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Sleep

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Original poster

Would formula help my 5mo sleep better..??

20 replies

AliKatt · 04/03/2011 19:56

My 5 month old DS tends to sleep ok from 7.30pm to 10.30/11pm but then wakes up around 1.30/2am 3.30/4am (I feed him here) and 5am every night. We're usually up for the day by 6am. This has been going on for the last couple of months...

Looking through the various posts on here it does seem to me as if most of the DCs with seriously crap sleep are EBF. Most of my other mum friends have now introduced some formula and their babies seem to sleep better than mine.

I have always promised myself that I would exclusively breast feed for 6 months. I love feeding my baby and having managed without any formula this far I don't really don't want to start now, but I soooooooo need more sleep! Every time I go into Boots I find myself wandering along the formula aisle umming and aahing over whether to buy some, but I haven't yet bitten the bullet.

Has anyone given formula t aid sleep, e.g. just one bottle for the late night feed? If so, did it actually help?

Many thanks.

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IMissSleep · 04/03/2011 20:06

I started my DS on formula at 5 months, just refused the boob! Think it was because I started him on solids at 4 months. He was a greedy boy!!
I tried them all and the best has been Aptamil, It's meant to be the closest to breast milk.

But - He was still waking up at night up until this week - he's now 6 months. Sleeps from 7pm- 5am
I feed him and he wakes at 7:30am

Have a look at this link... you'll see lots of us are trying to figure out how to get more sleep!!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/1154093-The-my-baby-wont-nap-sign-here-thread

LaWeasel · 04/03/2011 20:10

This is my experience:

DD actually slept very well, but I mixed fed and gave her 1 bottle (of either formula or expressed bm) at night. Well, DH did.

I don't think it made her magically sleep better. But I do think her drinking from a bottle took much much less time then me propped up half asleep with a half-asleep baby doing a couple of sucks every ten minutes but refusing to let go.

Turning an hour long feed into a 20min one that DH could do meant I certainly got much more sleep!

For me it was just that it was a bottle, and what was in it didn't really matter.

moflee57 · 05/03/2011 19:21

I dunno you know. I caved in to DH pressure at 3 months with my EBF DS2 and introduced a bottle of formula at 6.30pm feed in the hope that it would take him through the evening a bit longer. He goes till 11 on a good night 9 on a not so good night (still same at 6 months) but really no different to how he was with bf. I find it comforting to see how much he takes at the end of the day and its also nice to know that someone else could feed him should I ever fancy a night out (ha ha ha...please one day...) but its not made a whole lotta difference TBH. I couldn't be doing with the getting up to prepare bottles in the middle of the night though...find co -sleeping and slightly propping up to feed and semi doze far preferable esp when its still so chilly at night.
However it really does no harm to try - if it works - brilliant - your milk supply would resort itself if you were just doing a mini trial and it didn't work so wanted to go back to EBF...s'long as you are prepared for a bit of unsettled period should that happen...good luck!

Flisspaps · 05/03/2011 19:24

DD had formula and slept with a similar pattern to your DS.

It's not guaranteed to work.

sam12 · 05/03/2011 19:33

My dd has almost the exact same pattern as your ds. She is ebf and 2 weeks ago due to sleep deprivation I started giving formula for the half 7 and 11 night feeds and so far I can report it has made no difference whatsoever. Just hoping she grows out of it before too long!

jaggythistle · 05/03/2011 19:39

IMissSleep Aptamil is not closer to breast milk in any way - that is marketing drivel. They will love you for passing it on though, as they were not allowed to say such nonsense in their ads...

IMissSleep · 05/03/2011 20:23

I only say that because I was advised by 2 HV's and a midwife.

It's the only one that agrees with my DS. Just giving my take on it. And If you read what I said before, I tried them all. What works for me will not work for you.

jaggythistle · 05/03/2011 20:24

Just making sure it's not taken as gospel, nothing personal :)

IMissSleep · 05/03/2011 20:26

TheHeathenOfSuburbia · 05/03/2011 20:30

DS is BF and going through till 4am, then till ~7am after that.

You get the baby you get IMO, don't think the FF/BF makes much of a difference to their sleep pattern.

TheHeathenOfSuburbia · 05/03/2011 20:32

Is he waking and yelling, or just grizzling?

Wondering if it would be possible to stroke/pat him back to sleep, get him out of the habit of feeding at one of those times....

izpie · 06/03/2011 01:34

I started giving dd1 a bottle of formula in the evening when she was just over 5 months and it made no difference at all- sorry!

KayM · 06/03/2011 03:02

In a word, Yes.

chocolateteabag · 06/03/2011 09:04

I gave my ds a bottle at 10.30pm from 3 weeks - idea was that DP would dream feed him and I could get my head down - like that has actually happened! - was EBF until 8 week growth spurt when I switched to FF and....
no difference.
DS seems to be more impacted by the amount of milk he has during the day and quality of his naps. He's now 4 months old as was sleeping 7pm to 5am with a dreamfeed but currently has a stinky cold.

bigkidsmademe · 06/03/2011 10:32

I've given one bottle, at 11pm, since week 2 (DS is now 8 weeks). It didn't increase the length of time he sleeps at all, sorry.

BUT it does increase the amount I sleep massively, which is why I do it. I go to bed at 9, DH gives the bottle, and I sleep till 3. This is vital for me as DS doesn't sleep between 3 and 6 for reasons of his own

so yes and no!

The only thing I'm really strict about is that that is the ONLY bottle, EVER. No matter if cluster feeding or what, no other bottles. That way my supply seems fine, it's just like my boobs are pretending I have a baby who sleeps through!

Cosmosis · 07/03/2011 13:32

I don't think it will, no. i know plenty off FF babies who are just as crap at sleeping as my bf baby.

ShowOfHands · 07/03/2011 13:39

There is no evidence at all to suggest that formula at this age makes them sleep better. As you can see from the replies a couple of babies (coincidentally?) did but many did not. In fact sometimes it makes sleep worse.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that developmental/growth spurts at this age affect sleep and that's what causes the night waking.

Aptamil have done brilliantly haven't they, getting hcps to continue spouting that 'closest to bm' line?

jaggythistle · 07/03/2011 13:51

yes, it pops up all the time so i just couldn't let it be on the page without comment!

RitaMorgan · 07/03/2011 13:54

I really depends if the reason he's waking is hunger, or if it's habitual/behavioural/developmental.

Beveridge · 07/03/2011 14:09

DD's sleep patterns fluctuated for about a year before she started to sleep through (most!) nights, I never varied anything and sometimes she slept better than others.

Co-sleeping gets you the most sleep IME (Or sending her off to the grandparents for a night, she ALWAYS sleeps longer for them! Not that I'm bitter ). Can't see how faffing about with bottles in the middle of the night would help you sleep better (which, let's face it, is the real issue!)

And yes, I love that old chestnut about Aptamil too ShowofHands - it's made by the same company as Cow and Gate, so do they consciously make Cow and Gate 'less' like breastmilk to justify the extra they charge for Aptamil?!

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