome a baby, but their needs might change a smidge depending on the season. As you get into the winter months, you can easily keep newborns and young babies comfortable in their rooms with a few simple practices, including using a baby sleep monitor. The following tips will not only help you create a pleasant environment, but they will also help you maintain that space for a cozy baby bedtime.

Dress Baby Appropriately
Even before bringing your little one home, you’re choosing cute footie pajamas and deciding between zips or snaps (zippers are the easiest for nighttime diaper changes). Your baby’s sleepwear is not dependent on your preferences alone. You need to dress them in sleepwear that’s considered appropriate for the temperature in their room. Appropriate sleepwear includes snug-fit pajamas like footie styles, well-wrapped swaddles, and sleep sacks.

Learn About T.O.G.
So, how do you know if your baby is too cold or too warm in the beginning? Over 50 years ago, research and textile tests were conducted that are now used by parents and sleep manufacturers to determine the weight and insulation levels of baby clothes and sleep sacks. It’s the sleepwear’s T.O.G. rating. Thermal overall grade (T.O.G) for infant sleepwear ranges from 0.2 to 3.5, and the one you choose will depend on the temperature of your nursery or baby sleep area.

Know the Nursery Temperature
Whether your baby sleeps in their own room or in a bassinet beside your bed, the room temperature impacts the comfort of the sleep environment. During winter, your home may fluctuate a lot in room temperature, but keeping track and maintaining a consistent temperature between 68 and 72 will help your baby rest well. A smart baby monitor with a hub you can keep beside the crib or bassinet can help you monitor the room's temperature, ensuring it aligns with the T.O.G. rating for your baby’s sleepwear.

Invest in a Wellness Monitor
When it’s time to choose a baby monitor, look for an option that has the baby cam and a smart monitor device. Baby smart monitors can include the hub mentioned above and a smart sensor that safely tracks your little one’s heart rate, oxygen levels, and skin temperature. Together, these devices provide a more complete picture of your baby’s wellness. With compassionate tech like modern wellness monitors, you can track information using an app that allows you to set ranges for the room temperature, heart rate and skin temperature measurements, and more. When the sensors detect readings outside of those ranges, the app will notify you so you can take appropriate action.

Bedtime for baby is about more than just a cozy sleep space. It sounds cute, but it’s actually a subject that concerns their overall well-being. Researching and choosing a monitoring system that works for you will give you peace of mind and help your little one adjust well to sleeping as they grow.