Are all bad sleepers breastfed?

It’s purely down to temperament, I’m afraid.

I breastfed both my sons. The second was a shocking sleeper and ended up in a sleep school unit on a hospital. The nurse there told me that the babies coming through were 50% breastfed and 50% formula.

DC1 exclusively breastfed on demand till 20 months, no dummy (refused), coslept, horrific sleeper (didn't properly sleep through till school age).

DC2 exclusively breastfed but on a schedule till 7 months and put to sleep (mostly) by DP not me, took a dummy from the start, no cosleeping, really good sleeper.

I do think the schedule, DC2 not falling asleep while feeding, not cosleeping and her taking a dummy helped with sleep a lot. But I also think that DC1 is just a massive night owl/bad sleeper (still struggles to get to sleep aged 13!) so it's not the whole story.

If only...

but no, bad sleepers are bad sleepers, no one has still come up with an explanation.

People will have lots of theory, but they are all bollocks.
My favourite: if you tiptoe around a child, they never sleep. Let them get used to noise and they'll sleep like a log. Yeah right. Yet somehow some babies sleep better , and a lot better, in a very quiet house.

No, no correlation. I've had three and breastfed all to 12 months. First one ok-ish and slept through 11pm to 6am from about 9 weeks (though we were new parents and clueless), second one slept through from 2 weeks (and we thought it was down to excellent parenting) and the third one . . . had colic for several months and didn't sleep much at night.

I know a few people who stopped BFing thinking that their baby would sleep through the night and it only got worse for them. They were then having to fetch bottles or get up and rock them.

Our toddler is a terrible sleeper. I do still BF and find it a magic solution to get him back to sleep quickly. If i dont latch him on then i have to go through a whole cycle of patting and singing nursery rhymes. Then i end up wide awake and struggle to get back to sleep. But if i latch him then hes asleep within 5 mins and i stay half asleep anyway.

Any baby that is fed to sleep will struggle to go to sleep without that comfort, so when they wake they will look for it.

My DC all were combi fed but were always put to sleep awake so learnt to go to sleep without milk from the start.

I don't think the origin of the milk is a huge part if it, though breastmilk is digested quicker hence more frequent feeds in the early days.

Breastmilk is digested more easily than formula and that has something to do with it, because babies won't be as full for as long on breastmilk. It is also about comfort though and wanting to feed/cuddle to get back to sleep when they wake up in the night and breastfed babies can depend on that. Which is both lovely and exhausting.

If you're at the stage of solid food then certain dinners may be more successful at getting baby to sleep for a longer stretch. I remember mashed potato worked well for my son and we thought we'd discovered an amazing mashed potato hack😅

DS breastfed and horrendous sleeper. Later turned out to be SEN and I think looking back that’s why he’s always been a bad sleeper (now 4).
DD is breastfed and she sleeps well

Both mine formula fed due to medical needs, DD1 was a great sleeper and slept through by 5 months, 2nd didn't sleep through until 18 months. But I think it's personality let as much as anything

DD1 used to guzzle 8oz and then sleep through. Now at 10 she has bigger meals and no snacks, very focused/single minded but struggles more with imagination/creative activities.

DD2 used to take a couple oz, get distracted, have a break and so on through the day. Now at 6 she prefers to graze through the day, struggles with bigger meals and is less focused/ better imagination and creativity

So your baby might not sleep better with formula, but you might get more sleep as your partner can then do some of the feeds. And that is a very reasonable reason to stop or reduce breastfeeding, you are done brilliantly to get to 8 months

The single biggest factor we found was being able to self settle rather than feed/cuddle to sleep. Once they both acheuved this DD1 slept through and DD2 dropped to 1 feed per night, which she needed as wasn't taking enough during day.

2 breastfed babies for me, both good sleepers.

it sounds to me like you are feeding to sleep and co-sleeping? If so, those 2 things will be your issue, not breastfeeding in and of itself.

it’s tricky to wean off feeding to sleep but is doable. Do final feed before story, then pat/shush/ cuddle to sleep. Probably easier for your DH to do it at first. It will take a long time at the beginning but then get easier. We now put our baby in cot and shush/pat her for about 2 mins, then walk out and she falls asleep within 10 mins.

Do you want to keep co-sleeping? He’ll probably sleep much better in a cot in his own room.

I BF all three of my children for a year.

DC1 slept through from 8 weeks old.
DC2 did not sleep properly until the age of around 2.
DC3 slept through from 6 weeks old.

So that really doesn't help at all really, does it... 🤣

I breastfed Ds until 18 months ( overnight I stopped all feeds by 12 months). He’s still a terrible sleeper now at 5+ years. Stopping breastfeeding didn’t make any difference to sleep.

I BF one of each, had one of each.

Now they're both fantastic sleepers (teens)

My formula fed cmpa reflux first baby slept in 45 minutes stretches until 1 year old, and still doesn't sleep through at almost 7... His little sister is ebf, no allergies, sleeps great (often rolls over to find me for milk once in the night though). It's luck of the draw imo.

In my experience, yes but I know there are some exceptions.

All 3 of mine were formula fed and all 3 slept through (7-7) at 8 weeks, 6 weeks & 6 weeks. Never experienced any ''leaps'' or sleep regressions either, only woke up in the night if teething or poorly.

2 children, both formula fed, one slept all night from 10 days, one didn't sleep ever (or so it felt) for the first 5 years.

I know you are going to hate me but my BF babies slept through from 8 weeks old.

I have no idea what the truth is but I combo fed all 3 of mine and it was a bottle that was given last at night and I always reckoned it was that heavier milk bottle knocked them out a bit and gave me a better stretch of sleep.
Who knows, but I was definitely grateful for it.

Yes my daughter was bf and awful bit son bottle from start was always happy rarely cried slept longer and sounder than dsughter ever did, he was a much more content happy baby. She always wanted holding and comforting a real nightmare. Many of my friends agree they don’t get enough on the breast & makes them irritable which becomes their nature

Both of ours were breastfed and #1 was an okay sleeper, #2 was and still is a champion sleeper. When he was still very little the HV thought he maybe wasn't gaining weight fast enough and suggested that we wake him up from his 10-hour sleep to feed him. To be honest, I think he just really likes sleeping (used to also nap for 5 hours during the day as well), BUT the key difference from #1 was that he wasn't fed to sleep. I think that's the first thing I'd try to work on before stopping breastfeeding altogether, assuming you do otherwise still want to breastfeed.

Not sure if you're right but my 3 older ones were horrendous sleepers and breastfed. My youngest is breastfed and not as bad

My eldest daughter didn't sleep well until she was 18m every one said it was because I was feeding her (breastfed until 16m).
My son slept through 10hours from being about 2 months old, breastfed until 15m. Got to 18m and hasn't slept well since.
Youngest sleeps somewhere in between, still feeding.

They're all different. My friend bottle fed and had a kid that's sleep 12 hours a night, another friend bottle fed and her baby was up every 2 hours. I'd not get hung up on it, it changes so quickly anyway!

It's only ever going to be anecdotal though, OP, unless someone can produce actual scientific surveys.

For the record, I BF all five of mine for a year each. Every one of them was a dreadful sleeper and I always said it was surprising that I actually had the time to conceive any after number one.