Sleeping and the breastfed baby

Jillsee

FTM here! Xp on BF board.

LO is just 3 months old (13 weeks) and exclusively breast fed. He has almost doubled his birth weight and is by all accounts a happy baby (he has his fussy days, don't get me wrong haha)

Now, onto sleeping at night ... What is normal? Better yet, what is healthy. I hear conflicting ideas regarding how long they should sleep without feeding. I know formula fed babies may sleep longer due to slower digestion etc. LO has bee sleeping 4-8 hr stretches this past week and as much as I want to embrace the sleep I'm nervous he is hungry/not getting enough. I was told by pedi (around 2 mo) that a BF baby shouldn't sleep more than 5 hrs without a feeding. Baby J is a month older now so I'm sure it changes but 8 hrs feels so long. Especially since it feels like just yesterday we were feeding every two hours!

Thanks in advance for your input and advice!

LisaLisa1980

Screw what your dr says! Your baby will wake up when he's hungry. If he happens to sleep longer on some nights, just let it be. It's nothing to worry about.

HarleyKins

I BF and use formula. We get up once at night. On nights I used formula before bed,she slept no different than the night she got BM.

HarleyKins

I BF and use formula. We get up once at night. On nights I used formula before bed,she slept no different than the night she got BM.

poppyc8

wow! congrats! follow babies lead and enjoy the sleep while you can.  since some babies STTN at 3 months and then at 4 months everything can really change/4 month wakeful.

Team Kimball

I breast feed exclusively and my son has been sleeping for 7-11 hour stretches since he was around 3 months. Like many people said above, they'll wake up when they're hungry! It sounds like weight gain isn't an issue.

luvbug6315

I EBF too and my little one was going about 6 hrs at night then we hit the four month wakeful, now it's every three hours at night. Enjoy your rest and trust your baby. He knows what he needs and will wake when hungry.

pinottoparenthood

That's ridic. At 6 weeks my baby was sleeping 5-6 hour stretches, and by 2 months 6-7 hour stretches. Starting at around 3 months he was sleeping through the night 10-11 hours. He is EBF and chunky. Enjoy the sleep!

kmc84

pinottoparenthood said:

That's ridic. At 6 weeks my baby was sleeping 5-6 hour stretches, and by 2 months 6-7 hour stretches. Starting at around 3 months he was sleeping through the night 10-11 hours. He is EBF and chunky. Enjoy the sleep!

Same for me! If baby is sleeping, let him sleep! My lo cluster feeds before bed and has been sleeping at least 10 hours since 3 months. She is EBF.

rac717

Agreed.  Mine sleep 6 hours, feed and then sleep another 5.

Eleventy11

I wish pedis knew a little more about breastfeeding! Mine is kind of clueless, but did point out early on that a hungry baby won't sleep. Enjoy the sleep while you can. Every baby is different and will have different patterns. My DD started STTN, eight hour stretches, at three weeks. She didn't double her birth weight until nine months. My DS has gained weight more rapidly, but very rarely goes more than six hours at three months. Both of them were EBF on demand.

stacey171

longer stretches are fine now

rm2013

Agree with all the PPs. Your baby will let you know when he's hungry. Sleep!!

Jillsee

Thank you all for your advice/stories/input! Following LOs lead these past few days, enjoying the sleep Plenty of wet diapers and weight gain...plus frequent day feedings are helping to make me mentally comfortable with him sleeping long stretches. Thanks again to all!