If your ebf baby sleeps/slept well at night what do you put this down to?

[sedgieloo]

Their nature? Your fabulous supply?! Your routine of feeds? Or anything else.

13 week old ebf baby here.

Speaking as an EBFer (prior to weaning) with an awful sleeper, who I threw every sleep-facilitating trick in the book at from birth, I firmly believe that good sleepers are born, not made. Feeding method (BF or FF) or supply has naff-all to do with it, nor does parenting. You might be able to tweak things very slightly with routines but I'm convinced the ability to consistently sleep for long stretches at consistent times is determined by biological make up alone. Those who say 'mine slept through from X weeks because I did A, B and C' got lucky and probably would have had a good sleeper even if they hadn't done A, B and C (much as they might like to think it's down to their supreme parenting skills). I did A, B, C, D and pretty much everything else right through to Z. Still up every two hours at eight months old

There was some research out some years ago which advised getting at least an hour of daylight in the afternoon to help set the baby's body clock.
I can remember stumbling round pushing the pram in my sleep deprived state every afternoon for at least an hour. After a while she did sleep through the night, but I've no idea if that was going to happen anyway.

Agree with pp - good sleepers are born, not made. My DS only starting sleeping through at 16 months, was up once a night from 12 months to that point, and previous to that, twice a night at least.

DD (4 wo tomo) is currently (touch wood) sleeping a six hour stretch at night. She wakes naturally about 9am, has a massive feed, goes back down about 10, feeds every 2 -3 hours during the day until about 5pm, when she cluster feeds and is on and off me constantly (more on than off tbh) until 10.30pm. Wakes at 4.30am, feeds til 5, back down again until 9.

Freaks me right out.

Luck

Sheer luck!

DS was EBF and he never slept through a single night till he was 2, I was permanently exhausted.

DD is 10 weeks and has slept well since birth, she goes to bed with us about 10pm, wakes once at 4 and then sleeps till 8. I can't believe my luck!

Madame - so you have done nothing differently? May I ask how many feeds approx during daytime hours? Well 8-10pm

Mine is EBF and has slept through almost every night since 6 weeks
I call it luck, I didn't do any sleep training or anything like that, just cuddles and milk
Also me and my boyfriend were both excellent sleepers as babies - maybe it's inherited...

She is 17 weeks and feeds approx 10 times between 5am and 6pm

Squid that's interesting. A lot of feeds in 13 hra. What's the longest between feeds and are you mindful of this or do you purely demand feed? If you don't mind my asking.

I feed on demand. Her last one is usually around 6-7pm, so she goes 10-11 hours most nights.

In the day we rarely go longer than 2 hours though. Sometimes as often as hourly. She is a very good sleeper, but I don't take any credit for it.

Total luck.

DD slept through from 14 weeks, DS slept through finally at 14 MONTHS. Both were EBF and treated exactly the same and nothing we did (including the incantations [bgrin]) would encourage the little bugger dear to sleep through.

Happily now, at 9 and 7, they are both good sleepers and have to be levered out of bed on school mornings [bhmm]

I don't think I've done anything differently but there's 16 years between them so I can't be sure! I just go with the flow really, have fed on demand and coslept with both of them. We don't really have a pattern of feeds during the day, anything from 1-3 hours between feeds, probably 5 feeds between 8-6 and then shes a definite cluster feeder in the evenings and will be on and off for several hours before that 6 hour stretch of sleep

Madame. Thanks! Wonderfully long gap. Like my mum she had 14 yrs. I started late 37 and 39 when having mine. Not sure now what I was waiting for.

I'm seeing v concentrated feeds and continuing to cluster feed of an eve pas newborn stage, for good sleepers in these replies ...

Total luck of the drawer.
Dd1 was ebf, and never slept through, is 3 and still wakes at night on occasions.

Dd2 was all ebf and slept through from 9 weeks, and still does.

Long distance - might I ask how old your baby is now and how many feeds in daytime hours pls?

Dc2 is 10 weeks and ebf and slept through from about 3 weeks maybe a bit earlier. She feeds solidly from about 7-10 at night then sleeps until 8am sometimes later. She feeds A LOT during the day and is sling carried and fed on demand. She has never been in a pram. Sometimes she sleeps a good few hours I. The sling bit this doesn't affect the nights. I'm not being smug saying she sleeps because I carry her I'm just listing what I do and what she does iyswim.
Dc1 didn't sleep through until 7 months also ebf but went in a pram

Pie - thanks and wow. Great sleep. Helpful reply actually also. Thanks for info. I'm also using a sling loads

I disagree that it is luck, 3 EBF babies all slept through 11/12 hours by 12 weeks, DS actually from 7 weeks. I had a routine that I believe guided them to sleep well.

DS 8 months, sometimes wakes and cries, he woke once in the night earlier this week, he is teething, I gave some calpol, rubbed some bonjela on, I did give him a very quick breastfed, just to be sure he wasn't thirsty or anything, and then put him back in his cot. He cried for a while and then went back to sleep. He hasn't woken any other night since. For me I think it could have been very different if I had prolonged it in the night, with more feeding, he would have happily fed for much longer, or I had waited until he had stopped crying before leaving. I just checked he was ok, which he was, gave some pain relief a quick cuddle and drink and back to bed.

OP she's 19months now. She only used to have 5 feeds a day, and slept through the day. She still has a 3 hour nap in the afternoon.

I just think she loves her sleep

Thoughts - thanks for your thoughts, did you have a routine of feeds also. That is to say at the ebf stage do you recall number of feeds in daytime hours. Well once you were past the newborn stage that is. Thank you

Long distance - thanks. Yes sounds like it.

I think its luck. dcs1 and 2 did the wake up every 3 hrs routine whilst dc3 (3 months) usually sleeps from 11 til 5 most nights and has slept 10 to 6 a couple of times.
She does feed a lot from 8 til she sleeps.

For most people it is impossible to have exactly the same routine for each child.

The routine will always have be to different because after your first you will have other children to look after, e.g older children at nursery or school, the routine will be different for a new a baby.