@nader1 Formula takes longer to digest, babies tend to start sleeping sooner, but introducing a bottle at bedtime doesn’t have a significant impact on the length of night sleep. Breastmilk is protective against sids for reasons unknown. Part of the theory is that babies wake more frequently but we don’t really know that- as far as I know I could have missed something in research. There’s nothing wrong with feeding either way and each one has pros and cons.
If you decided you want to continue breastfeeding both the academy of breastfeeding medicine and the NHS have changed their stances to be that breastfeeding mothers shouldn’t be discourage from bedsharing if certain guidelines are followed. It’s not always feasible for everyone but it could be an option if formula doesn’t improve your sleep situation.
@nader1 I had a great sleeper who breastfed as a newborn. His sleep turned to shit around the 4 month regression. But as a newborn he frequently slept 5+hr stretches, sometimes 8hrs.
Post 4mnth regression and sleep training, he was still a good sleeper, which being breastfed. Good is subjective though.
@nader1 I combo fed from the start and noticed that my daughter slept far better when we gave her formula at night rather than breastmilk. Even when I was pumping and giving her 80% breastmilk we made sure to give her formula as the last feed of the day because it was the difference between a 3-hour stretch and a 7-hour stretch. I hope things get better for you and the formula at bedtime works!
@nader1 I've got a breast fed (through exclusive pumping due to body issues) unicorn sleeper, at 3ish weeks we had to wake her up to feed at night at 2m we stopped that and since then she (8m) has slept 12+ hours a night with occasional wake ups for her pacifier only, 70% of those she self soothes/puts her pacifier in herself. The only downfall is we get maybe 2 naps of maybe 40 mins max and she won't sleep until 10pm or later. Super anecdotal since it's just my experience though
@nader1 Anecdotal - my baby is EBF, this has always been straight from the breast, never had a bottle. He started sleeping 10 hours at 3 months, 11 at 4 and 12 at 5. He's now almost 7 months old and only wakes at night when he's sick or teething.
@nader1 My first baby didn’t sleep at all. We coslept out of necessity ( I followed all the recommendations to minimize the risks there was a very helpful post the other day about this I’ll find for you if interested)
Second baby, is a unicorn. Sleeps 8 hours then another 3 every night with one 3 am feed. He’s 13 weeks old. Had slept like this since 5 weeks.
Both EBF. Babies are all different. You should try whatever you want to and if BF is affecting your mental health formula is better. but I advise against getting your hopes up or risking your supply by FF and not replacing a pump session if breast feeding is important to you.
ETA: here is the post that talks about cosleeping and how to do it safely.
@nader1 My understanding is bf mums tend to get more sleep dye to the amount they are awake when bub does wake. So rather than getting up prepping a bottle, feeding, rocking etc bub bsck to sleep and 5gen trying to go back to sleep themselves, it's wake up boob bub and they go to sleep feeding - or if bedsharing Pop boob in mouth and everyone goes back to sleep together.
@nader1 My 6 week old is a unicorn sleeper so far and we combo feed. My midwife is adamant that breastmilk should make her more tired because of my tiredness hormones but honestly she almost never falls asleep from breastmilk only while going into "food coma" stage with formula (even if amounts are the same). So while I don't have evidence based studies to show, I would say anecdotally I agree that formula makes them sleep better and longer.
@nader1 We supplemented with formula from around 4-11 months and it made no difference in terrible sleep. He got a bottle before bed as well as throughout the day. I would do 1-2 bottles overnight too depending on if I thought he was super hungry. What’s made a difference is his age (now 27 months) and night weaning in the last two months. He did not sleep through the night ever until we started night weaning.
I suspect there is a huge variation on whether formula helps with longer stretches depending on the baby and other routines they have.
My son has his own room now and a floor bed that I usually spend part of the night on with him. I cannot recommend the floor bed enough. My son would wake up every time I tried to lay him in his crib or I would spend forever leaned over patting his butt. This way I can put him to sleep and ninja roll away.
@nader1 I only have my own experience, which is that my kid is 8 weeks old and 100% formula fed. Has been since he popped out. He's been a great sleeper since he came into the world - with the exception of the first few days.
At the hospital the nurses told us to keep him awake to feed him more per sitting, so that he goes longer without getting hungry and therefore longer without waking up. So that's what I do. He's regularly taking 100-150ml at a time, so I make sure to keep waking him enough to finish a bottle and he'll go 3-5hrs without waking/needing to eat.
I've always assumed that the reason breastfeeding babies don't sleep as much is because they're not getting the same volume per feeding so they need to feed more often - but having never tried it myself I have no idea if this is true. I've always wondered.
@sunrise1471 Might be the volume thing. Also anecdotal but my LO definitely slept longer stretches when dad would feed him a bottle (of breastmilk) which would guarantee a 4-5oz feed right before bed, as opposed to me nursing him, which could be any number of oz. (I know I pumped 3-5oz in a session but I don’t know baby actually drank that much from the breast in a given session, especially right before bed, as he would often doze off while nursing.)
But… some babies are just gonna sleep better or worse than others, and some babies are just gonna need more or less support (including feeds, regardless of if it’s breastmilk or formula) overnight than others.
@nader1 Anecdotally, my son was mainly formula fed and was a terrible sleeper. He had horrible reflux, so that didn't help. From the time he was 4 months, to 13 months, he woke 6-7 times a night, every single night. I thought I was gonna lose my mind.
@nader1 My babe gets hungry sooner even during the day if he drinks breastmilk. He can go a little longer between feeds if he has formula. But not too much longer. Maybe that’s what that refers to. Your babe will get hungry when they get hungry during the night and wake up for food whether breastmilk or formula. Now the quantity of either that my babe drinks before bed is what helps him to sleep better. He cluster feeds at night so he drinks a lot and gets really full for a good nights sleep. Most times that doesn’t even help and he still gets really hungry and wakes 2x overnight still for a feed. Always formula.
@nader1 My understanding is that breast milk reduces SIDS because babies tend to wake more to feed so they’re never really in a state of deep sleep. With my daughter my mental health improved so much once I started her on formula and she did so well on it. Now I’m expecting baby 2 and as much as I want to try breastfeeding again, I just can’t take the lack of sleep so I think it’s likely I’ll be doing formula again.
@nader1 I have 3 children my first only formula fed was a terrible sleeper unless she was being held. My second breastfed until 5 months was a good sleeper at first and slowly got worse. Baby #3 12 weeks old also breastfed has been sleeping a 6 hour stretch since 6 weeks.
@nader1 My son is formula fed and 8 months and still wakes 1-2 times a night most nights. My daughter was breastfed and weaned herself by 8 months. But, my daughter slept poorly and was sensitive about it and my son, aside from waking to eat, sleeps well.
But! If you do formula then someone else can take a shift. Either your partner or an angel friend or family member can step in and let you have some uninterrupted time. Because of other reasons when my son was a newborn I was getting dangerous levels of sleep deprivation. We switched to formula and I would get 8-1 or 2 am where my husband would be awake and take over. He had to be awake so that I could sleep, otherwise I would hear baby before him. Someone needs to take a shift for you, put a sound machine on loud, close all the doors and rest.
