EBF without co-sleeping?

[Waitingfordecember]

I’m currently pregnant with my second DC. I combination fed my first born (started due to lack of breastfeeding support during lockdown but it worked well for us), but am considering EBF this time around.

The only issue I’m having is around sleeping. Most of the advice I’m getting in real life is that bed sharing is the only way to get enough sleep if you don’t give formula overnight… is that true?

I really not comfortable bed sharing with a newborn, but is it possible to get enough sleep any other way? Obviously I wouldn’t be sharing the feeds with my DH this time around. Do breastfed babies really wake more often for feeds?

Any wisdom/coping strategies will be most appreciated!

Congratulations! Absolutely not true that babies on formula sleep better! I EBF (now 5 month old) we have not Co slept and is a good sleeper (wakes twice a night) don't get me wrong we have had some rough nights but I think that's expected when you have a baby! Good luck with everything!

I ebf my 8 week old but don't bed share. He wakes a few times a night for a feed but it's getting better as the weeks go on.

I ebf both mine. Never co slept. Had a next to me crib both times and it was fine. I swaddled both mine (this is recently too). I swear by it for helping a baby sleep in those first 6 months. My first started giving me decent stretches (4 hours+) at around 6 weeks, but my second started earlier at just a couple of weeks. Everyone is different but I would have been too nervous to co-sleep. Know lots of BF mums who didn't. You do what you're comfortable with. Good luck and congratulations!!

I EBF both my DC until they were two and never co-slept with either of them (both preemies and the midwives put the fear of god into me about it so I never dared). They were in our room in a crib until over 6 months which helped a lot. Good luck!

Absolutely not. I breast fed both mine and they were in their own bedrooms from day one (the recommended six months in same room wasn't a thing then).
Yes it meant I had to go to them a couple times a night, but the trade off was proper sleep without worrying about waking the baby when we went to bed it got up, plus intimate moments!

I ebf my eldest and never bed-shared (I was terrified of the idea!)

Second baby was also ebf. We did eventually bed-share, but not until about 18 months old.

Separate crib or Moses basket in the bedroom with you. Get a comfy and supportive chair for night feeds, your back will hurt if you try to feed sitting on the edge of the bed.

I EBF my oldest without co sleeping, used a snuzpod so adjacent but never in same bed. There were nights she took ages to settle but would share the winding, cuddles etc with my husband which did help. It can be done.

Currently EBF #2 and have chosen to co-sleep as I feel much more confident on how to do this safely than with #1. I’m not sure the wakings are any less frequent but I can get back to sleep very quickly after a quick lying down feed so it is working for me - but if it’s not for you, its not critical to EBF.

Yes this message is given a lot that bf exclusively goes together with co-sleeping. However I bf my dd till she was 3, (obviously alongside food from 6/12) and literally never co-slept. I’m not knocking anyone that chooses to safely co-sleep but it’s never been something I’ve ever felt comfortable doing. Baby would wake and need feeding 1-2 times per night for the first year, I would feed her sitting up in bed with lots of pillows behind me, she would kind of fall asleep on the boob and I’d put her back in her cot right next to my bed every time. It worked well for me personally. I’m lucky that my partner would take baby for an hour or 2 when he got back from work to let me sleep if it had been a long day (would give expressed breastmilk in a bottle if needed). I also had no qualms about sleeping during the day when my baby napped. The bedtime feed was always a long one though maybe an hour or hour and a half, I always made sure I ate before this feed. So basically exclusive breastfeeding doesn’t mean co-sleeping if you don’t want to. Good luck. Also one of my good friends formula fed her dd from the start and had a really difficult time with sleep for 2 years so there’s no easy answer, they’re all different I guess.

My DS, my second child, I mostly BF but he also had 3 bottles a week which were all night feeds from being a few weeks old, that DH did so I could have a few nights a week better sleep. We never co-slept, it wasn't for me. He was mostly BF until 8 months and then I gradually weaned him fully on to formula by 9 months for various reasons.

2 ebf and never co slept dd was a brilliant sleeper ds was and still is a terrible sleeper even as a teenager. How your baby sleeps has nothing to do with what they are fed and everything to do with your baby

Co-sleeping just means you get more sleep! It’s still possible without it. I didn’t want to but I was falling asleep feeding so thought might as well just lie down and doze while she fed!
you could use a next to me crib instead though?

Do sleeper cot, amazing! Had the best sleep one could have with a new born.

I breastfed all 5 of mine until they were 2, never co slept though.
They went in the Moses basket until 4 months then into a cot besides my side of the bed.

Thanks everyone, that’s all really helpful