Question for babies who sleep through the night

blondii428 · October 2013

For those of you lucky mamas that have babies that sleep through the night, do you formula feed or breast feed?

I ask because I've heard that formula is more filling, so even though I've been EBFing I've wondered if it would be worth giving him a bottle of formula before bed.

blondii428 · October 2013

Edit: Sorry I meant formula feed or breast feed--totally lacking sleep haha

ForeverNewlyWeds · October 2013

I'm EBFing and baby began sttn (6-8 hr stretches) around 7 weeks with no supplementing.

We occasionally use bottles for pumped milk but typically that is in the middle of the day. I don't think we have used them at night yet.

ForeverNewlyWeds · October 2013

Also - I've found that having lots of naps during the day and getting DS to bed early really helps with sttn (more so than feeding). Counter intuitive but true. Our worst nights are when DS doesn't sleep a lot during the day.

We are still working on getting naps consistent but I do a lot of letting him sleep on me during the day so that he can sleep well at night. I don't get a ton done during the day but its worth it to me to get a good shot at a decent nights sleep.

rooftop · October 2013

LO began STTN at week 3 and we EBF she won't even take a pumped bottle. I think my MW said it more has to do with weight gain than what they are eating. She said I could expect longer stretches after she hit 10 lbs and thats about when it happened

SarahinMD · October 2013

DD1 STTN starting at 5 weeks, and was EBF. DD2 is five week now, not STTN, but will start night with a 5-7 hr chunk. Feeding, desire what people (some of them doctors) say is not a major factor in STTN. Kids are different and it seems to be developmental. I wouldn't do formula...I highly doubt it will make LO STTN

kalemi · October 2013

DS is 12 weeks and has been sttn 10+ hours since 6 weeks. Thats him though. He loves a long sleep and one long nap. Otherwise he is up all day and takes a few very short power naps. He is eff but when I was bfing and pumping he slept about the same as he did when we switched to formula at 3 weeks. He put himself on his sleep schedule at 6 weeks. Had nothing to do with being eff over ebf

blondii428 · October 2013

Ok that's what I figured but thought I would see if it made a difference at all.

michnfrankstake2 · October 2013

Ebf here and lo sleeps until 7 am and goes down by 10pm. This did not happen with ds1. What I attribute this to is bedsharing, not what we feed him..thay and a lot of luck. When he wakes up in the morni ng he eats and promptly goes back to sleep in my arms ♥♥

CBiggs85 · October 2013

DD started sleeping an initial 7-8 hour stretch at 7.5 weeks and she is EBF. I don't think being FF or BF has anything to do with it. She used to give a 5-6 hour stretch but once I became really conscious about her awake/nap times during the day, I saw a huge improvement in her night sleep.

MagickalNarwhal · October 2013

This baby is mostly FF but also has breast milk in a bottle some times. She has slept thru the night for about a week (hope I'm not jinxing it!). My older one was also on a combo and didn't sleep through until after he was a year, even when we had periods of him being 100% on formula.

VPGIRL06 · October 2013

my LO was fed breast milk until 12 weeks, and "slept through the night" at 8 weeks.

Breast fed babies do eat more often, but it usually means they eat more THROUGH THE DAY. Sleeping through the night is usually dependent far more on genetics and temperament than what they eat or what they weigh-it's also a maturity of the sleep cycle. My DD would wake up throughout the night, but didn't cry and just played in her crib or worked on a skill until she fell back asleep.

RuralRoots · October 2013

My son is formula fed at 12 weeks and does not sleep through the night. He usually eats every 3 1/2-4 hours during the day but seems to go a little longer at night.... 5-6 hours. If you don't supplement formula at any other time during the day, I would definitely stick to breastfeeding. Formula causes so much gas!

Good Luck

mommabmb · October 2013

At 5 weeks we are 50%ff and 50% pumped bottles. He sleeps from 11p-545a every night. I probably just jinxed it.

JCWhitey · October 2013

DS started STTN at 3 weeks and is breastfed. He stopped STTN at about 9 weeks but that's due to a huge growth spurt where he's gained about 3 pounds in just as many week. Big guy needs to eat!

DH and I have started taking turns with feeding at night, though. I pump just before going to bed and will usually take the first feeding while DH takes the second. I'm the only one working right now and have to wake up at 5:45 so this way I get a little more sleep. If you are really needing sleep, this may be an option for you. But I wouldn't add in formula just to try to get your baby to sleep longer. For one your baby may not react well to the formula and then you have a sick/fussy baby on your hands who won't sleep because they aren't feeling well.

thedash · October 2013

DD is four weeks old and slept 6 hours the past two nights. She is EBF. DS was eating pumped milk supplemented with formula and didn't sleep through the night for months and months! At 2.5 years old he's still just not a great sleeper. I think it's temperament in some part.

pantsarella · October 2013

DD sleeps 5 hours at a time at night (I've read 5-6 hours counts as STTN- ugh). She's FF and on the higher calorie version because she wasn't gaining weight fast enough. Honestly, it just seemed to me like she gradually just slept longer as she got older. There was no change after we moved her to the higher calorie formula, which in theory would keep her fuller longer.

CaliforniaDream87 · October 2013

Not true for everyone. My LO is FF and has woken up every 2 hours since birth.

Ardmhs83 · October 2013

It doesn't work. When my DS was a nb I thought this would possibly work too, since everybody was telling me to do it. I never felt comfortable giving him formula, so I never did it. It is honestly in the babies personality. Some sleep, some don't...no matter how you feed. I wouldn't do formula before bed b/c it could screw with your supply.

Leosmom13 · October 2013

My LO is 8 weeks old and has been sttn for about a week. He is ebf and sleeps for 8-9 hour stretches!

babybranch · October 2013

My LO is FF (i breastfed for as long as i could but i didn't have the supply for him to continue). He sleeps on average about 6-7 hours at bedtime

TheLittleRedM · October 2013

I EBF and LO sleeps anywhere from 5-7 hours a night. I think it really just depends on the baby. Some babies just take longer than others before they sleep through the night regardless of how they are fed. My cousin formula fed hers and her way of coping with his MOTN feedings was to simply give him a bottle and leave him be to feed himself when he was old enough to hold his bottle. He didn't start sleeping through the night until he was about 18 months.

JustBeGr8ful · October 2013

DS has been STTN since he was about 7 weeks. He is EBF. I cluster feed the last three hours before I put him down for the night (730, 830, he gets his bath then last feeding at 930). He usually wakes up around 6am to eat but goes right back to sleep until 730 or so.

kjojola · October 2013

I think every LO is unique when it comes to sleep/eat patterns. For my DD it has been routine that gets her down from 10:30pm to 6 or 7am. EBF at 8:30pm, (bath every 3 days) then again around 10 and let her fall asleep in my arms, change her diaper, swaddle and put to sleep. She also doesn't sleep flat yet, she sleeps in an angled bouncer in her crib. I am planning on transitioning her to just her crib but it still freaks me out a bit.

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