I have a sleep theory... Please answer

Like... Did the breastfed babies never "learn" to sleep longer stretches because they fed more frequently, and so now they still don't know how to sleep long stretches and are almost just in the habit of waking even if they don't have feeds in the night? Did formula fed babies learn to sleep longer stretches because they were fuller for longer, and now they are just able to carry on that pattern

I’m very interested in this, I’d still breastfeed my next if we had one, but god do I wish he slept through 😅 18 months now and still waking twice a night for breastmilk

Bad sleeper, still breastfed lol

This is same for us, every baby I know that is breast fed doesn’t sleep bar one, I definitely think it’s to do with comfort and waking for comfort and connection

Mines is a good sleeper, was bottle fed breastmilk for 6 months then formula fed for the remaining 6 months

I formula fed but do believe breast fed is better (IF possible). This makes me think more along the lines of….maybe babies aren’t biologically meant to be good sleepers?? My formula fed toddler has been a bad sleeper in the past up until 14 months when I just started sleeping through. I don’t believe this had anything to do with formula as he was off it by then. If you’re talking about when he was a baby, then he was up every few hours to feed up until 12 months.. I think breast fed toddler wake up more, from what I’ve seen. But I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, I think it’s quite normal.

@Emma I’ve heard this but don’t know if it is actually true, but apparently them waking up is a safety thing like you said. Although, I think they also wake more because they can smell the milk, and then it’s hard to get them out of the habit because when you soothe them they smell it on you. My boy smells it and already starts turning and hunting for the nipple 🥲😂

@Aisha yes I’ve definitely heard that they can smell it!! Delicious milk on tap for them isn’t it haha x

Well, my bf baby woke up twice in last year, but she feeds 2-5x a night.... She doesn't wake, just moans for boob. So technically she is an amazing sleeper, sleeping through. Me on the other hand.... 😂😂😂

Mine sleeps 12 hours every night and is a very good sleeper and was breastfed until 8 months!

Mine was breastfed until a year and is an amazing sleeper. She woke up a lot while we had her in a bassinet but we moved her to a floor bed in her own room and she immediately started sleeping 8-9 hour stretches (8 months old) and by 12 months she was sleeping 7pm-8am and still does at 18 months, sometimes even until 9am and still takes her 3 hours nap

my LO was a good sleeper till 6 months then horrific till 16 months when i broke and sleep trained because I couldn’t take any more and she was formula fed but now sleeps like a dream so not sure if it was the formula or sleep training

@LeAynne till 8am wow that is the dream your so lucky my little girl does 7ish till 6/7am but 8am is a lay in i’m jealous haha

I'm still breastfeeding my 18 month old and he has been sleeping through since around 7.5 months.

So this is really interesting to me as I'm in the same boat. Every baby I know that's ff is a brilliant sleeper from very early on as it's true that formula has more bulking agents (that are totally safe to consume btw they'd not be allowed to put it in as formula is so heavily restricted) so it fills them for longer whereas breast milk is adapting to what baby needs per feed etc (not sure the validity of this so someone please correct me if wrong). I personally can only produce colostrum (it's an actual issue in my family the women physically can't make milk) so did 5 days of colostrum then swapped to formula when it ran out and was getting 4-5 hour stretches from a few days old and then by 8 weeks both my babies have been sleeping 12-13 hours no wakes no feeds and wake up content in the mornings

Thanks for your replies everyone - looking at the results it looks like it is pretty clearly a pattern - the majority of "good" sleepers were formula fed, and most "bad" sleepers were breastfed with the exception of a few lucky ones whose breastfed babies sleep well now they're toddlers. My son was breastfed til 8 months - then he had formula before bed and for night wakes he settled without milk even though he still woke a lot. At 18 months he rarely sleeps through. As sad as it is, this poll makes me consider formula feeding my second baby and not bother breastfeeding in the hopes that I get a baby who sleeps well

@Emma there's new research coming out that apparently now theorises that baby sleep is inherited from parents. So if one or more parents were excellent sleepers baby will be too. I from a few weeks old (ff) slept through as did my mum and so in turn my brother and my kids but their dad was an awful sleeper. My best friend and her partner both were bad sleepers and so is their child. I think there's a lot that goes into it but it does seem formula fills them for longer

@YazmynJade I don't think this is the case - me and my partner were both good sleepers as babies as our parents have told us this, but our siblings were much worse. And our son is not a good sleeper at all!!

If you're able to breastfeed, it's the most amazing thing you can do for your baby and this is coming from a Mumma who's baby still wakes every hour at 18 months

@YazmynJade that’s really interesting! I’m definitely a light sleeper and so are both my parent and my boy is too!

My daughter sleeps through the night from 8pm-7:30am and she was breastfed until 17 months when she naturally weaned :) She only ever woke 2-3 times a night for feeding when she was still in the room with us x