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.

It's only ridiculous if you regard waking at night as something wrong that needs to be fixed.

I do agree with this, with regard to young babies. I accepted my (breastfed) babies' waking quite a lot at night as natural, although it could be quite tough, especially as the first was a teething toddler when the second was born. It's just that there came a point - a year old in each case was my cut-off - where I wanted the nights to be uninterrupted, and for me, ending breastfeeding had to be part of that.

I didn’t really mind tbh. Mine didn’t wake much so I’m not sure how true it is. My toddler who is still bf definitely sleeps through now. I wouldn’t have chosen to bottle feed just to get a good nights sleeps though so for me it was worth it.

It's only ridiculous if you regard waking at night as something wrong that needs to be fixed
I agree with regards to Babies- but weaned toddlers shouldnt be waking multiple times in a night (assuming not unwell, teething etc).

weaned toddlers shouldnt be waking multiple times in a night

I suppose you never wake up in the night then? Even perfectly well adults can wake in the night because they're too hot or cold, are thirsty, leg cramps, bad dreams, you think you heard a noise, or just for no reason... Our developed brains can explain away the dreams or noise, can understand that a cramp will go away in a minute, we can go for a drink, take the covers off, etc. Toddlers aren't able to do any of that so why is continuing to need their parent through the night not seen as a variation of normal? Some get there before others. It's not a race, and there's nothing wrong with your baby or toddler or child if they still need you at night.

It seem entirely random. I do think that breastfeeding also more naturally leads to close-sleeping and easy access to milk, which perhaps does lead to more wake-ups. But I breastfed and DD was a superb sleeper. As a newborn she did 3+ hour chunks overnight and then went up to 8/9 hour stretches overnight by about seven/eight weeks.

She dropped her last nighttime feed about 11mo, and has pretty much slept through since then (13mo now).

Of the four babies in our antenatal group, all were breastfed and three were good sleepers from birth. One was a frequent waker at first but started sleeping better about 4 months. They all sleep through mostly now, bar illness and the odd bad night or needing a quick resettle.

(We didn't co-sleep though, she's always been in her own cot)

No. Babies sleeping better because they are formula fed is a myth. My twins certainly didn't.

I suppose you never wake up in the night then?
My 2.5 year old has the odd night terror, sometimes is still teething- sometimes opens her eyes and goes back to sleep- of course she does. She does not wake up seeking "comfort" 4/5/6 times in night. Surely you understand the difference people are debating? No healthy toddler needs to have such broken sleep to bf, its a habit for many.

I’d say on average yes, and it’s because of feeding to sleep. But from my maternity leave group the “best” sleeper (heavy use of inverted commas there because there’s no good or bad and it’s all biologically normal) was bf and the “worst” was on ebm from bottles.

DD slept wonderfully from 6/7 months and average before that but I don’t know any other formula fed babies to compare her to.

I know quite a few babies/toddlers who are no longer breastfed but still wake in the night.

The only difference with the breastfed ones is that you can feed them to get them back to sleep (if lucky).

I think there is a correlation, but it's more to do with accompanying behaviours.

Firstly, formula takes longer to digest and that has an impact.

Secondly, bfing a baby to sleep (particularly when co-sleeping) is such an 'easy' solution (when you're exhausted) that bfing mothers are less likely try other means of settling and so bfing babies get into the habit of expecting milk through the night.

But plenty of BF babies sleep well too. My DS1 was sleeping through from 10 weeks and while 4 month sleep regression hit us hard, he didn't feed at night after that point.

my 3 month old daughter normally goes down between 8-9 then does a 4/5 hour chunk at the beginning before waking for a feed. after that she will do about 2 and a half/3 hours before waking again then goes back down until about half 7. this is usual for most people I know with babies around their age (waking once or twice a night) regardless of how they are fed.

Its completely up to the individual how they feed, although I am personally glad I breastfeed for a variety of reasons, and wouldnt judge someone, however I would hate for people to be discouraged from breastfeeding because they believe their baby will sleep better when it offers so many benefits

I think it's more that mothers who breastfeed are more likely to be of the "it's biologically normal for children to wake up in the night until they are 21 and they are still so little then" variety.

I breastfed both of mine but sleep trained to get them to sleep through.

bloody hell settle you sound an absolute delight

4 children all breastfed and all excellent sleepers . When mine were small it was in our friend circle the bottlefed ones who didnt sleep.

@Settlersofcatan

My oldest slept from mid night until 6_7 am from 6 days old completely breastfed.

Dd2 woke for 10 min feed at 3am until she was 8 weeks old then she did like her sister

Ds fed at 1 am then slept until 7 until about 4 months then slept from 9 to 7

Dd3 slept through like dd1 but even now as a teen age is a late riser

All breastfed so I would disagree

All of mine were BF, the first two for six months and the second two for well over a year. They’ve all been pretty good sleepers from a young age.

The most unsettled babies I know of were FF and had reflux probably as a direct result of being given cows milk.

Do you notice how you have constructed this question? With breastfeeding as an aberration from the "norm", a specific choice people make to be different in how they feed their babies. And therefore, any waking that is "associated" or "caused" by breastfeeding is "non-normal", "extra", or "unnecessary" waking. And by implication, people who choose to breastfeed have brought having bad sleepers on themselves, or whatever.

Breastfeeding is the natural and default way for babies to feed. Why aren't you asking "AIBU to think that babies who are formula fed wake abnormally little?" (Whether there are actual stable differences is a whole other question.)

Settlersofcatan

Maybe they say that because it's true (not the 21 year bit, possibly an exaggeration on your part)
I also dont agree with sleep training. Why sleep train a child to do what most adults don't naturally do?

Two dc, both breastfed. The first slept really well the second woke a lot..... However the second is diagnosed ASC.
Regardless of any diagnosis I always assumed it was luck of the draw. Some babies sleep great, some don't.

Most adults are able to put themselves back to sleep if they wake up in the night without milk or cuddles.

I see it as like potty training - not a lot of fun but something a child needs to learn. It comes very naturally to some kids but is harder for others. I looked at the research and didn't find any reason not to.

21 is a slight exaggeration but there are loads of posters on here with 5,6 ,7 even 10 year olds waking their parents up regularly in the night. I think that is completely ridiculous.

Of course, I am there if my kids are ill or have a nightmare - which they are still totally capable of seeking help for

DD was ebf and slept through from 8 weeks, whereas I stopped breastfeeding DS after a couple of weeks and switched to formula and he was a terrible sleeper.

Both DC were EBF and are terrific sleepers 🤷🏼‍♀️

there are loads of posters on here with 5,6 ,7 even 10 year olds waking their parents up regularly in the night. I think that is completely ridiculous.

I really, really don't think there are that many. For one thing, you'll have a massive, massive selection bias - nobody needs to post "my 5yo sleeps absolutely fine, no problem", so a parenting website with a sleep section will act as a beacon for any miniscule proportion of the population where children do have long term sleep issues. A dozen parents in this situation posting here in a whole nation of millions can easily create the impression that this is a big issue - which it is for them, but still a negligible one on a population scale. And many of the DC that do have sleep issues will have SN.

I don't think I've ever seen a post here of a child older than toddler age who slept poorly who didn't have SN.