Breastfed babies sleeping through...?

[purplebluered]

My friend just told me that if you BF your LO then they don't sleep through until you introduce solids...if you FF then they can start sleeping through quite early.

Is this true? And why? And if you BF when did they start sleeping through?? I really want mine to sleep through as I can't function on 5/6 hours sleep! Tho I've been told I'm lucky my LO sleeps 5/6 hours at night...so I'm not complaining!!

Helen

 

[LisaJ1986]

It is quite true, but formula makes babies feel full, whereas breast milk is absorbed better.
I have had stages of sleeping through, but mostly 1-2 wake-ups. In the first week of solids she slept, but not now.
All babies are different though. Some peoples sleep through, some don't. I've started putting her in bed with me after first early hour feed and we sleep til around 8am.

 

[Bee]

Finlay slept through once when I was breastfeeding him - my HV went nuts about this for some reason

He's Formula fed now so he sleeps through the night

 

[charlie84]

It is possible hun
My baby slept through from a few weeks old and she is exclusively breastfed. It lasted until just before she was four months when she decided to wake again throughout the night, but i put that down to a growth spurt. Well that continued up until last night when she slept through from 7.30pm til 7am I am it wasnt a one off and that she will do the same again. She is still exclusively breastfed.

I have to say i have come up against alot of people who said when she started to sleep through that it shouldnt be possible and that if a baby sleeps through that young on breastmilk that the mother must ignore them when they wake
Well i am sorry that is a load of crap i never ignored my baby she just slept through. She ate well in the day and her weight gain has been fab so i have never been worried.

Yes breastmilk is easily absorbed compared to formula but at a certain age anyway a baby can go through without a feed.

Honestly hun if the lack of sleep is getting on top of you make sure you cat nap with the LO in the day. It makes the world of difference. I couldnt do it in the early days but when she started waking in the night again i made myself have a nap when she did. It helped me cope better with the night awakenings.
Or maybe co sleep if you can, so its much easier to pop her on for a feed.

 

[Squiglet]

Don't think it matters tbh... I've seen plenty of mothers on here complaining that their babies don't sleep through and they are formula fed and weaned. And in the first few weeks you learn to survive on little sleep because all babies wake lots to be fed, you just get used to it . You can choose to bottle feed which means having to get out of bed, warm the bottle up, feed it to the baby and settle the baby down to sleep again, or co sleep and breast feed where you pick the baby up the minute it squeaks, shove a boob in its head and go back to sleep I'm far too lazy to bottle feed... besides I think you either get a sleeper or you get a "theres way too much to learn to waste time on sleeping!" baby...

The thing with formula is that it isn't designed for consumption for human babies as such so its not properly absorbed...its why they have smellier poos, and have more gastrointestinal issues... but it also has the added fact that it fools the baby into thinking its fuller for longer... This in turn makes the baby wake less often for food and sleep deeper... the deep sleep is what is connected to SIDS in the same way putting babies to sleep on their fronts also makes them sleep deeper, thus the current medical advice is to put them on their backs and breast feed.

As for introducing solids and making babies sleep... it really isn't a cure Babies like to change the ball game all the time... so while you may have them sleeping 11 hours at night one day they will just suddenly start waking up all hours of the night.... They like to keep you on your toes.

 

[beanie]

Seren was topped up with formula till 2 months and never slept through. She eventually slept through at 13 months. Cally did sleep through at a few weeks, but then when she had a 4 month growth spurt she began waking and hasn't got out of the habit. Solids have meant she wakes less but she still wakes. Like squiglet said some babies do, some don't both on formula and on boob, but at least with boob you can stay in bed.

Do you co-sleep? It has been shown breastfeeding mums who co sleep actually get more sleep. I barely wake when Cally does, just shuffle her over and she latches on and we go back to sleep. I used to nap when Cally and Seren did but Seren has dropped her daytime nap though so I am pretty tired, but its a short stage and soon they will be grown up so I can deal with it for now.

 

[Xena]

It depends on the child.

I was breastfed until I was 3 months, and yet I didn't sleep through until I was 2 years old.

Lydia was exactly the same as me - breastfed until only 3 months, yet she didn't sleep through until she was past 2 years old.

Alex is breastfed still at 13 months, and still doesn't sleep through either, and yet he co-sleeps (whereas Lydia was in her own cot).

I think some babies do, some babies don't. Whilst there might be a general trend that formula fed babies sleep through earlier, if you have baby that wants to sleep through, it will do, likewise if you have a baby that doesn't want to, it won't, regardless of what it's fed.

 

[mamichuli]

As the others said, it depends on the baby, not on if they are breastfed or not. I am convinced of this. I have breastfed all three of them exclusively for the first few months and then weaned them progressively. My eldest woke a couple of times a night until she was over two, my son did the same until he was about one. Ani started sleeping thru at seven weeks. I couldnot believe it. She is now nearly fifteen months and she stll sleeps thru. I have been very lucky this way. Also none of mine have coslept, I have nothing against it, just not for me. As you can see, same treatment, different little people.

Lisa

 

[loz]

Emms slept through from 3 1/2 months most of the time. She has woken more lately but that is because she is teething!!! I think it was because we moved her to her nursery at 3 months and she liked the peace and quiet!!!

Emms was exclusively BF when she started sleeping through.

 

[Sherlock]

I'd say thats untrue tbh

My LO is breastfed and sleeps through and has done for the last 2 weeks. He is 4 months old now. He started around 14 weeks sleeping 8 hours but went from 8pm-4am Once he'd worked that 4am wake up out he goes till at least 6am now

Breastfed babies can go from around 12 weeks for 6-8 hours overnight. Some do, some don't. Some take a bit longer. But that is roughly when their bodies are able.

Formula is thicker and heavier and takes longer to digest is why formula fed babies often sleep through sooner.

And yup, you are lucky your LO sleeps so well

 

[-Kelly-]

Oliver was sleeping through (12 hours) while exclusively on breast milk, but then he slept 6 hours+ from birth - I think a lot of it just depends on the baby rather than anything you do. At 3-4 months he woke once in the night for a feed, then dropped that until he was 5 1/2 months. Since being weaned he has slept terribly, and goes anywhere between half an hour and 4 hours, which I'm putting down mostly to teething, but don't believe that feeling full will guarantee more sleep

 

[DebbieM]

No two babies are the same and yes, where they say that BF babies, don't sleep do, some don't. Luke has been exclusively breastfed and is now 6 months and still doesn't sleep through.. in fact, he sleeps for no more than 2 hours at a time... and thats even with solids now. LOL

 

[Strangeness]

Tamzin is breastfed and will sleep 8 hours but she'll sleep at 7pm til 3am. That's not a written rule though cos some nights she'll wake a couple of times.

 

[maria1976]

Ruby has never slept through, she still wakes up a least 6 times a night Oh well, its worth it she likes to snack (dont we all lol )

 

[lfc_sarah]

Callums breastfed or expressed milk


And he sleeps through

Has done from about 6 weeks

 

[maria1976]

Callums breastfed or expressed milk


And he sleeps through

Has done from about 6 weeks

Im so not jealous

 

[sarah2807]

Violet is bf and sleeps from 7.30 to about 4am then until 7.30. she's slept through a couple of times but usually wakes once. I don't mind only getting up once tho...I'm used to it now and she always goes straight back to sleep.

 

[dannii87]

I can't ever see Evie sleeping through the night! I'm lucky if I get 3 hours without her waking! xx

 

[Squiglet]

Apparently breastfed babies sleep better than FF babies... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17700096 Yet another advantage to sticking a boob in the babies head

 

[MattM]

I can't ever see Evie sleeping through the night! I'm lucky if I get 3 hours without her waking! xx

Luke is like that at 6 months still. Apart from last night. That was extra special. He just didn't go to sleep at all. He's still awake now. And screaming. I'm convinced he has a power-cord up his bum to recharge his batteries constantly.

Kids. Who'd have 'em.