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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

To think that maybe its true about formula fed babies....

61 replies

curiousgeorgie · 22/01/2012 12:03

Obviously no one can deny that breast milk is amazing, all the benefits etc...

But a friend of mine swears she had a very easy time with her DD because she was formula fed right from the off.. slept through from very early, hardly ever cries, settles very easily when she does. (Never even sick!)

As opposed to her DS, who was breastfed (For the first couple of months) and to be honest, he was a nightmare at feeding and sleeping.

Having a conversation about this with her and a group of other mums it did seem that all the FF babies were better sleepers and a lot less grumpy :p

Do you think this is true?

(I know that this says nothing of the longterm health benefits of breast feeding, and is purely about a small baby and sleep etc)

OP posts:

OnlyANinja · 22/01/2012 12:04

I think she has a sample size of 2.

Not enough to say anything at all.

StrandedBear · 22/01/2012 12:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 22/01/2012 12:06

YABU to make a straight-line correlation based on a small unscientific sample. Mums are rarely totally truthful about their children's sleeping habits, for example ... what is 'a great sleeper' to one person is a 'total nightmare' to another and vice versa. I think children come down to a lot of pot luck, far more influences on their habits than choice of feeding method and you'd need a far bigger and more scientific study to make any definite conclusions.

Proudnscary · 22/01/2012 12:06

Not seen you on here before OP - welcome to Mumsnet.

WorraLiberty · 22/01/2012 12:07

Not in my experience.

I have 3 boys...all formula fed.

DS 1 = Terrible sleeper with far too much energy

DS2 = Wonderful sleeper (right from the minute he was born) and still loves his sleep now aged 12yrs.

DS 3 = Really good sleeper...slept through from 5wks old (11pm - 8am)

DS2 also has the calmest and most chilled out temperament of all of them.

StainlessSteelCat · 22/01/2012 12:08

I have three DC. All three were fed the same way.

DC1 was an OK sleeper.

DC2 was a nightmare. Well, she would have been if I had ever slept long enough to have nightmares.

DC3 is ace sleeper.

I think that says far more about different babies than feeding method.

gamerwidow · 22/01/2012 12:09

Well it is true that formula is harder for the baby to digest than breastmilk so you might get longer between feeds but I think how well a baby sleeps is largely down to the baby rather than the feeding method.

My DD was EBF and never spaced out feeds for more than 2 hours and was a terrible sleeper until after weaning but I know other babies who were EBF and regulary went 3 hours plus between feeds and slept from 7-7 from about 8 weeks.

Memoo · 22/01/2012 12:11

I've had 3 dc. All descend same way but vastly different in their sleeping habits.

How well babies sleep is nothing to do with the way they're fed

Memoo · 22/01/2012 12:11

Descend!? Fed!!!

Thumbwitch · 22/01/2012 12:12

Way too small a sample to make any conclusions from it. If you asked around, you'd find BF babies who slept marvellously and FF ones who were a nightmare; and babies fed both ways who were in-between.

FabbyChic · 22/01/2012 12:12

Both mine slept through the night very early and were excellent babies, both formula fed.

Sirzy · 22/01/2012 12:13

DS is just turned 2 and we have finally had whispers so he doesn't hear 2 weeks of sleeping through

He was FF so I think your theory is pretty poor. Not sure if how they are fed has that much impact upon the sleeping habits

Anniegetyourgun · 22/01/2012 12:13

You might just as well say that your friend swears that girls are better sleepers than boys. Or that first babies in a family sleep better than second babies, or the other way round.

Dirtydishesmakemesad · 22/01/2012 12:13

In my experience of three formula fed babies dcs1 -3 and dc4 breastfed the formula babies needed less attention, were more settled and just seemed more independant from the start. With dd4 i felt we were more stuck together she was huggier and certainly slept alot less. She was the only one not to end up with in hospital with chest infections the first year which i like to put down to the effort breastfeeding (no one burst my bubble im about to do it all again with dc5 - let me have this one!)

kiki22 · 22/01/2012 12:14

Maybe it seems that way because FF babies don't need fed as often? can go longer between feeds so it seems they sleep more?

DN1 was FF great sleeper from the start

DN2 was BF terrible sleeper cried 24 /7 but was only due to acid reflux

Cousin was FF terrible sleeper if you ask his mum but in reality is an ok sleeper

TidyDancer · 22/01/2012 12:15

Sleeping, IME, is fuck all to do with feeding.

(mainly commenting so I can about Memoo's descending typo)

CuntWorm · 22/01/2012 12:16

Ds1 breast fed till14 months slept 7-7 every night

DS2 breast fed for 3 weeks then ff till 1 year- The bugger never sleeps.

Memoo · 22/01/2012 12:17

bloody autocorrect!

Anniegetyourgun · 22/01/2012 12:17

ps My easiest baby, sleep-wise, was DS2 who started sleeping through at six weeks and was, yes you've guessed it, bf.

Snakeonaplane · 22/01/2012 12:19

My exclusively bf baby who is 6 weeks has never cried for more than 3 mins sleeps from 10 till 5ish and is very relaxed

However my 1st babies was an awful sleeper and so being naive I listened to the ff stuff and introduced a night time bottle, never made a jot of difference, ds never slept well either. It's about the baby and the mother not about the method of feeding. All 3 have never been colicky thankfully.

Snakeonaplane · 22/01/2012 12:19

X posts

whackamole · 22/01/2012 12:20

Nope.

DS3 is 3 months old and exclusively breastfed. You have never met a more placid baby. He is so happy and giggly, he does wake (once) in the night but I expect this as breast milk is not as dense as formula milk.

My twins were mix-fed, but again both were extremely happy and placid boys. They slept well too, but they did have formula as their last feed. Difficult to compare though when there was two.

addictediam · 22/01/2012 12:21

well i know a sample size of 3 - 1 bf, 1 ff and one mix fed. All around the same age and all related (my brother, my sister and my dd). they were all the same at sleeping, feeding and grumpyness. i really do think it just depends on the baby! it has nothing to do with the way they are fed.

Dirtydishesmakemesad · 22/01/2012 12:21

Im glad i read this post now - its filling me with hope that i can breastfeed this baby and maybe actually sleep more than an hour or so at the time as well!. I was so close at 2 months old with dd to changing to formula just because of the sleep pattern i was convinced it was because i was breatsfeeding her.

Rational · 22/01/2012 12:25

In my experience, oldest daughter 25, youngest one 5, all three babies bottle fed, I agree with the op. I also know of lots of women who stopped bf because they couldn't cope with 2 hourly feeding through the night. To be honest, apart from the health benefits which I can't argue with despite all three of my children being as strong as horses, I have heard very little in my 25 years of child rearing to endear me to bf.

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