The Dream Feed

YES!!!! Benny Baby is finally, finally sleeping through the night!!! Incredible... I had almost begun to think that it wouldn't ever happen. I hoped for it, prayed for it, dreamt (not kidding) about it. Let's just say I love my sleep.

 However, until recently, every time I thought I had Benny's sleep patterns down to a semi-predictable routine, he would go through a growth spurt and turn everything I imagined I could rely on upside down. This is true especially because of the cluster feeds that inevitably accompany growth spurts. "Cluster feeding" is the term used for when babies need to feed much more often for longer periods of time when they are growing and need extra nutrition to support that growth. 

Up until he was three months old, Benny was waking up at 4:30am... which I thought was pretty good, as he would have last fed at around 11pm. That meant he was beginning to last around 5 - 5.5 hours without needing a feed. I'd heard horror stories about babies his age waking up twice in the night, and he was only really doing it once. I suppose what gets those mothers through that horrific sleep-deprived time is the fact that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You just can't see it always because there's usually a bend in the way. 

So, I took sleeping through to 4:30am as a sort of primitive "sleeping through the night". That was until he was three and a half months. Then...

the "dream feed" happened. 

I came across this term in one of those mum forums that are so interesting to read and very informative, too. You can ask questions, answer questions, and join in discussions with other mums who are going through the same sorts of things that you are. One that I go to regularly is www.circleofmums.com. 

So what is a dream feed? After researching about it, I came to the understanding that the dream feed is a feed that you give your baby without (as far as possible) waking them up, a few hours after they go to bed, and just before you go to bed. The idea is that they won't wake up hungry a few hours later. It tricks them into thinking they're still full at the time that they might usually wake during the night. I personally manage to whip in a quick nappy change too (I'm pretty deft, so Benny Baby doesn't fully wake up, although he might grizzle a bit at me for disturbing him. He usually falls right back asleep). We are using cloth nappies, which are not as absorbent as disposables, so heavily wet nappies in a short time is a bit of an issue for us. At nights now I put a prefold nappy in his normal flat nappy - that seems to do the trick splendidly. 

I must say, all credit goes to the dream feed for Benny's new sleep-through-the-night regime at four months. It doesn't affect growth spurts, though. If he's going through a spurt, like he did a week ago, he will still wake once during the night, and feed like a mad thing over a day or two. But when he's in "normal" growth mode, dream feeds get him from 11pm through to 8am. I know, right? I feel like a new person with the uninterrupted sleep!!

Now, I schedule in the dream feed this way: I put him down for the night between 7 - 8pm, and the dream feed occurs about three to four hours later. That's usually about 11pm. It's the last thing I do before going to bed. 

One very interesting reason for the dream feed's ability to work so well at helping baby sleep longer is due to the sleep hormone melatonin's peak in breastmilk at night, which helps to regulate baby's circadian sleep cycle. Also, feeding baby four hours after his bedtime feed rather than at 4:30am ensures he gets lots more fatty hindmilk to last him through the night than if I left it for too long and allowed more foremilk to be produced. The higher fatty content helps him feel fuller for longer and therefore he sleeps more comfortably!

Behold, the soporific effect of the dream feed: 

Wild Sourdough Starter

Since the beginning of our marriage (a whole year and a bit ago!) my husband Lenny and I have talked about baking our own bread. We wanted bread without all the preservatives and additives present in commercial bread. I always felt slightly ill and bloated after eating grocery store-bought bread, and multiple attempts to avoid eating bread, although they never lasted long, would always make me feel generally better in health. I'd feel less tired, more vibrant. 

Despite all the talk, though, we really had no idea how to go about making bread that could claim to be truly healthier for us. Questions rose in our minds about what it meant to break away from commercial bread. 

Gluten intolerance seems a big deal today, too. Supermarkets are full of gluten-free choices. Maybe I was gluten intolerant? My brother went gluten-free and lost scads of weight. He seemed to gain a new glow of health with his new diet. For me, however, the idea of going gluten-free was a horrifying one. I didn't want to have to pay that much attention to labels on my loaves. I felt a bit rebellious about it, really. I loved bread! I didn't want to give it up for an uber-expensive substitute. 

After reading several online articles and a couple of books here and there about the subject, Lenny and I decided to start our very own sourdough starter that we could use to rise our bread with. The idea behind this decision is that we would be baking bread that contained wild yeast, with good probiotic bacteria. The hoped-for result? That I might finally eat bread that didn't make me feel sick. 

A sourdough starter uses wild yeast that lives around us and it is healthier than commercial starters, even though it rises bread in double or triple the time. The thing about wild sourdough starters, is that they don't contain only yeast, (which is the problem with dried active yeast bought from the supermarket) but also bacteria, notably lactobacilli, which play an important role in "predigesting" grain. The lactic acid in the lactobacilli break down the phytic acid that protects the grain. Interestingly, the lactic acid also accounts for the sour taste of sourdough. 

Commercially baked bread mostly uses yeast that is pure, without the symbiotic relationship with "good" bacteria like lactobacilli, which means ultimately the grains have not been properly broken down - at least, not as well as they could be. The phytic acid that protects them is left largely intact. Due to the demands of fast mass production, commercial bread is also not proofed for as long as it should be to allow the grains to be broken down as much as possible. Proofing is part of the fermentation process, with the yeast leavening the bread, allowing it to rise. A longer proofing period allows the yeast and bacterial microorganisms to break down phytic acid, releasing the nutrients of grains. Starches and complex carbohydrates are broken down into simpler sugars.  The gluten protein is also broken down into simpler amino acids. (Good news for those with gluten intolerance: gliadin, which is what they react to, is broken down by the lactobacilli). 

With all this new knowledge about wild sourdough starters, Lenny and I decided to bake our own bread using our very own starter. It is possible to make one from scratch with flour and water, but we wanted to be sure that we got the very best quality, fully organic starter we could. We ended up purchasing this one from Trade Me:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/food-beverage/baking-ingredients/auction-829382341.htm

This is what the starter kit looked like when opened. We will be using rye flour and filtered water to revitalise it, and then we'll be all set to start making our own bread!

Stay tuned for further posts on this new venture! Exciting stuff!

Tummy-Time Trauma

...And How We Got Through It. 

Ahhh, tummy-time! The importance of it is drummed into parents nowadays. Since the old fashioned advice of Dr Benjamin Spock from the late 1950s which advocated that babies be put to sleep on their tummies has been discredited and deemed a risk factor for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), it seems that in the present day babies are on their tummies a lot less than they used to be. Babies are now to be put to sleep on their backs, which lessens the risk of SIDS, but also increases the risk for the dreaded flat spot. Or spots, if you happen to be so unlucky. 

Benny Baby had quite a pronounced flat spot on the right side of his head, apparently from week two! He always seemed to prefer to lie on that side of his head, and it was virtually impossible at first to make him turn to the left. Even when held upright in my husband's arms and mine, he would strain his head to the right in such a way that we feared he wasn't able to look left! In fact, one day, Lenny tried gently to turn his head to the left and he started crying and crying! Just before we started to really panic ("maybe his muscles or nerves in his neck were pinched? Was he in terrible pain? Oh my gosh! There's something wrong with my baby!!!") he suddenly swerved his head to the left. Phew. The "good" side. 

We have him booked for an appointment to see a local osteopath, to "decompress" his occipital and parietal lobes which can be prematurely and temporarily fused together due to constant pressure. That's in about seven days time. 

The good news is that we seem to have pretty much fixed the problem already! We still plan to keep the appointment to make sure all is well, but here's how BB's strange neck and flat spot situation has been improved:

1. I became OCD about turning his head to the left when he was in a deep sleep and wasn't conscious to turn it back to the right. 

2. When I put him down anywhere, (to sleep, in his bouncer, for floor time, etc) I'd roll a blanket around him so the it was against his back with his left side to the floor; this meant he'd have to lie on his left cheek. He'd often wriggle or roll, though, so that his head would be back on his right side. That's why point #1 is necessary. 

3. The terrible tummy-time worked wonders. Twenty or so minutes a day now. We started with a few seconds a day - he absolutely hated it and would literally squeal when on his tummy. I called it his "damsel in distress" cry. He does it whenever he doesn't want to do something, like go to bed, for instance. 

Yes, that was pretty demoralising for me as a new mum. I hated seeing my BB upset, and he seemed absolutely distraught every time I put him on his tummy, so that I could only stomach it for a few seconds. Then, we had a breakthrough!

It occurred to me that he couldn't lift his head very far - at first, babies' neck muscles are not strong enough to support their head, which is considerably larger in proportion to the rest of their bodies. BB could only lift his a fraction off the ground, and only for a few moments before he seemed to give up. So, I thought to myself, I will get on the ground with him, and try to distract him! He always seemed to love colours and faces. I arranged him with his arms under him and guided him to rest his chin on his hands, then yours truly also got down on her tum tum and pretended to have tummy time too!!!

 It's amazing what a two month old baby responds to. I proceeded to (in a quiet voice at first - my husband was around) tell BB a story involving his toy ladybug and dragonfly.

It worked! He was enthralled, I forgot myself and found I could do convincing bug voices, and the husband was relieved! Finally! Tummy time didn't have to be a nightmare!

Continuing this technique a few times got Baby distracted so that he only realised he was on his tummy after a few minutes. I'm the kind of gal that snatches easy victories, so I went home happy with what I'd got and turned him over on his back as soon as he grizzled. Sometimes if he tired too easily I would roll a blanket under his chest and this seemed to take the pressure off. He was happier for longer on his tummy. Day after day of practice, and the time was getting longer and longer. Now I can leave him to himself with tummy time, with "his bugs" as I like to call them, and colourful blocks, and he's amused for at least twenty minutes. 

He's going for his dragonfly...

That's amazing progress! (Sorry about the poor quality photo... But you get the point!)

I can't say enough how relieved I am that tummy time is no longer traumatic! It is very important for BB's development as it strengthens his neck and gains him upper body strength, which he needs in order to learn to sit up, and eventually crawl. We schedule tummy time in every day, and I've learnt that some times of the day are better than others. The best time to do it is after his lunchtime nap, just before his dinner feed. It's a nice, cooler time of day (it's summer at the moment) and he's well rested because his late afternoon nap is the longest, deepest one he has. Somehow he doesn't do that well with tummy time after his morning nap. For us, it's important to schedule tummy time in, because it's so easily overlooked. It's so easy to just put Baby in his bouncer or flat on the ground (I don't have to supervise him as closely then as when he's on his tummy) and rush around doing my housework. 

So! That's the story about his tummy time so far. It doesn't have to be terrible! And it really works an appetite up in him! Here he is with me in the kitchen, waiting patiently for his dinner time feed, having just done his tummy time exercise! I probably burnt whatever it was I was cooking - I'm distracted by his cuteness all the time!!!