Are all bad sleepers breastfed?

[sharkstale]

DD, breastfed until 18 months. Horrific sleeper until we stopped.

DS, combi-feeds, but wants to be glued to my boob all night every night. Even worse sleeper.

Due to the fact that sleep improved instantly when I stopped bf DD, it makes me want to stop bf DS now at 8 months, believing breastfeeding is the issue.

What are your experiences please?

Yabu - bf is not the issue
Yanbu - stop bf and get some decent sleep.

I breastfed both of mine - one was a horrendous sleeper, the other was a dream.

BF is not the issue. My DS was a bad sleeper and he was formula fed.

What an odd question. Breastmilk is what human babies are supposed to have, it’s the biological norm.

We did nightwean both of them at around 1. That helped a bit with the horrendous one, although she still didn’t sleep through the night till she was 3.5…😩

My second was a terrible sleeper and was formula fed. Even when he no longer had formula he slept poorly.

2 breast fed kids. 2 excellent sleepers. I don’t think there is a link.

Having said that, you’ve done really well to bf till 8 months, and if you want to stop, stop. Your DS will be fine.

Oh yeah. Definitely. Ferber wrote his book & developed his sleep-training techniques because all Americans were breastfeeding their babies & toddlers in the 1960s. True Fact. For sure.

(Not.)
ps: true part, Ferber famously coslept with his own kids.

Just like nappy rash only became a thing when people started using cloth nappies. It never existed in the old days when people only used disposables. That's why every childcare nursery I toured in year 2000 had nappy rash cream for specific babes & tots who were in disps only. (oh wait...)

ps (sincere): Breastfeeding is a relationship that needs to work for everyone & this relationship may not work for you how it is at moment. I hope you soon find a way forward you're happy with.

Breast fed both of mine. DS1 slept like a dream from second night home. Woke for a night feed went straight back to sleep. Through the night from 9 weeks old.
DS2. Dreadful sleeper. Parties all night til 15months. Tried night weaning. Still woke to party.
It's baby rather than feeding method.

My ff baby sleep was even worse than my bf baby. They were both awful sleepers. My friend had a bf who slept well.

Yes and it's also a fact that breastfeeding helps prevent SIDs as they wake more frequently (although not sure if that still applies at 8 months), and that we produce the hormones more during the night. Also the fact that he can obviously smell it right next to him all night.

I don't think it's an odd question at all, but important to get others experiences before basing my decision on it.

It's only ever going to be anecdotal though, OP, unless someone can produce actual scientific surveys.

For the record, I BF all five of mine for a year each. Every one of them was a dreadful sleeper and I always said it was surprising that I actually had the time to conceive any after number one.

FF both of mine, 1 slept and one didn't BUT at least me and DH could take it in turns

My eldest daughter didn't sleep well until she was 18m every one said it was because I was feeding her (breastfed until 16m).
My son slept through 10hours from being about 2 months old, breastfed until 15m. Got to 18m and hasn't slept well since.
Youngest sleeps somewhere in between, still feeding.

They're all different. My friend bottle fed and had a kid that's sleep 12 hours a night, another friend bottle fed and her baby was up every 2 hours. I'd not get hung up on it, it changes so quickly anyway!

Not sure if you're right but my 3 older ones were horrendous sleepers and breastfed. My youngest is breastfed and not as bad

I don't really know how to stop tbh. It was easier with my DD as she was older, but he feeds to sleep and with the nights as they are atm, I wonder if I'd get even less sleep (at least initially) if I took it away from him.

Both of ours were breastfed and #1 was an okay sleeper, #2 was and still is a champion sleeper. When he was still very little the HV thought he maybe wasn't gaining weight fast enough and suggested that we wake him up from his 10-hour sleep to feed him. To be honest, I think he just really likes sleeping (used to also nap for 5 hours during the day as well), BUT the key difference from #1 was that he wasn't fed to sleep. I think that's the first thing I'd try to work on before stopping breastfeeding altogether, assuming you do otherwise still want to breastfeed.

Yes my daughter was bf and awful bit son bottle from start was always happy rarely cried slept longer and sounder than dsughter ever did, he was a much more content happy baby. She always wanted holding and comforting a real nightmare. Many of my friends agree they don’t get enough on the breast & makes them irritable which becomes their nature

I have no idea what the truth is but I combo fed all 3 of mine and it was a bottle that was given last at night and I always reckoned it was that heavier milk bottle knocked them out a bit and gave me a better stretch of sleep.
Who knows, but I was definitely grateful for it.

I know you are going to hate me but my BF babies slept through from 8 weeks old.

2 children, both formula fed, one slept all night from 10 days, one didn't sleep ever (or so it felt) for the first 5 years.

In my experience, yes but I know there are some exceptions.

All 3 of mine were formula fed and all 3 slept through (7-7) at 8 weeks, 6 weeks & 6 weeks. Never experienced any ''leaps'' or sleep regressions either, only woke up in the night if teething or poorly.

My formula fed cmpa reflux first baby slept in 45 minutes stretches until 1 year old, and still doesn't sleep through at almost 7... His little sister is ebf, no allergies, sleeps great (often rolls over to find me for milk once in the night though). It's luck of the draw imo.

I BF one of each, had one of each.

Now they're both fantastic sleepers (teens)

I breastfed Ds until 18 months ( overnight I stopped all feeds by 12 months). He’s still a terrible sleeper now at 5+ years. Stopping breastfeeding didn’t make any difference to sleep.