Is this because baby is BF?

[wanderingwillows]

7 weeks old. Feeds every 1.5 hours or so in the day, sometimes goes a little longer at night. It is also really unpredictable in terms of timings. Would a bottle fed baby feed this often and randomly? Feel like I am making my life so much harder by BFing.

I think it's generally true that breastfed babies feed more frequently. At least you don't have to get up and make a bottle though! Personally I'd try to hang on for a few more weeks OP (as a lot of babies start sleeping better around 12 weeks), but if you want to switch to a bottle then do it and don't feel guilty.

As far as I understand it babies who are bottle fed don’t cluster-feed in the same way, although they will be waking through the night at this early stage.

Have you thought about mixed-feeding? You could potentially keep up some breastfeeding but add some bottles to take the heat off?

Whichever way you carry on, this is the really, really hard bit and after 10-12 weeks db will be able to last longer between feeds which will help a lot. Good luck with it all.

The short answer is no.

Babies that age have tiny stomachs (size of their fist can be a guide)

All babies should be fed on demand which means little and often.

All babies are also designed to wake during the night. They rely on adult care givers to remove them from danger. They will wake to ensure they are safe.

The university of Durham did the research in this and said that how you feed your baby has no impact on how they sleep (check out the BASIS website for more)

A bottle fed baby would absolutely feed this often and this randomly at this age. At least with breastfeeding you don’t have to manage washing, sterilising and making up bottles.

Entirely normal. But it’s great, you can sit / lie down and dont have to prepare anything. Have you tried side lying breastfeeding? Then you barely have to wake, especially if you can safely bedshare. A formula fed baby wouldn’t necessarily go longer between feeds. I always felt BF was far lazier option for me. There’s no proven link between how a baby is fed and how they sleep.