Will formula before bed really make a difference to sleep?

[CyrilSneers]

My ebf 5 mo ds has been waking at least every 2 hours for about 8 weeks now. I'm fully aware that this is prob just a sleep regression, but every time I mention it to anyone slightly ancient (i.e. my mother and mil) I get the same 'give him a bottle, he's hungry' tripe. But is it tripe? Did it work for you? They harp on about solids as well as if it's some magic cure. Does a full baby really sleep better?

[CrazyRandomHappenstance]

Mine doesn't don't know about formula, but before i weaned DD was up once a night, since she started solid food i'm lucky if i get 1hr and a half unbroken, she has also decided bedtime is 10pm not 7 anymore lol

[MariaMandarin]

If you have no objection to a bottle in theory then why not just try it and see. Some people do definitely find it helps.

[Wallison]

I tried giving a bottle once, after my mum went on and on about it. Made fuck all difference and it was a hassle with all the sterilising and fucking around with boiled water etc. So in my opinion, based on a sample of me, I would say it's tripe.

[Curtsey]

I think a full baby often does sleep better but this may only apply after solids have been well established i.e. they are used to a solids diet. At 5mo it's probably the tail end of the regression - sounds very similar to what my DD went through. If it's any consolation, she did suddenly get a loooooot better just after turning 5 months. Started solids at 5.5 months and her sleep got a bit crap again around 6 months....then from 7 months on she's been a really decent sleeper. She eats a LOT of food, though!

[EauRouge]

Well, it is tripe in that there's no evidence to show it works. Anecdotally you may get some people saying it worked for them but there's no reason to think the same will apply to you. Early introduction of solids also has no proven affect on sleep. The recommendation is still to exclusively BF for 6 months but it's up to you if you want to try formula or early solids.

This is a good information source about sleep.

[Curtsey]

Oh, I suppose I should say why I think her sleep improved drastically around the 5 month mark -

We put her in her own room. She was getting slightly better anyway, though

[feetheart]

It didn't for DS. Neither did starting solids, crawling, walking, being put into his own room, 1 meal a day, 2 meals a day, 3 meals a day, etc, etc, etc. All the things everyone says will make a baby sleep better. He finally slept through for no particular reason whatsoever at about 14mths. Sorry OP.
DD, on the otherhand, was treated exactly the same and slept through at 14 WEEKS - go figure :)

[ImNotCute]

Ds has had a bottle of formula every night since 3months (now 10 months). I don't think it has improved his sleeping at all. I hoped it would but I keep going anyway because it's now part of our bedtime routine, and I like it that he's not reliant on BFing at night so dh can do his bedtime too.