To ask if it's possible to have a good sleeper that's breastfed?

[CoalCraft]

Hi, sorry if this question comes across as ignorant. I always intended to breastfeed DD but for a variety of reasons we never got hang of it, so instead she was fed exclusively on pumped milk in a bottle for four months, then we transitioned to formula when I couldn't take pumping anymore. So basically she's always been bottle-fed, though what's in the bottle has changed over the months. She's also always been a decent night sleeper. She's nearly a year now.

We're now thinking about dc2 and plan to start TTC soon. I am 100% committed to ensuring dc2 gets breast milk for at least as long as DD did, even if it means going back on the pumps.

But there's one thing that's making me reluctant to try direct breastfeeding, at least beyond the "fourth trimester" stage, a d that's that every time I read about a poor sleeper on here, a baby 6+ months old that wakes every hour, it always seems to be a breastfed baby wanting boob. The early stages where DD needed feeding every 2-4 hours nearly killed me and even now I find the night wakings tough, even though she sleeps through about half the time and is generally pretty good. DH does more than his fair share at night, too - think I just have a low tolerance for sleep deprivation!

So are breastfed babies more likely to be poor sleepers? I don't mean in the newborn stage as of course all newborns need regular feeding through the night, but later? Does anyone have a breastfed baby that sleeps well? I'm fully aware that there are bottle fed babies that are poor sleepers!

Sorry for the long preamble to this post, it was mostly in the hopes of not sounding goady. This is a sincere question and not meant to trigger a bf Vs FF fight.

@MilkywayMonarch22

So out of our NCT group of 8, plus 2 cousins same age babies, DD was the best sleeper up to age 12 months. We did get hit by the 4 and 6 month sleep regressions but other than that from about 6 months she would sleep through.

DD Who is now 14 m has nights of terrible sleep due to current separation anxiety and starting nursery so constant illness, in which DH goes in the first couple of times to settle to keep the current BF link separate from night sleep (tried to stop BF to sleep around a year old when she was eating lots more and could have water in the night if thirsty)

So I would say overall the whole terrible breastfed sleeper never affected us - other things affected more like regressions/weaning/nursery and separation anxiety

Yes. DS slept 14 hours in one go until I had to start reverse cycling to fit with my work. Lol regret that as covid started 3 months later and by then it was too late.

My two were both breastfed and I would consider them both good sleepers. They both seemed to 'know the difference between day and night' and were in 3/4 hour stretches from birth.

I don't know exactly when they first slept through the night as often they would wake for a feed but I wouldn't properly wake up up to remember it (if you aren't awake, does it even count as a wake up?!). But I think it wasn't unusual for them to be sleeping through by 12months.

I expect my realistic expectations played a part but I definitely don't recognise the soul crushing sleep deprivation a lot of people talk about when having a small (often bf) baby.

Both mine were ebf and didn’t ‘sleep through’ as such but I didn’t have to spend a second longer than necessary to pick up the baby, feed him/her and put them down again (especially once I could get away without changing them). I’d have been much more bothered if I’d had to get up, prepare a bottle, wait for it to cool before I could start the feed. I guess it meant I did all the night feeds but then I was on maternity leave for a year and they both slept by the time I was back at work

Oh and neither of them have ever woken much earlier than 7.30am even had to wake them on Christmas Day!

Both children EBF.
Child one slept through at 9 weeks. Amazing sleeper.
Second one didn’t sleep through until we sleep-trained at 11months.One thing I did find with the first one is that she would cluster feed in the evenings so from about 5-7pm she was almost non-stop feeding until she started having solid food at 6 months.

2 formula fed babies here, shocking sleepers. First slept through the night from 18 months and we’re still waiting for DC2 to sort himself out at over 2 years.

Pure luck, or bad luck in my case.

My breastfed didn't sleep and was one of those up every hour babies. She used me like a dummy really. She only started sleeping through when I weaned her off breast at a year and a half. She wouldn't take a dummy

First baby - EBF - terrible sleeper. Second baby - EBF - slept like a baby. Main difference was that we fussed and worried over every little squeak from PFB whereas DS (number 2) had to to be left to get on with it because I also had his 2-year-old sister to look after. They were both fed in exactly the same way, but after his last feed, DS would invariably be left to grizzle for the time it took to sort out his sister - by the time I got back to him he would usually have nodded off. He is the better sleeper to this day (they are 18 and 20 now!!!) - goes to bed when he's tired and goes straight to sleep. DD much more prone to insomnia and an inability to call it a day even when she's shattered. Hard to say whether they are just programmed that way or whether early bedtime habits have set in for a lifetime, but both were EBF so that's not a variable in their case.

Both of mine were EBF; the first slept through from about 6 weeks, the second took longer to sleep through but did get it after a few months.

In my experience the reason why bottle fed babies often sleep better is because getting up and making a bottle in the night is a bit of a faff so you are more likely to try and settle another way first and hope that they don’t actually need a feed. If breastfeeding it is so easy to whip out your boob and feed when baby wakes up and hope that settles them quickly, unfortunately feeding at every wake up can get used to snacking in and off all night long. Dummies can be great for settling babies in between feeds.

2 breast fed babies.

One awful sleeper, didn't really stop night waking til age 3(!), gave up naps at 18 months, and even now struggles to get to sleep/more likely to wake in night.

Other slept through early, goes to sleep easily, still naps at nearly 3 (and just takes themselves off to sofa/quiet corner to sleep of they get tired!).

It's really such a difference, and absolutely down to nothing I did! I think you just roll the dice on sleep OP.

Personally I'm glad I breastfed the 1st as while she was feeding (stopped on her own just before 2), getting her back to sleep was a lot easier. (And she was such a bad sleeper from birth we nailed the co-sleeping "she just wakes and feeds without even really waking me" thing early).

Two BF, both great sleepers

First baby (all babies have been breastfed) was a terrible sleeper, but she had cmpa so I put it down to that. Second baby was average and third baby is a dream so far, she’s only 9 weeks but is going from 10/11-5am at the moment. So I think it depends on the baby and maybe being more experienced at breastfeeding/babies in general has helped with my third

Both of mine were breastfed. Ds1 fed every 4 hours on the dot, 6-10-2-6-10-2. It was freaky. Dropped the 10pm feed then the 2am feed and was sleeping through at a few months old.
Ds2 was originally a screamer and bought me to my knees but eventually slept, and quickly dropped feeds to sleep through the night at an early age.

I've had two pretty good sleepers, both breast-fed and wouldn't take a bottle. So although they generally slept pretty well they wouldn't settle for DH overnight so nights were all down to me.

Yes, I had two good sleepers exclusively breast fed. Even so I was constantly badgered by dim relatives and strangers to 'give him proper milk' and 'babies can't sleep without formula' and all the usual myths.

Feed it what you want, by all means, I've nothing against formula, but it's not a magic fix for sleeping.

My first was 100% breast fed, put on loads of weight and slept through the night at 3 weeks old. She didn't do that all the time obviously, but she was a very good sleeper.

Both my DS were EBF. One for nine months and one for eight weeks. They both slept for seven or eight hours from about eight weeks. They used to sleep so much when they were tiny (18 hours out of 24) I had to ask the HV if I should be worried. I think they just take after me 🤣🤣

@CarrieBlue

Oh and neither of them have ever woken much earlier than 7.30am even had to wake them on Christmas Day!

Sounds like mine.

I don't think they ever woke up before 8 on any Christmas morning, ever. Still like their sleep as adults.

My ebf first child slept through at 6 weeks and never woke at night ever except if poorly. She was an amazing sleeper. My bottlefed twins were terrible sleepers in comparison, so I never get the notion that breastfed babies are bad sleepers, quite the opposite in my case.

I had two babies, combo fed due to low supply , mostly bottles, all bottles after 4 months. Two entirely different babies … one slept well, the other didn’t sleep for years, even when weaned. Sorry! I think they are all different. The bad sleeper is still up at 7 every morning and needs less sleep, he’s just a live wire

Anecdotally, my bottle fed twins (mix fed till 4 months if that makes a difference) slept better and through the night from earlier than my singleton breast fed baby. None would take a dummy contrary buggers lol.

I weaned the breast fed baby off the breast at 14 months and got him in his own room - previously he’d been co-sleeping. Once he couldn’t have the breast anymore he slept right through like a dream. For him I was definitely just a pacifier!

(PS they’re 12, 12 and 10 now and all perfectly healthy with no memory of however they were fed. Don’t let guilt away your decisions)

@ladygindiva can’t believe we had basically opposite experiences!

Mine are all boys are yours all girls? I know makes no difference just nosy

[quote Bobsyer]@ladygindiva can’t believe we had basically opposite experiences!

Mine are all boys are yours all girls? I know makes no difference just nosy [/quote]
haha yes mine are all girls.... you may be onto something!

My first was bottle fed, slept 12 hours a night from 10 weeks old but we did do a dreamfeed until she started weaning. Never had a sleep regression, never bothered by teething. I give credit to the fact she was a thumb sucker though rather than the formula though as it meant she could always self settle.

My second, also bottle fed, followed the same feeding patterns as the older one but had a dummy and without fail we had to go replace it every night at 2-3am, then again at 5am until he learned to do it himself at 7 months old. Now we throw a load in the cot and get 12 blissful hours but it’s a been a long time coming.

IMO the only sleep related pro for FF is that it’s not all on you. If you have a partner and they’re not totally useless then you will get a lot more rest because you can take turns to have early nights and lie ins so even with a tricky baby you can be reasonably well rested.