“Dream feeding,” traditionally described as mom nursing a baby at her side while she and baby sleep, has taken on multiple different meanings. Most commonly, it refers to mom breastfeeding a sleeping infant (e.g. baby goes to bed at 7 pm and mom “dream feeds” at 10 pm before she goes to sleep) to stimulate her breasts and maintain milk production when an infant is otherwise sleeping through the night.
However, it’s now more frequent to hear moms giving a large bottle of expressed breastmilk (e.g. 5 or 6 ounces) to a sleeping baby to encourage longer durations of sleep. While it’s more safe to do this with breastmilk than with formula, it still isn’t medically recommended. There is a major difference in an infant taking in milk from mom’s breast versus reflexively drinking from a bottle while asleep.
If mom needs a longer stretch of sleep at night to maintain her mental health, it’s important to plan for it in a way that is safer for baby than “dream feeding” with a bottle. This includes considering if her partner or other support person could provide a bottle to baby when the baby naturally wakes up to feed overnight. Mom should have mental health needs addressed in general with perinatal therapist and/or medication. And if mom is exclusively breastfeeding, she can consider safe bedsharing and true “dream feeding.”
