Sleep training a breastfed baby?

MANG0MAMA · June 2013

Since sleep training seems to be a hot topic, may I ask how do you sleep train a breastfed baby. I mentioned to DD's pedi at her 4 month checkup and he just said its harder when breastfeeding but it didn't register to ask why it's harder. Do you guys have experience/ advice? DS was bottled fed breast milk with formula supplement so I don't have any breastfed baby sleep training experience. TIA

kleigh926 · June 2013

I don't know why it would be harder. Maybe because generally people think that breastfed babies need to eat more often than formula fed babies, even though that's not necessarily true.

We're in the process of sleep training our BF'd baby right now, and it's going way better than expected. I don't want to jinx myself, but it turns out maybe she just wanted to be laid down instead of rocked and held all the time! She typically eats around 4:30-5:00 every morning, so at that point I don't try to get her to go back to sleep because I know she's hungry.

kbates85 · June 2013

I don't see any reason why it would be harder. DS is EBF and although we didn't sleep train I'm able to put him down awake and he usually sleeps 10 to 12 hours.

There is an old wives tale that formula feed babies STTN sooner because formula isn't digested as quickly as BM. However this is simply not true as proven by the fact that DS regularly sleeps 12 hours.

Do you have a specific goal in mind with sleep training? Are you trying to get LO to STTN or just put down awake, learn to self soothe?

ally2011 · June 2013

kbates85:
I don't see any reason why it would be harder. DS is EBF and although we didn't sleep train I'm able to put him down awake and he usually sleeps 10 to 12 hours. There is an old wives tale that formula feed babies STTN sooner because formula isn't digested as quickly as BM. However this is simply not true as proven by the fact that DS regularly sleeps 12 hours. Do you have a specific goal in mind with sleep training? Are you trying to get LO to STTN or just put down awake, learn to self soothe?

I don't know that that is necessarily not true, all babies are different. I do think that formula takes longer to digest and can help some babies sleep longer. There are also EBF babies who can go all night, like your son. My daughter on the other hand only makes it a max of 6 hours before she is hungry again....which I don't mind so much as it is good cuddle time and I know it won't last forever....and she is a good napper so that helps. That said, I would be lying if I said I was not a little jealous of your 12 hours!

somebuddiesgettingmarried · June 2013

I'd love to hear other opinions on this because I'm in the process of getting ready to do some sleep training and am not sure where to start! My LO has never slept longer than 8 hours without wanting to eat. In the past few days, she's started waking every 3. I don't even think she's really "hungry" but just wants to comfort suckle. She's still in the RnP next to our bed but is really pushing the limit for her so we're planning on moving into the PnP over the weekend. I'll have to see how it goes!

I'm also still nursing to sleep most of the time. Hopefully it doesn't bite me on the a$$!!

MANG0MAMA · June 2013

My goal for sleep training is that she learns to self soothe and wean off the nursing to sleep. Right now we are using every sleep crutch possible. Swaddle, white noise, nurse and rocked to sleep then i put her in her swing. If were lucky we'll get 6 to 8 hrs straight. Otherwise in the crib we wakes every 2 to 3 hrs. That's why I think she needs to learn to self soothe.

It also takes a few rounds to helping her fall back asleep before she really falls into deep sleep. We start the night routine around 8. She gets a bath, lotion, diaper, Jammie's and she sings with daddy for few minutes and then I nurse rock her to sleep. Most nights she wake up 2 to 3 times after the first time I put her down. Some nights I can't really get her to sleep until 11:30. She's not a great mapper either. It's usually 30 to 45 min max. If she somehow gets 1.5 hr in, the her bed time gets pushed back to 10.

I' m not too ambitious I just want her to fall asleep on her own and be able to sleep in her crib for 6 hrs.

I'm not a big fan of CIO methods what worked for you ladies?

wifeofadam · June 2013

IMO it's harder because of how BFing works. When baby goes through a growth spurt they sometimes need to wake frequently through the night to help increase your milk supply. If you're denying those cues you can cause problems.

Also, it is true that breastfed babies often need to eat more frequently, although as PP mentioned, some babies are fine with going all night without eating. All of mine have needed to nurse multiple times through the night until close to a year, but that could probably be because we don't introduce solids until then. A baby who is sleep trained could potentially adjust and just nurse more during the day to compensate for the lack of milk at night, but I think sometimes it's hard to get to that point. Just my experience.

Also, breastfed babies tend to want to nurse for comfort. None of my babies wanted anything to do with lovies - blankies, toys, stuffed animals, etc. I was their lovie. They also haven't been fond of pacis. Because they would rather nurse for that comfort, it's harder to get them attached to those items that help with sleep training.

Every baby is different though.

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