Should I quit breastfeeding?

[butterybean]

DS is 10 weeks old and ebf. He's on the 91st percentile and feeds quite efficiently on demand, at midnight, 4am, 6.30am and 8.30am, then we get up and fed on demand about every 2.5hrs during the day.

Breastfeeding is no problem at all - no pain or discomfort and DS is in a next2me crib at night but often settles better in bed with me. I think about half the night hes in the next to me and half the night hes in bed with me. Mostly because our bedroom is very cold at night due to lack of heating but that's a whole other thread....

I don't switch the light on to feed him, I do it lying down and I dont need to wind him after, he feeds himself back to sleep so I'm not disturbed for long.

Most of the time I'm fine (get up around 9am and go to sleep about 11pm) but usually once a week the broken sleep catches up with me and I get knackered and grumpy. Typically on a Monday I'm good for nothing other than a day in bed and feel so guilty that I'm not doing housework or taking DS out somewhere, walking the dog or doing bits and bobs for our family business.

I saw a post today of a friend who has a baby that was due at the same time as DS (except her baby was 5 weeks early and mine was 3 weeks late) - he has just slept 12 hours solid through the night. I felt sad that my LO wasn't doing the same.

So my question is this...is there a benefit to me carrying on bf'ing? Should I switch to formula and hope he sleeps better? Should I start sleep training him in some way or is it too early? I love the convienience of breastfeeding but also want to make the most of my days and not be tired and grumpy.

It sounds like you're doing brilliantly and so is he! For contact my DS was EBF and fed every hour in the day and every two at night til he was six months old. There is no 'normal'. It is too early for sleep training IMO, wait til six months at the earliest.

You could try mix feeding if you feel you need a break-do you have a partner who could do the night feeds one weekend day? Thing is if you switch to FF and it doesn't help the sleep, you then stuck with sterilising and making up bottles which is added work.

If I were you I'd stick at it as you say you like the convenience. Ask someone to do some night feeds to get a break. But honestly it sounds like you're both doing great. And FWIW many of my friends whose babies started sleeping through early like that then had them waking up as they got older so who knows what will happen yet

Why not get your partner to do a formula feed at say 11pm, then you could go to bed around 9pm and sleep til 4?

Don't quit! There's loads of benefits for you and the baby of breastfeeding. Maybe try one formula feed at night though as this will get him used to a bottle which can be a godsend later on. As breastfeeding is established I'm sure there will be no difficulty with teet confusion.

Althiugh it's obviously amazing when babies do sleep through there is a small increase in the risk of sids when bottle fed as they tend to fall in to a deeper sleep which is when sids can occur.

Plus loads and loads of formula fed babies don't sleep through. And he will naturally start to sleep longer anway.... just a shame about the 4 month sleep regression...!

Lots of babies do or don't sleep at night regardless of how they are fed, however formula milk takes a lot longer digest, hence a lot of babies going longer periods between feeds.

I think the huge benefits of breastfeeding, health benefits for you and baby long term, no sterilising and washing of bottles are worth it. You could well swap to formula, your babies sleep patterns stay exactly the same except would would then be up boiling kettle/waiting for cool etc. and getting much less sleep.

I think have a look online at the huge benefits and think about if you feel the possibility of more sleep short term is worth giving up. IMO it isn't.

It may be worth waking him up a bit more when you feed him at night to ensure he gets a really good feed in before going back to sleep. This may help him go a bit longer between feeds.

Mine were BF with one bottle at night and slept through really early whilst DN was FF and was still having milk in the night up 18 months so they are all different.

It's the Luck of the baby sleep fairies, not the food - my DS was ebf for 2 weeks and combi fed for two months and formula afterwards - he didn't sleep a full night til he was about 3 I think!

Oh he was my
Second baby, my first was DD who was ebf for 6 weeks and combi for 3 months, slept right through from 13 weeks - but a total nightmare til then waking at 3am every day with colic and that was it for my night sleep!

Definitely don't quit he's doing well as it is.
I couldn't feed my 91st centile boys despite tongue ties being cut and every supplement known to man to try boost supply. Youngest is 15 months now and still doesn't sleep formula isn't a magic sleeping solution for all

Honestly, do you really want to be getting up in the night to make a bottle? Formula is no guarantee of sleeping through. Breastfeeding is so convienet and I don’t understand why you’d go from the perfect food for you baby to a processed one when you’re finding it so easy?

You are doing an incredible job. How you feed your baby has no impact on their sleep habit/pattern. You have done the hardest bit of BF, it gets easier from here, no sterilising, getting out of bed in the night to get a bottle etc. It is normal to feel worn out from having a baby/toddler, dont beat yourself up about it. Good luck with what ever you decide.

It's luck. Mine were both EBF. DS1 slept through 8.30-6 at 8 weeks, and then 7-6 at 12 weeks (then it all went to pot at 18 months). DS2 was still having 2-3 night feeds at that age.

Remember also that your friend's baby, despite being due at the same time as yours, has actually had 8 extra weeks of life- a huge amount can change in that time.

It sounds as though BF is going very well and you're at the stage where you start to see massive pay off for the hard work of the early weeks: feeds space out and you have a faff free easy way of feeding and comforting a baby on tap. I'd be very reluctant to give up BF if I were you. You could try a bottle of formula at night, but be prepared that it may or may help with sleep.

The other thing you might like to try is dream feeding before you go to bed which might give you a solid block of sleep in the early part of the night. You might find your sleep is broken into fewer chunks that way (disclaimer- it didn't work for DS2- he had the dream feed then woke up at his usual time anyway!)

You’re doing so well!! It’s a rough road but all research suggests that EBF does indeed have many many benefits which continue as long as you continue to feed.
That being said if you’re unhappy then stop. It’s your choice at the end of the day.

I’ve bf my first 3dcs and bottlefed my 4th (not by choice) he definitely doesn’t sleep any better than the others and bottle feeding is soooo much more work, I fucking hate it!

Yes, definitely switch to formula feeds - a Godsend! We know that bottle fed babies sleep through the night months before boob fed babies (evidence: expectingscience.com/2014/09/09/lets-face-it-formula-fed-babies-sleep-better-from-their-parents-perspective/). Sleep is so important - for you and your baby! Don't fall into the trap of being a martyr mum - those of us that formula feed (and sleep) seem a lot happier...and don't listen to the guff about getting up and boiling a kettle. Either use a Perfect Prep (2 mins) or liquid formula (instant). Good luck!

Sorry window just don't agree with you. If the OP said her baby was 12 months old and they were both exhausted, up all night etc. trying a bottle might help, the baby is very young and should be waking up in the night. Formula is fine as an alternative to breastmilk but breastmilk is far superior and designed specifically for your baby, full of antibodies, natural enzymes and digests far better. The NHS and midwives don't tend to back the perfect prep machine either.

Formula is more expensive too....

8 weeks is like 8 years at this stage of newborness, do not compare your baby with your friend's . Everything can change in 8 weeks!

It actually sounds like you are doing really well. I wouldn't stop breastfeeding just in the hope that it might improve sleep if you are otherwise happy breastfeeding, there is no guarantee that formula will make any difference at all.

My baby didn't start sleeping through until 8 months despite being formula fed from 5 months. Even now at nearly a year old she still has nights where she doesn't sleep well.

I hate to say it but you do adapt over time to less sleep.

If you’re that tired it’s affecting you during the day then personally I’d get my OH to give a bottle of formula at some point during the night. No need to cut BF out completely. I don’t think it’s usual for any baby to sleep through the night that early, your friend is just lucky.

My DD was fully formula fed by 10 weeks and didn’t sleep through that long until she was 8 months old.

Don't do it.

DD1 - ebf - a good sleeper, especially now at 2yo.
DD2 - ff - a diabolical sleeper.

Chose to formula feed we because I thought it would mean she'd sleep through from birth.

Babies are all different - in general ff babies tend to sleep a little longer between feeds but that isn’t true for all babies and if you have managed to breast feed successfully up until now it seems silly to stop in the hope of more sleep (I say this as I had a ff baby who didn’t sleep through until over 1) Babies get progressively better as they get older on the whole - Just go with the flow atm for as long as it’s working for you.

my 98 centile boy didn't sleep any better with a formula feed at night- worse if anything!

Sleeping through, or not, seems to just be a thing some babies do and some don't

I really wish my 6mo would stop feeding every 2 hours but BF is so much easier than any FF option at night and he's clearly thriving on it

Don't give up!
Sounds fairly standard to me having bf both mine.

Can you try and get extra sleep at weekends when dh is around?!

We moved to ff for a number of issues. By 6 weeks my ff baby woke up more often durring the night than your bf baby. She reversed cycled and by 4 months would only really have have milk at night.

Ff does not mean your baby will sleep more.

I've had 3 children and and breastfed them all. I can honestly say that week 10 is the absolute hardest. The newborn novelty and worn off and 10 weeks of sleep deprivation really takes it toll. Mine have all massively turned a corner at 11 weeks and started sleeping through the night. All I will say is it does get easier. And your baby will also have it's 'turning point'. Sadly, there is no way of knowing then that will be. Likewise, there is no way of knowing that switching to formula will be the answer either. Breastfeeding is great when it's going well, so I'd say stick with it. Good luck, whatever you decide.

I’m suspicious as to why anyone would be actively promoting formula feeding