AIBU “Breastfeeding makes for bad sleepers”

[mmmgoats]

I can’t help but think this cannot be right?!
Friend told me yesterday that she bottle fed her children because breast fed babies don’t sleep and are nightmare sleepers.
She said her midwife admitted it but also said the goodness they get from it should put weigh the bad sleeping.
I have never heard this before?! Was your breast fed baby a good sleeper?

(I don’t have babies yet, not for the want of trying, but have always had the idea in my head that I would give BF a go. So not being goady, generally interested!)

I feel like this must be purely anecdotal as surely there are formula fed babies that are nightmare sleepers too!

Two babies here, now 6 and 3. Both EBF until weaned between 6-7 months, then continued with BF to around 12-14 months. Both are great sleepers. One first slept through around 4 weeks (!), the other around 4 months.

I also sleep more with dS2 whilst BF as I co sleep most of the night so only wake briefly. With DS1 when I FF he wasn’t waking for milk, when he did I had to get up and make it, sit up and feed him, or just sit and rock him for hours

You have to make the sodding bottle which means you wake up properly. Not so much with BF.

There are safe ways to feed that don’t require heating the water, making the formula, letting it cool etc all in the middle of the night. But more crucially formula fed babies tend to wake less often and sleep through the night earlier than breast fed. Though those are averages and there’s no magic fix - plenty of formula fed babies still sleep less than many breast fed babies at night.

Both of mine were pretty much EBF for 13 months, few odd bottles of formula from 11 months onwards.

Both slept for 6 hour stretches from a week old, I was hated in my NCT group. First did 12-6, (had to wake her up to up her weight) second did 9-3 after about a week.

Both were full term, big babies (9lb+ both of them). Who knows why!!

You need to wake up properly either way, because going back to sleep while feeding isn’t the best idea

Depends on how you do it. Newborn on the sofa - wildly unsafe. Sidesleeper cot, baby on back in sleep sack, Mum in her own bed and covers/pillow well out of the way - pretty safe.

Ds1 was exclusive bf, terrible sleeper to start but sleeping through by 15 months. Ds2 is bf but often had a bottle of formula at bedtime which made sod all difference to this sleep. He sleeps pretty well does wake up twice a night for a quick fed and back to sleep. No way I'm getting up to make bottles! lazy

I don't wake up properly to bf him in the night. Seasoned co sleeper. He patches on, we go back to sleep.

I FF and he wakes up every 2-3 hours at the minute so doesn't feel like a great sleeper to me though he is only 8 weeks old! I have prep machine so not alot of work to make the bottles but still have to get out of bed whereas I think if I had BF I would have co slept and fed them to get more sleep!

I'm still breast feeding my 1 year old DD & she is a shit sleeper! gets in car to drive to Asda for formula just kidding but I don't know if it's related...

My bf baby sleeps really well at night (not such a great napper though). It's so easy when he wakes, quick feed and he's back to sleep, no faffing around making formula up. It's also mich easier for me to go back to sleep after feeding (something to do with hormones).

Ebf 7mo dd has slept through, 10-12 hours at night since 3 months, I find the idea of just whipping out my boob to feed much easier than going to make a bottle if she does wake up before I want too! She’s a bit of a comfort feeder though, so I do worry that I will hit a problem in getting her to go to sleep when I stop bf

The way many breastfed babies sleep is how babies have evolved to sleep. It’s not ‘worse’ it’s just normal.

Formula fed babies may be more likely to have physiologically abnormal sleep patterns with periods of prolonged, uninterrupted deep sleep from very early infancy. I suspect it’s probably why they’re more likely to die from SIDS than breastfed babies.

www.isisonline.org.uk/hcp/how_babies_sleep/normal_sleep_development/sleep_and_feeding/

Evidence on sleep and feeding

Both of mine are breastfed, both are excellent sleepers.
All babiess are different of course but we were pretty diligent with getting good routines in place and I think that has more to do with it. And probably some luck too!

My four breastfed babies slept fine.

My baby is 9 months old.

Amazing sleeper and napper.

Was sleeping about 11pm - 7am from 5 weeks.

6 months - present sleeps 7.30pm -7 am everynight right through.

Although I do think I'm lucky with her in general with her sleeping regardless of being breastfed. :)

My eldest BF and sleep through 8pm til 7am from 15weeks initially 2hrky fed for an hr at a time but slowly went longer fed 2hrky in day til 6mths.

Number 2 different story BF same way but had TT silent reflux and CMPA let's say he was 2 before he slept through- silent reflux is a bitch

I have night nannies many babies and BE or FF makes no difference to sleep

My bf baby still doesnt sleep through and shes 18 months. I bf for the first 5/6 months. She hasnt had milk at night fo 5 months now. She tends to wake twice a night. When she was bf, the positives were that I could feed her in bed, lying down. Way better than my eldest who was ff when I suffered from primary lactation failure. She didnt sleep through until she was 2.5 and was much more difficult to wean off of milk at night than my bf baby. Feed your baby however you wish to feed and do not worry about the rest. Both my girls were fed differently and I beat myself up badly with dd, despite a gp diagnosis of lactation failure. There is little difference and they are bith freaking perfect!

My DD was exclusively breastfed until 6 months. She started sleeping 12 hours though the night at 2 weeks old.

I think she'd have slept exactly the same had she been bottle fed

My son was bottle fed from a few weeks old. My daughter was breastfed. Neither slept well! Infact I'd say both were pretty awful sleepers! Feeding method made no difference. I was more rested with my daughter though because I could breastfeed laying down.

I breastfed my daughter for 9 months. I did not get more than 2 hours
consecutive sleep for all of that time. It was horrific and I would not do it again. Although she is very healthy, never had any antibiotics, only a trip to the Dr for nosebleeds so far... although it took its toll on me I have to say.

All babies are different. My bottle fed one was up 2-5 times a night until she was 3.5. My bf one has pretty much slept through from 10 weeks. It’s just their personalities and nothing to do with how they’re fed.

When I changed to formula it was like a switch had been turned on in my DD. She became a noticeably better sleeper. In all fairness she wasn't bad to begin with.

I bf all mine and I think it’s because bf leads more often to cosleeping which leads to a bit more sleep at first in some ways but overall extended interrupted sleep. All mine have slept pretty badly as bf babies but improved once I moved on to ff around 6 months and especially once I put them in their own room so I think it’s a perfect storm of reasons but yes, I strongly believe that ff babies are generally better sleepers. Bf babies get very attached to mums body at night and comfort feed and wake for that in a way I don’t think ff babies really do.

I’ve breastfed one and ff one both exact same routine and even bedrooms/cots. FF one slept 1000x better than BF one.
BF one finally took some formula last night and slept through for the first time.
I regret bf’ing massively. (My own experience/opinion)