Is there a correlation between FF/BF and sleep?

[HerculesMulligan]

NOT goady. My kids are both FF and have also been great sleepers - decent naps and then straight through from 10pm-7am from about six weeks, more often than not. My cousin's expecting her first baby and has asked whether they do that because they're FF. I have literally no idea, as I don't have a BF child for comparison. If you've had both, what do you reckon? I expect she'll be BFing regardless so asking for my own interest.

The research says no but everyone I knows anecdata says yes, with the odd exception anyway. Who knows.

Anecdotally FF babies seem to sleep better among my friends/family

My FF baby did not sleep through until about 2.5. So far my bf baby (7 months) wakes up more often but is easier and quick to feed and settle back to sleep.

I think its a bit of both, the luck of the baby (maybe parents great sleepers?) and FF/BF. Its known that FF babies take longer to digest the milk so can go longer stretches. BF babies digest the milk quicker so need to feed more often.

But that being said, I BF all mine and when I tried to give formula to see if that would get them to sleep longer, it did not make much of a difference! But perhaps its because it was the odd bottle here and there.

www.basisonline.org.uk/hcp-sleep-and-feeding-method/

My 2 were FF. Dd slept through from 6 months and ds was 8 months

My FF babies never slept

My mum told me that my siblings and I slept 7-7 from three months old because she BF

Ta mum

No. My 2 were FF. DC1 was a brilliant sleeper and DC2 still wakes through the night at times and she's nearly 2. My friends nearly 3yo was FF too and she didn't sleep through until 2.5

If there is my Ff son didn't get the memo

I think it’s one of those things where you might increase the likelihood of longer chunks of sleep earlier on with formula feeding, but “your mileage may vary” when it comes to an individual child, so there are no guarantees. And it slightly depends on your priorities and preferences - eg one parent might not consider an “improvement” in sleep for a particular from waking 2-hourly when breastfeeding to waking 3-hourly with formula to be worth making the change, but they might feel it would be if the child went from waking hourly to sleeping for ten hours straight (extreme example!). Or there might be no change at all. But you don’t know what your own child’s patterns will be like so I personally wouldn’t make a decision about how to feed based on expectations of sleep.

Most definitely not in my peer group.

To me it sounds like a line a lot of people who feel awkward around the topic use to either justify themselves if they FF or to try to convince others to stop BF (often said by mums/MILs etc.)

When I've "admitted" that I formula feed to other mums they've said that I'll get more sleep. However I have nothing to compare to as DS is my first. He does however sleep well IMO.

Imo absolutely not. My EBF (he's fully weaned onto food, still breastfeeds during the day, but never had a bottle of formula) DS has slept through 14 hours at night from 8 months. It's fantastic! As a single mum I'm very happy I've cracked sleep.

My sisters baby was exclusively FF, is 2.3 yet has never slept through. I feel awful for her but her DD just won't stay asleep.

Based solely on my two DC (one FF, one BF) definitely!!

If I was having a third I would FF from day one.

My DS was BF until he chose to stop at a year old. He slept for 12/13 hours a night from 8 weeks to five ish months, when we started weaning he’s nearly four now and is an sleeper...

My baby didn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time until we started giving him formula, then this exhausted mother and over tired baby finally got some rest!!

I breastfed for 3 months and DS was a terrible sleeper, now he's on formula he sleeps amazingly

Having both breastfed and FF, most definitely - formula enables them to sleep longer (through the night from 6 weeks).

Formula feeding means that the mum can sleep while someone else does the nightshift so can have a massive affect on the mother’s sleep even if not much affect on the infant’s.

Upsides of BF won out for me anyway, I wouldn’t FF for that reason alone.

I think the mums of FF babies get more sleep, if they have a supportive partner who is prepared to share night feeds. I say that as someone who chose to FF both my children (now aged 17 and 7) for this reason.

I was formula fed and slept all night from birth. My sister was a shit sleeper. Both of mine are formula fed. They’re also shit sleepers, cat naps in the day and several wake ups at night.

I bf-d both of mine. 2yo is a terrible sleeper and 4mo has been pretty bloody good so far (not sleeping through but only 1-2 wake ups). I was ff and a bad sleeper apparently!

I think in the early days FF babies sleep better, as they tend to only be waking out of hunger, and formula is more filling. But as they get older and things are more complex, I think it's depends on the baby entirely.

My DSs were both BF at first then FF, DS1 from 4 weeks exclusively FF and DS2 from 8 weeks. They both slept very well from about 7 weeks, 8+ hours a night and gradually getting up to 11 ish hours by 5 months or so. DS1 carried on being a fantastic sleeper and still is now age 4, illness aside. DS2 isn't now at 12 months! He's ok, ish. Hit and miss, some nights he sleeps 11-12 hours through but he's a lot more bothered by illness, teething, separation anxiety etc than DS1 was so we often have to either go in for a quick cuddle or sometimes still a bottle of milk! He doesn't have a dummy whereas DS1 did, so I think he needs other ways to soothe himself. He's a completely different personality to DS1.

My DD was BF and was a great sleeper from birth. The four babies in our antenatal group who were BF were all all decent sleepers from early on actually. The formula fed baby was the worst sleeper! But it's just anecdata really. I agree that past the newborn phase, sleep is a lot more complex than FF or BF.

Both mine were ff. First great sleeper from 4 months. 2nd was awful and was almost 2 before he slept through.