To think there is a correlation between babies that wake a ridiculous amount in the night and breastfeeding?

[toomuchpeppapig]

I've seen quite a few threads on here over the last year or so that I've been on here about babies who wake constantly in the night and will only feed to sleep etc. It seems that virtually all (if not all) of these babies are breastfed.

I bottle fed my 2 DCs and although my oldest has never been a great sleeper (now 16 months old), I don't remember him waking as much as many of these posts say. Is it because bottle fed babies sleep better or is it just coincidence?

NB - I have nothing against breastfeeding. I personally tried and failed, and my thinking is that fed is best. This isn't an anti breast feeding post. I'm just wondering if my thinking is correct.

Both of mine were breastfed and never had a bottle, and yes, I agree with you. The first was particularly dependent on being "fed to sleep". The ideal situation is to put the baby down awake to self-settle, but this depends on having a baby who will do this without frantic crying. Teaching mine to self-settle (especially the first) was inextricably bound up with the end of breastfeeding at a year old; a bit tricky with the first, quite easy with the second.

Mine has been bottle fed his whole life (exclusively pumped milk first 3 months, he's now 10m) and he has always been a terrible sleeper waking constantly. He's getting a lot better since I diluted his night milks then switched to water only. But he was the worst sleeper I've known.

Nope. All mine were breastfed including my youngest who is still breastfed at nearly 6 months.
My eldest and dc4 were terrible sleepers. The other three the complete opposite. 6/7 hours sleep then feed and sleep again for 3 hours.
I know plenty of friends who bottle-fed all their DC who say the children had different sleeping patterns. Some great sleepers, others not so much

I'd love to see the data, obviously people with babies who don't wake up loads don't tend to post on forums for advice.

My (bottle fed from birth) DCs woke many, many times a night until 5 yo (yes, YEARS) and 2.5yo respectively.

I'm a restless sleeper too (I was BF, if it matters).

I think night waking is more relentless/(post-worthy!) for BF babies because it's usually all on the mother. DP and I used to divide up the night, so we were only getting up 2 or 3 times each.

I bf my 2 and Co slept the first few months. Dc1 went in the cot at 6 months, can't remember much about that now. Dc2 was in my bed till 9 months and the older she got the more she was wanting to feed through the night. I was shattered. I moved her to her own room and cot and did cc for a couple of weeks until she stopped waking up expecting me to feed her all the time!

This is true for me, but I have heard of bottle fed babies who aren’t great sleepers either.

My DC were breastfed until 11 months and 9 months respectively
Both were great sleepers
I would give them a late feed 11/12 and they would sleep till 6/7 from being a few weeks old

It's not a "ridiculous" amount of times to the baby though. They are meant to wake frequently.

Breast milk is easier to digest so they get hungrier quicker than if having formula. Therefore they want to be fed more often.

Both my breastfeed babies slept really well. They were sleeping 10.30- 6 most nights by 3 months.

I don’t think there’s a link - DS has always been breastfed and he started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. Whereas friends with formula fed babies are still up and down all night with theirs at 9 months. It’s just luck of the draw if you ask me.

I'd like to see a serious study done about this for curiosity. Mine was formula fed (she is 19 months old) and only woke for her feeding and then was back asleep. Once we cancelled out the night feed she didn't wake at all as a rule.

Dc1 breastfed and absolutely shocking sleeper.

Dc2 breastfed and sleeps like a dream.

It isn't the method of feeding, it is the temperament of the baby.

4dc here, all ebf for varying times.
Dc1 ebf til 3 months, slept through (0:00 til at least 6:00) from 6 weeks
Dc2 ebf til 6 months slept through at 10 days old
Dc3 ebf til 3months slept through at about 8 weeks
Dc4 ebf til 4ish months, slept through at less than 6 weeks.
They were all sleeping from 8-9pm, with a dream feed at about 11/12 ish, by three months at the latest.
I was just always very strict with bedtimes, even when they were ill I'd try to do as little faffing as possible if it was hours of darkness.
My dc1 did had a little episode of sleep regression at about 4.5m but as they'd been milk free in the night for quite a while I just persevered as much as possible without feeding. It was an utter last resort and it definitely paid off.

Just coincidence I think.

I was breastfed and slept through (11-6) from about 6 weeks. DBro was bottle fed and was still waking regularly aged 2ish.

DS1 was breastfed and still wakes in the night at nearly 4 wanting cuddles. DS2 is 1m and regularly does a 5h sleep in 1 go (9pm-2am). After eating he goes straight back down in his crib to sleep stretched out like a starfish.

Both mine were bf. DS slept through (11 hours) at about 16 weeks and has only ever woken at night since when poorly. He's now 3.

DD wakes FAR more at night than he did. For various reasons we've recently switched at 6m to expressing for bottles, and it has made no difference. Neither has giving formula. She self settles at bedtime, but whether she wakes in the night is very variable, some nights she will only wake once, others it can be 4 or 5 times. We try not to rush in to resettle her unless she's really wailing. If shes awake but not crying we don't go in and she usually goes back off eventually.

*DS2 is breastfed as well.

YABU Feed your baby any way you like but FF does not make babies sleep better:

kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/solids-sleep/

and some more references here:
kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/sleep/

Camomila I think you are right on all counts.

One of mine was bottle fed.

One was breastfed. Both slept through early and neither were frequent wakers. One was pretty much in the 4 /8/12 routine (( could set my watch by her )) my ds would feed a lot in the day but night time would wake for a feed around 2 and that would be it.

Most of it is down to luck but also with both DC I refused to feed to sleep. From day one they'd be put down slightly awake.

Also made the difference between night and day obvious, so lights would be dimmed, noises turned down, a story would be read and baby would be tucked in. Again that was from very early on, certainly from days old.

I think babies who aren't allowed to self settle and are rocked / fed to sleep are poor sleepers. I also think it's distressing for them later when parents are struggling and try to implement 'sleep training'.

There's no need to sleep Train any child, but good sleeping habits should be instilled from the very early days.

I have certainly noticed a lot of posters with toddlers (ie old enough to go all night without needing food) who are not night weaned (I assume who are bf) who wake frequently for a feed.

No correlation what so ever.
One EBF son terrible sleeper.
One EBF son fantastic sleeper from the day he was born even though he had reflux.
One bottle fed Dd also great sleeper.
There have been studies to see if breastfed sleep better or worse and it's inconclusive. I remember seeing/reading some of it in the 90's

I breastfed mine until 13 months, and she slept through the night from 2 months old...