Does anyone's exclusively breastfed baby sleep through the night?

[jessica3692]

I can't help feeling jealous when I see mums post that their babies slept through where my daughter is 5 months and still wakes me every 2 hours (3 if I'm lucky) I know once I start weaning her things will get better... It's just every mum that proudly declares her baby sleeping through is formula fed. I having nothing against ff whatsoever. It just makes me a little bitter and jealous.

I wouldn't change bf'ing her for the world though, I just wondered if anyone's ebf baby sleeps through?

Ta muchly

Yea I guess it is down to each individual baby. My friend and mum keep suggesting that if I give her formula for her night feed then she'll sleep longer but that's not necessarily true! I'll stick to bf and grow a pair. It's only been 5 months and I'm already feeling sorry for myself when there's a lot of you mummies who clearly haven't had a full nights kip in a lot longer! Well done to you all :) and thanks for your responses, they've all been very helpful!

DS1 did from about 3 months. DS2 still does not sleep through at over 3 years of age. Both exclusively breastfed until 6 months.

Mine (EBF) slept through from 8 weeks until we started weaning at 6 months then started waking 3-4 times a night, so I agree that weaning is not the solution it's made out to be at least for some babies. Sorry! In our case it seems to be what made her start to wake more in the night.

I agree with what others have put here, every baby is different. Try not to compare yourself to others or you'll go crazy. Just trust your instincts, do what feels right and try to get sleep when you can.

Sorry to derail, but it really winds me up when people, when contributing to a thread, say that they FF then go on to give a reason/justification as to why they did so.

Not necessary.

But presumably it bothers them so they want to explain? They shouldn't feel they have to though of course.

It's not true that ff babies sleep through the night and BF babies don't!

My ds ff from birth but didn't sleep through the night until he was 18 months.

I agree with pp. Sometimes it's the personality of the baby or other circumstances.

If it helps -
Dd1 formula fed.
Slept through from 8 weeks (8-5) til 4 months but then woke every 45 mins all night every night for 4 months!!!

Dd2 (initially BF but now in formula) currently almost 5 months and still waking for at least two night feeds, plus a dream feed at 10pm.

Xx

It might not get better when you wean, sorry!
My bf baby was a reliable once-a-night feed, maybe twice.
Thanks to 9 months being a time of vivid dreams (some scary), increased mobility (so they wake up and move themselves more awake iyswim) and bloody teething she's had really bad nights for over a week.
Nothing to do with feeding at all.

Sorry for the total buzz kill.

Oh and what YOU eat doesn't affect milk.
Once you're weaning you could start with dinner an hour or so before the bedtime feed. If it's got protein and carbs some people say it works wonders (like a Christmas dinner!) for sleepiness. Porridge or avocado are both good foods for this.

... sorry also as culture linked to, sleeping through is any 5 hr stint. Not a 10-12 hr night. Mine sleeps 7-2am then 2.15-morning on a good night. Technically that's a sleep through. Bah!

Yeh I kind of count that as a sleep through too. If my LO wakes at 2ish for a feed and then doesn't get up again I defo feel like that's a sleep through.

My fully weaned 19 month old doesn't even do a 5 hour sleep through!

My EBF ds slept reliably through the night between 10&20 weeks. Then all hell broke loose and he was waking 3-7 times alight until 9 months when everything settled back down.

It's so unpredictable and feeding is only part of puzzle.

Both mine were BF and slept through the night - first one from 6 wks, second from 3/4 months. I don't think it has anything to do with what you eat. And tbh once babies get to a few months old, I think waking at night is largely due to other issues like sleep associations, individual personalities rather than hunger. A feed at night ( when they're older) might send them back to sleep but that's because if that's what they've always got, they rely on it and need it to help them settle. But that's just my opinion....

My HV said I Maybe had fatty milk a combination of DS sleeping & when I express after let down it just looks like full fat cream I assume diet is the main contributing factor to that.

IMO If it ain't broke don't fix it!

But yes all babies / people are different & what works for one won't necessarily works for another.

Hope yoy start to feel more rested soon OP.

My DD is 16 months.
Exclusively BF till 7 months, then mixed fed till 9 months and then FF (with weaning at 6 months). She's a great eater and we have good consistent routines. We have had a grand total of maybe 10 sleep through's since she was born.
A good night now is approx 4 wake ups.
It really is luck of the draw.

My DS would sleep solidly from 7pm - 2am, have a very quick feed and then sleep through until 7am - plus two long naps in the day. He did that from the day we got back from hospital. - I think it is just down to luck really although I was very strict with a GF routine.

Milk is a secretion, it's "quality" is nothing to do with what you eat in that sense. Your milk "quality" is just a personal characteristic that differs slightly between individuals. Most women's milk looks fatty when expressed, because it is fatty! It really doesn't matter what you eat.

Nope, none of them. EBF til they were 2-3 years. They have murdered Sleep for near on 7 years (am trying to drop night feeds of dc3 now).I will end up with dementia.

DC4 did from about three weeks. He has always been sleepy, he ended up in SCBU because he slept through the first few days of his life. Now at 3 he will sleep 7:30-7:30 and often have a two hour nap.

DC2 EBF until 7 weeks then ff after slept 6 hours a night from two weeks old. Then increased to 12 hours once he was about three months BUT from the ages of two until six he woke at least 5 times a night. Now at 10 he still wakes a lot but doesn't always wake me.

I didn't feed mine at night from about 4-5 months though and I did use dummies.

OP asked if any EBF babies slept through. DS has done since 8 weeks. I merely explained what I am led to believe is a contributing factor in my personal experience, it may be worth a try for the OP. That's all.

FWIW 2 of my EBF friends milk when expressed looks a lot more 'watery' than mine when expressed. That doesn't mean I'm saying 'check me out & my fatty milk', just that that is my personal experience so far.

Perhaps I am just fortunate with both milk & DS sleeping. That doesn't mean my parenting experience is without flaws.

I can't see what harm there is in suggesting adding full fat products to OP diet if not doing so already but clearly a lot of posters think there is. OP was asking for personal experiences & that is mine.

It is probably down to the individual baby. However, my own experience was that things improved with weaning. This was partly down to my increased confidence that she wasn't that hungry. I gradually reduced the length of feeds then one night I picked a feed and rocked her instead of feeding. She almost immediately started sleeping a lot better. Maybe you could try some gentle night weaning. Your baby will soon let you know if they aren't ready.

Personal experience is certainly helpful, but what I'm trying to get across is that you don't need to worry about what you eat! The OP doesn't need to worry about eating this that or the other. An ordinary healthy diet is fine. What you eat doesn't affect the fattiness of your milk.

Expressing milk at different points in the day may produce different levels of fat, depending on how full or empty the breast is. There are lots of interesting articles online about how milk is produced, might be worth a read.

No in a word. My baby would only sleep when we began weaning and would give her a top up bottle at 10pm worked very well and we finally had some sleep not always unbroken but certainly better.

None of mine have. I'm on no 3. Keep falling asleep sitting up despite best efforts. Baby is 6 months old and wakes 2 or 3 times between 11 and 7.

My short term memory is shot!