Do breastfed babies sleep well?

[Whatisthisstuff]

Please forgive my naivety here. I have two children currently. DD8 and DS5. I had PTSD following the birth of DD and as such, my body didn't produce any milk whatsoever. I was too afraid of trying and having a rough time with DS so I didn't event attempt it.
We are TTC number 3. If it was to happen this month we would be taking a 11 week (approx) on holiday abroad. I wouldn't want to take all the formula etc and feel I have recovered sufficiently to warrant giving BF a try again.

My worry is...I have heard that BF babies don't sleep well? Is this true or is it a myth? I'm so awful without sleep. My MH goes in tatters when I havent had much sleep.
DD slept through from 10 weeks, and DS was 7 weeks. I know I was so lucky with them.
Please be kind. I have huge anxiety over this subject.

It’s nothing to do with how they’re fed. It sounds like you make good sleepers, so hopefully you’ll get that again.

The best sleepers I know are breastfed. For some people that’s the opposite.

Both breastfed - both awful sleepers. Who knows though if they would have slept better if they had been ff. My friend bf and her baby slept superbly. This is not very helpful at all, sorry

It is helpful! It's telling me that the way I feed baby won't really affect how they sleep. Thank you

Thank you. Gosh I sound so selfish with all this don't I x

Mine have both been breastfed. They slept well as babies because they were always on me, either in a sling or beside me co-sleeping.

Awful sleeper but as soon as he moved to formala at 7 months old he started sleeping through the night for 10-12 hours without fail. Still does now at 9yo and we never had any sleep regression or bedtime issues, but I think that’s unusual. He’s a shockingly fussy eater so it’s all swings and roundabouts.

I was told at the time that BF babies feed little and often whereas formula is very filling, hence the common difference in length of sleep. No idea if that’s true or not.

Both of my EBF babies were shite sleepers, my best friends EBF daughter much much better.
Nevertheless toting around all the gubbins sounds awful, you only need your boobs for BFing.

DS1 was formula fed and was always an excellent sleeper, DS2 is breastfed and definitely is more difficult with his sleep although now only wakes once a night or so at 11 months so not awful by any means. They are also very different as babies so it's probably just a coincidence.

I don't think the method of feeding makes a huge difference but in my experience, my babies sleep best when they are full and winded properly. I have to make more of an effort to do this with breastfed DS2 as he falls asleep quickly in the evenings so may not always be full when I put him in his cot. I also didn't wind him religiously like I did with DS1 and I don't think that helped in the first few months.

Nearly everyone I know breastfed and babies almost exclusively woke every couple of hours for months and months. The few formula fed babies I know slept really well. Anecdata but was a fair number of babies and a complete breastfed/formula split.

All of mine were ebf for a year. First was a terrible sleeper. Second got ill constantly for the first year and was a terrible sleeper. 3rd slept through by 6 months. My only saving grace was that I could put them on the boob - no way would I have coped if I'd had to make up bottles etc!

You don't sound selfish at all, there is nothing wrong with being anxious about sleep in the context of a new baby.
There are other variables that will affect baby sleep, but anecdotally in my experience, formula fed babies tend to be more settled at night, I think the formula takes longer to digest than breast milk, I may be wrong!!! There are also lots of breastfed babies who are naturally more settled sleepers.

Do what is right for you, and remember there is unfortunately no guaranteed way to ensure a baby sleeps well. Good luck 🤞🏻

I think it depends on the baby, I had to stop breastfeeding my little girl when she was 3 months (not due to sleep) and it didn’t affect her sleep at all.

I have 3 dc, all bf (all bottle refuses so no formula at all!). 1 was a terrible sleeper, 1 was an excellent sleeper and 1 was somewhere in between so average I'd say. I think it more depends on the baby than the source of food!

Both my DC were exclusively BF. DC1 was sleeping 10pm-6am by 12 weeks. DC2 still woke for a single night feed around 2-3am until they were weaned.

Ff baby slept great as a newborn 3-6hr stretches very quickly), worse but still ok after 4m (2ish wakes), from 12m-now (7!!) has varied between periods of sleeping through to a couple of wake ups. We alternated nights as babies so I was never tired.

BF baby (not by choice), slept ok as a newborn 2 hour stretches) then woke around 10 times a night from 6-18m. Then about 2-3 times a night till 2. 2-now (5!!) she's varied between periods of sleeping through and waking a couple of times, same as FF child.

I do not make good sleepers, but with BF baby, I had to do every wake up as she'd demand boob, so I didn't sleep for more than 45m at a time for a year. FF baby, I was getting 7 hours straight every other night from day 1.

Apparently it doesn't make much of a difference. The difference is the ability to share which can mean getting a lot more sleep.

I BF my daughter who slept from 7pm to 6am from 11 weeks, prior to that she woke once per night but it was an easy feed as no waiting for bottles to get to tight temp etc and less winding.
My Son was also BF and he woke every 4 hours for the 1st year but again settled really quick then slept through, i switched to bottles at night in hope he would sleep through earlier but didn't make any difference.
I found the flexibility BF gave me really useful and didn't wake a whole house up with screaming baby waiting for feed... but a fed baby is best whether it breast or bottle.

Three DC ebf for 12 months.
I'm never sure what 'sleeping through' means but from 6 to 8 weeks they were all doing 10pm until 6am-ish consistently.

I BF both of my sons.
DS1 slept through from 9weeks. DS2 didn't sleep through til over 2 years.
I think it's more down to the child than the way you put milk in their tummy.
Both of mine were on the heavier size of average. I know friends with tiny babies had to wake them regularly through the night to ensure that they had enough milk.

Breastfed all three currently still breastfeeding the youngest at 2. All been slightly different sleepers. Eldest was sleeping through at 6 months middle slept through at a year and last one slept through at 3 weeks.

So how they are fed does not matter.
I would say I've found breastfeeding so easy and far less faff than making bottles. It's so quick especially at night time. So even though all my babies at some points were up in the night they didn't wake up fully as it was so easy to feed them and put them back down.

My breastfed DS is only 6 weeks but already sleeping better than his formula fed older sister ever did as a newborn.

My exclusively breastfed baby woke 2-3 hourly overnight for the first 8 months 😵‍💫 I got used to it tbh. Once she was eating solids well during the day I did a couple of nights of gentle night feed weaning as I knew she didn't need the milk overnight (I did this around 8.5 months), and now she sleeps 7pm-7am and I would describe her as a great sleeper (now 10 months old)! I have quickly forgotten the months of night feeds, they're only little once.

As much as the evidence supposedly says it makes no difference, everyone I know who's baby slept through the night from early on were either formula feeding/mixed feeding/or giving lots of expressed milk by bottle at the start of the night. Every mum I know who exclusively breastfed were similar to me, or are still feeding overnight 🤷🏻‍♀️
I am pregnant again now, and plan on breastfeeding again, but will definitely be trying with a bottle of expressed breast milk at night to see if that helps this time (DD never took a bottle as I left it too late to try🥴).

Breastmilk is meant to be more easily digestible than formula. However, both of mine were breastfed and good sleepers. For me not having to get out of bed at night to make formula was a benefit. I would advise learning to breastfeed lying down. I was always worried I would nod off and drop the baby with night feeds. Also, when you are out during the day you never have to worry about staying an extra hour or two and not having formula.

I didn't get out of bed too make bottles :-)

The main thing though is being happy how you feed. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. But stirring to bottle ready in 30 seconds without getting out of bed is definitely possible if you plan for it and are as lazy as me!

Some kids sleep well and some don't regardless of how their fed. If you are able to breastfeed you have the advantage of not having to get out of bed for night feeds if you do have a poor sleeper.

I know people will jump on me, but everyone I know who breast fed had babies that didn’t sleep well at night. This is honestly just my experience, but it was everyone I knew (I was first to have children and have 4 so my friends would discuss sleep stuff with me). I always just said it was luck and to be fair I had a few years of irrational sleep with some kids having nightmares etc.

editing to add- I think health benefits of breast make me think sometimes I wish I had, two of my children have bad eczema and asthma and I do wonder if it’s my fault