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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think ff babies sleep better than bf babies?

419 replies

Scrumptiouscrumpets · 11/01/2017 02:22

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?

OP posts:
passingthrough1 · 11/01/2017 06:33

I actually think it's true but it wouldn't stop me BF. The only baby I know that sleeps through if FF and the ones I know that are combo (formula before bed) sleep better than the EBF. However, I believe it's because formula is heavy and it kind of knocks them out which I don't think is good on a tiny baby. Waking up a lot is SIDS preventative.
Some FF babies also get "hungry baby" milk if they're waking in the night which just serves to make them sleep even more heavily (not saying everyone does this).

Mine is 6 months and wakes a lot which I understand is v normal. I quickly feed back to sleep each time. I guess if he was FF I don't think I could really be feeding 5+ times a night still? Aren't you eventually supposed to cut out formula at night anyway for dental health? So I guess if I couldn't BF back to sleep he'd just have to learn how to go back to sleep, so in a way my BF means that he doesn't have to learn to self settle (which TBH I don't have an issue with).

FuckeryOmbudsman · 11/01/2017 06:34

Of my two BF babies, one was a good sleeper and one was a terrible one.

So I don't agree with OP.

MimiLeBonk · 11/01/2017 06:39

I believe it is true based on seven babies plus mine that I knew that were born around the same time as mine. The formula babies were easy sleepers the BF babies were not.

catsarenice · 11/01/2017 06:40

True in my experience. FF DD slept through from 6 weeks, bf DS still waking at 7 months. Of all the babies at baby group it's only the bf ones who wake in the night.

LuchiMangsho · 11/01/2017 06:40

Anecdotally and from a FB group of 50ish mums that I am part of:

  1. In the early stage (pre 4 months) it is a bit of a lottery.
  2. Post 4 months the formula fed babies slept better and had more predictable feeds. The BF babies who slept better tended to either have a dummy or suck their thumbs.
  3. But the differences eased out after a year. Those who breastfed past 18 months had babies who woke up several times. Most of the mums doing this were co-sleeping and breastfeeding.
  4. Since the majority at 12 months switched to cows' milk, things evened out. Then it was back to being a lottery. Either your kid was a good sleeper or not.
  5. Most interestingly, age 5+ of those 50 kids you cannot tell from their sleep who was fed and how. Some of the best sleepers at 18m now come into their parents' bed multiple times and the nightmare newborns do 12 hours a night consistently.
Heatherbell1978 · 11/01/2017 06:42

I'm inclined to agree although for my DS it didn't make much difference. Switched to formula at 5 months and slept just as bad but he was sleeping through by 8 months. I think if you ff from the start that might be the key as a few of my friends did this and had no problems.

NCT mums who were still bf after 12 months had the worst sleepers as by that age the babies don't need night feeds but bf still like the comfort so it's perhaps more of an issue in the older months.

wigglesrock · 11/01/2017 06:42

I didn't breast fed mine at all so I don't know how they would have slept but out of my 3 ffed kids - one would have slept right through, straight down from 4 months, one never slept ( took her 36 Grin months to get the hang of it) and one was inbetween. However I got uninterupted nights sleep because I didn't have to wake up if they did.

IWantATardis · 11/01/2017 06:44

I think it depends on the baby.

DS1 - bottle fed on mostly expressed milk. Terrible sleeper till about 4 months, then suddenly started sleeping through more often than not.

DS2 - exclusively breastfed. A fantastic little sleeper and started sleeping through much earlier than DS1.

DS3 - exclusively breastfed. Only 6 weeks old so you couldn't really expect him to be sleeping through yet however he was fed, but his longest sleeps are at night, which is great, and he's had one or two 5 hour stretches overnight already.

My sister's DC were all formula fed, and she was always complaining about their sleep. Based on what she said, they woke in the night much more than mine did. Her youngest didn't sleep through once until he was over 2 yrs old.

NotAPuffin · 11/01/2017 06:47

My two had formula and we're horrific sleepers for their first two years. I don't think know it matters what you feed them, either they're sleepers or they're not.

PurpleMcPants · 11/01/2017 06:54

Wasn't true for us. I bf'ed all of mine, two were good sleepers, one was hideous. The hideous one I switched to ff at 10 months because I just couldn't keep going and it made not the slightest difference other than to make the night feeds more hassle.
My SIL had babies at the same time as me twice and Ff'd from birth, she got no more sleep than I did.

NotSayingImBatman · 11/01/2017 06:56

In my experience of two children, DS1 was FF from 4 months and slept beautifully from the moment he had his first bottle. DS2 was BF until he was 18 months and was a shitty sleeper until I weaned him. He wanted to use me as a dummy which was absolutely exhausting.

Shakey15000 · 11/01/2017 06:58

I think it's impossible to say one way or the other.

FWIW DS was BF for two weeks then FF. Always went to sleep fine but an early waker and still is.

Rinmybell · 11/01/2017 07:01

My 6 week old is up every hour for feeding, the other night I was on the brink of a mental breakdown and needed to sleep, SIL took him and he had 3oz of formula. He then slept for 3.5 hours straight.
Love BF but bloody hell FF is so tempting now.

Original poster
Scrumptiouscrumpets · 11/01/2017 07:05

littledragon that's interesting that giving a bottle of expressed milk worked. I should have tried this tonight as I was awake even when the baby slept, argh! Used to express for DS1 so I've got all the equipment anyway.
The bottle is a problem though, DS2 isn't a great fan... Another disadvantage of bf all the people who push bf hardly ever mention.

OP posts:
Original poster
Scrumptiouscrumpets · 11/01/2017 07:09

I think if you ff from the start that might be the key as a few of my friends did this and had no problems.

I unfortunately think you're right - if you wait too long to switch to formula, the bad sleep habits are already set.

OP posts:
bumblingmum · 11/01/2017 07:11

Not true for me. BF both mine until 5 months when I started FF. 1st slept through (11-7) at 8 weeks. 2nd was waking 2 times a night even after she was on formula. 2 close friends at same time; BF baby slept brilliantly, FF baby was a nightmare sleeper.

ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay · 11/01/2017 07:14

Why oh why do people think that a baby sleeping through at ten weeks is good?? It's not, it's dangerous. The level of deep sleep they are in makes them at a much higher risk of cot death.

Breast milk is easy to digest. Makes baby wake up more often. Reduces risk of sids. This is proven. It's evolutionary.

Mummyoflittledragon · 11/01/2017 07:16

I read bottles could be a problem so I introduced them with dd when she was really little (6 weeks?) so that I could switch to ff if bfing didn't work out. It is a shame bfing mothers aren't more aware of this issue. My friend introduced bottles much later and persevered (she was using breast milk). Her baby did eventually take it. But it's hard if they haven't been used to it from a young age.

HorseyHorseyTwat · 11/01/2017 07:17

I breastfed both my babies. One was a terrible sleeper, the other was brilliant.

Mumofazoo · 11/01/2017 07:24

Breastfed all four of mine and only one of them was a bad sleeper.

TenaciousOne · 11/01/2017 07:29

Yabu. My anecdotal data shows that that formula fed babies tend to have gone through CC where's the bf mothers don't want to do that.

Babies are different. I've known awful sleepers who are both bf and ff and good sleepers who were both too. Its luck of the draw.

ineedcoffeecoffeecoffee · 11/01/2017 07:31

Not in my case. My ds had reflux and silent reflux and even with corrrct medication for it still slept badly. He would want feeding every 2 hours Day and night and would sleep for about 45 mins in between each feed for about 5 months. I was exhausted to say the least. And even when he stopped waking wanting milk he found other reasons to wake. At 4 he's still not great so am still sleep deprived.

TenaciousOne · 11/01/2017 07:32

Mummyoflittledragon I tried to give DS a bottle from 2 weeks. He refused it and DH was incapable of trying Hmm so DS refused a bottle. Even nursery couldn't manage it.

chocolateshortcake · 11/01/2017 07:34

I ebf my baby, he slept through from being 6/7weeks old. He will be one soon and sleeps 7-7.

Witchend · 11/01/2017 07:36

Down to the baby more than anything else.
Dd1 slept at least 6 hours from birth and was doing 12 + hours from 8 weeks.
Dd2 got given medised at 18 months because she'd wake so much.

They are both ebf and treated in exactly the same way.