AIBU to think ff babies sleep better than bf babies?

[Scrumptiouscrumpets]

It seems blatantly obvious to me that ff babies sleep better than bf babies. Just take a look at the sleep board on here, the bad sleepers under a year old are more or less all bf (and many of the older ones too!). Yet nobody officially seems to acknowledge this, all bf info I can find on the Internet states that bf mums actually get more sleep than ff mums because it takes more time to make up a bottle etc. Well maybe that's true during the first three months but definitely not later on when the ff babies start sleeping in long stretches while the bf babies start to wake more and more often!
I have a 4 month old who is ebf and I love bf, but I am seriously considering switching to formula.
Am I just imagining things? Are all these bf blogs right and bf mums actually get more sleep?

Of course they do. I did ebf on my first for 4 months before my milk gave out. DH gave DS a bottle and it was like knock out drops. DD ebf 6 mo never sleps a night.

How about a ff night feed. Maybe mixed with milk expressed the night before so you don't get the bursting boobs syndrome. It's not poison. ......though serious doubts they will take a bottle.

My dd woke up 4 times in the night until I started expressing. I wasn't producing enough milk to keep her going. I have read night time breast milk is the richest so it is important but I was too buggered. I started maybe when she was around the 4 months so fully established bfing.

I'd get up before first feed. Express off. Keep. Then breastfeed her at 7am. I needed to express at 11pm for comfort but didn't get a lot off. Used the bottle as the late evening feed so maybe 11.30 and slowly brought it earlier. She stopped waking up for feeds and didn't need feeding till 7am.

Once established, I could express quite a lot in the morning if I did it in two batches 40 mins apart, around 210ml. I could then bottle feed her in the morning (much faster) and have enough left if I expressed once or more later in the day for a night feed.

I had a double electric pump. Maybe worth a try if you're unsure about continuing or switching. I breastfed dd till 2.5 yrs old. So no issue with supply. Once she was fully weaned, I don't know what age, I obviously stopped the pumping.

Formula milk is harder for babies to digest so sits in their stomach for longer.
So thr baby doesn't wake up hungry.
But it's not that the formula milk is more 'satisfying' it's that it is harder to digest.

There is a theory that one reason ff babies have a higher rate of SIDS is because they are in an artificially deep sleep and less likely to have normal wakeups/ light sleep.

From what I see around me, FF fed babies sleep much, much better.

No no and no! Sleep is more than just how babies are fed!

My EBF baby slept through from 8 weeks. I did do a big feed before he went to bed and made sure I ate starchy carbs beforehand.
He stopped being a good sleeper aged one when he went to nursery.

At 4 months my ff DS was waking every 45-60 mins. He is 11 months now and has been awake since 4:30. Among the babies I know his age the bf ones seem to sleep just as well.

I've FF two, one was a terrible sleeper and one was a great sleeper. I don't think I could judge on it, but I did try BF for DD1 for 3 weeks and gave up because it meant DH could do night feeds and I got more sleep, thus feeling better in myself.

DD2 was in DH arms with a bottle at an hour old while I lay in bed recovering. I did BF her for a week (mixed feeds) for colostrum. She wasn't confused by it, just happy to suck away on me or a bottle.

I have done co sleep with both though, despite not BF and DD2 just loved sleeping. Still does now at 3. I think it's the child not the feeding method. Co sleeping was the best choice we made, if they have a temperature, breath funny, snore etc, etc I wake up immediately. Hence being awake tonight after giving medicine for a cold.

Only 'problem' is 5 years on we're still co sleeping, but they will only be little for a short while. Go with your gut feelings, your baby, you choice. DH co sleeps with youngest, I co sleep with eldest.

We still get time 'alone' TMI

I bf dd1 and expressed bm for dd2. My experience is the bottle fed baby slept better. Dd2 was sleeping through from about 6/7 weeks but I still had to get up to express.

I have five children and they were all fed the same way. No1 son slept for Britain and was a total sloth, no2 son never slept for longer than two hours at a time until he was two. The other three were in between but all different.
I would say it depends on the child more than how they are fed.

I would totally agree, from my personal experience.

YABU in my experience.

First baby was formula fed. Hideous sleeper, would only sleep on me, didn't really sleep at all until 18 months old.

Second baby EBF. Slept like a dream from the beginning, regularly doing 4-5 hour stretches from very early on and able to settle self to sleep in crib or swing.

I think it depends on the baby more. You have a sleeper or you don't.

Nope. My four EBF children all slept wonderfully.

Made no difference to us. Both rubbish sleepers! Just switched dd2 to formula. No difference at all.

I think it's true but it's caused by the parents natural behaviour. In the middle of the night, when you're not quite with it and just want to go back to bed asap, you'll tend to pick the easiest option.

With bottles it's quite a pain to make them up in the night, even if you don't have to make it you still need to find it, sit feeding the baby, etc. So apart from the early weeks where you know they need feeding, FF parents are probably more likely to try other things to settle first. Because they're easier than the alternative and you might as well try.

OTOH breastfeeding once you've got past the early stages of it being difficult to latch etc is far easier to just stick them on the boob for a few minutes to resettle, and if they want a bigger feed you can even take them into bed and doze off. Plus, breastfed babies tend to be more insistent in demanding milk because they know it's always there.

YABU based on my anecdotal evidence!

Exclusively breastfed DC1 slept thru from 10 weeks (!)

Combi fed and now only FF DC2 still wakes 1-2 times a night at 12 months. I bloody wish formula was a magic cure but it isn't.

Stop peddling this shit to vulnerable women who want to give BF a go, it's not helpful.

Nope not true. My friends baby breastfed and sleep all night. My bottlefed babies never slept at all.

Breast fed two, bottle fed two.

Worst sleeper by far was a bottle, best was a bottle. The second best and a good sleeper, was breast.

Yanbu. Surveying my friends over the years, on average the ff babies slept better. Fact

Nope not true here, DS 5 months is EBF only wakes once at night for a quick feed and goes back down again. I think there are too many other factors at play to make such large sweeping statements. I also think that's a dangerous statement to make as it could put people off BFing.

Not true. You will find anecdotal evidence for both sides of the argument. Mine is that my exclusively bf on demand 8 week old has slept a 5-6 hour stretch 5 nights out of the last week. I'm not feeling smug just lucky. It's much more to do with the individual baby than the type of milk or anything else for that matter. My twins were fed/treated the same (mixed fed) and one was a fab sleeper the other shit.

I would say its more to do with the baby my oldest the only one i breast fed for a month and was a shit sleeper till the age of nine (cant get her out of bed now shes 11). Secons i bf for a day then ff he was a great sleeper. Third i never bf and was somewhere in the middle. All three where different when ff plus i think it depends on things like if they get reflux, colic ect

Every baby is different. I can only speak of those and know and of the ones i know the ff babies are sleeping better than the bf and slept through the night way before the bf babies. Very limited study as it only involves 8 babies i personally know. The mums in my linited study who bf also struggled to bond in the early days as they were always bf whilse those that ff bonded eariler as they wont tried. No difference in bond now as all are amazing mums and no difference in babies development. You never guess from seeing the babies who is bf or ff. do whats right for you, ignore anyone pushing you one way or the other. (Dons flame proof hat)

I agree with OP. The majority of threads I've seen about babies sleep is from mothers of BF babies!

My DD is FF and has slept through since 6 weeks old and has done ever since. She's also not chubby in the slightest!