Formula Feeding Mothers get less sleep

J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2007 Jul-Sep;21(3):200-6.

Breast-feeding Increases Sleep Duration of New Parents.
Doan T, Gardiner A, Gay CL, Lee KA.

From the Department of Family Health Care Nursing, School of Nursing,
University of California at San Francisco.
OBJECTIVES: This study describes sleep patterns for mothers and fathers
after the birth of their first child and compares exclusive breast-feeding
families with parents who used supplementation during the evening or night
at 3 months postpartum. METHODS: As part of a randomized clinical trial, the
study utilized infant feeding and sleep data at 3 months postpartum from 133
new mothers and fathers. Infant feeding type (breast milk or formula) was
determined from parent diaries. Sleep was measured objectively using wrist
actigraphy and subjectively using diaries. Lee's General Sleep Disturbance
Scale was used to estimate perceived sleep disturbance. RESULTS: Parents of
infants who were breastfed in the evening and/or at night slept an average
of 40-45 minutes more than parents of infants given formula. Parents of
infants given formula at night also self-reported more sleep disturbance
than parents of infants who were exclusively breast-fed at night.
CONCLUSIONS: Parents who supplement their infant feeding with formula under
the impression that they will get more sleep should be encouraged to
continue breast-feeding because sleep loss of more than 30 minutes each
night can begin to affect daytime functioning, particularly in those parents
who return to work.

Great Barb! So good to see something to de-bunk the myth that FF babies sleep through the night, as opposed to BF babies who don't! It really bugs me when people say that, because it obviously isn't true!

I must say, I had a very frequent waker/feeder, but never really felt the sleep deprivation (I didn't catch up through the day either.. not a big fan of day sleeping except when I'm pregnant!).. and I totally put it down to the lovely sleepy hormones that come with breastfeeding.. so whilst I had to get up plenty of times per night.. I didn't really have to wake up fully.. and often fell back to sleep either whilst feeding, or straight after with no problems.

I think if I had to prepare a bottle, and then try to settle the baby back to sleep without boob.. I would have been more awake, and felt the sleep deprivation more.

Very interesting - thanks Barb!

Chelsea has slept thru the night since she was around 8 weeks old and she is FF. I dont believe thats the reason why though. All babies are different regardless how they are fed IMO.

True Kimbaz, but studies can show a trend amongst bigger numbers... so we might know a handful of mums experiences but big studies can spot trends in larger trials. I was talking to a FF mum today and she told me that on her mum's advice she started FF and it didnt make a dent in the child's sleeping (or lack of!).

I'm not sure if it's a thing about the baby sleeping through the night at all to be honest. They were talking about the parents, so think of it this way (in very general terms)....

BF mum gets up, whips out a boob & you're off, then puts bub to bed & nods off herself, no need to fully wake up really. (Although not being able to BF first time I'm not sure if there is anything else in there?).

FF mum gets up, goes to the kitchen, gets the bottle, heats up the water, mixes the formula powder in (which has to be exact), feeds baby, puts baby back to sleep, back to the kitchen, rinses the bottle, back to bed. You have to be totally awake to measure of the formula or you're in trouble & it takes longer to get back to sleep from fully awake.

So yep I definitely agree with the study!

Thank God I breastfeed then, because I really do get a crap night sleep in with Tehya.

Sarah, can't you make up the bottle before you go to bed for the night hun and put it in the fridge ??

Fingers crossed for both of us that these next bubba's sleep good.

I can see this as I had to comp feed Maggie early on along with feeding her ebm. There were some nights at 3am when I realised that I had no bottles left for the next feed, so once I got her to sleep I had to stay up washing and sterilising. I did have the formula pre mixed up for the feeds, but I still had to boil the kettle and wait for the bottle to heat.

both my boys were formula fed and sleep just fine!
Austy slept thru the night from 6 weeks of age and slept for 3-4 hours in the day and Jensen sleeps all night and has two separate naps during the day and he has been just on formula.
I say bring on the formula!

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I'm not sure if it's a thing about the baby sleeping through the night at all to be honest. They were talking about the parents, so think of it this way (in very general terms)....

BF mum gets up, whips out a boob & you're off, then puts bub to bed & nods off herself, no need to fully wake up really. (Although not being able to BF first time I'm not sure if there is anything else in there?).

FF mum gets up, goes to the kitchen, gets the bottle, heats up the water, mixes the formula powder in (which has to be exact), feeds baby, puts baby back to sleep, back to the kitchen, rinses the bottle, back to bed. You have to be totally awake to measure of the formula or you're in trouble & it takes longer to get back to sleep from fully awake.

So yep I definitely agree with the study!

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when Jack was still waking for a bottle, we were up and back to bed in 15mins and out to it like a light so I dont see how it makes any difference



besides 1/2 dozen times and when he has been sick Jack has slept thru from 10weeks whether it is because he is f/f I dont know or the fact he is a placid calm baby

I dont think it matters whether bubs is b/f or f/f I have friends who f/f and ones who b/f and they all have problems the majority of them are still getting up to feed and our babies are aged between 1 last may to a 1 week younger than Jack I personally think it depends on the baby not the method of feeding

I think it's an important myth to dispel though that swapping to formula helps with sleep - it doesn't - just like some FF babies sleep through early, so do some bf babies...

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I think it's an important myth to dispel though that swapping to formula helps with sleep - it doesn't - just like some FF babies sleep through early, so do some bf babies...

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I think this is an important point, that people shouldn't assume swaping to ff will help bubs to sleep through.

I ff and this was certainly NOT the reason I swapped from bf to ff.

I don't agree though that I get less sleep, in fact I think I get more. DD was more unsettled during the night when bf, although it was when she was newborn and also my DH does a couple of night feeds, usually the weekend so I can sleep through. We also prepare our bottles before going to bed at night, so I only have to heat it up, which happens when I am changing DD, so I don't think it takes that much longer.

Hands up here - I had a bf baby that slept through the night from 6 weeks! So I agree that you don't need to introduce ff to get them to sleep through. I think it depends on the baby too. Now baby no 2 is 11 months, also bf and still doesn't sleep through very often. So they are all different.

I don't think this study is saying that babies are all the same and bfing is always going to give more sleep. What it IS saying is that it's a myth that supplementing with formula at night will make baby sleep better. Sometimes it will, often it won't. And that's important for people to know, because the first advice given to mothers of babies who are not sleeping through is to supplement with formula at night. The advice comes from grandparents, friends, even MCHNs and doctors. And often, by introducing the bottle, bfing suffers, and the baby doesn't sleep any better. So then there are mums who are not getting any extra sleep AND are stressing and grieving the deterioration (or even the end) of bfing before they were ready. That doesn't help anyone. So if a study has been done which shows some anecdotal evidence that ffing isn't the panacea for sleeping through that it's touted as, then make it known! Let people know so they can make more informed decisions, especially when they are tired and vulnerable.

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FF mum gets up, goes to the kitchen, gets the bottle, heats up the water, mixes the formula powder in (which has to be exact), feeds baby, puts baby back to sleep, back to the kitchen, rinses the bottle, back to bed. You have to be totally awake to measure of the formula or you're in trouble & it takes longer to get back to sleep from fully awake.

So yep I definitely agree with the study!

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As a Mum who FF, I have an avent cont that keeps the correct amt of formula in it ready to go at night, I have never heated the bottles it's not actually necessary & it's harder when out if you can't heat a bottle & that's all bubs is used to. So I have the bottle & cont with formula on my bedside table (no need to go to Kitchen), mix it, shake it when bubs wakes up then feed. I'm done & in bed back to sleep in less than 15mins...he scoffs his night feed. We have a recliner & I close my eyes & doze whilst feeding. And I'm lazy, the bottle gets a good wash in the morn, not that night LOL.
Yes I agree with what the study is saying, just wanted to point out that if you are organised etc it's not such a huge task at night time. And if bubs is in own room regardless of BF or FF you still have to get up, get bubs & regardless of how bubs is fed they always have to be put back to sleep. Doing it on their own or not is a different story.:)

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FF mum gets up, goes to the kitchen, gets the bottle, heats up the water, mixes the formula powder in (which has to be exact), feeds baby, puts baby back to sleep, back to the kitchen, rinses the bottle, back to bed. You have to be totally awake to measure of the formula or you're in trouble & it takes longer to get back to sleep from fully awake.

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Not to mention the times where you lose track of scoops and have to start again. Or when you overheat it and have to contend with a screaming baby whilst holding the bottle under running cold water to try and cool it down ;)

Trish - I don't think you are supposed to heat the premixed formula in the microwave - apparently it can damage some nutrients... So you should heat the water first, then add the formula. Mind you, I didn't know this fact until a looong time after Aidyn went on formula.

Or Ambah you can reheat it as per expressed breast milk but it takes even longer. So yes Trish you can make them up prior to using them, but I never did.

our little bubs is EBM and FF and it doesn't really take that long at night - all her bottles for the night are prepared and placed in the fridge, When she wakes they get heated to room temp. It prolly only takes me a few mintues to get a bottle at night.

I do admit it would be alot easier if she would attacth then i wouldn't have to leave the room at all.
As for sleep we get about 8hrs a night at the moment - thats with feeds.

I think its like most have said it really depends on the baby.

Imagine those of us who do both. I was trying to both ff and bf during the night for a few months. I ended giving up on the a few weeks ago because I was getting so much less sleep. I now jsut FF her at night. I have a bottle warmer which I keep the water in and just add the formula to. She's such a slow eater and we are using slow flow teats so it takes her about 30mins or so for a feed at night. And I don't rinse the bottle in the night either I do it first thing in the morning. But all up I would say I am awake for about 45mins or so, then I do find it hard to get back to sleep again. I am greatful she's only waking once in the night now. A few weeks ago she decided it was time to wake 3-4 times and I was buggered, that's why I gave up on bf at night too.

It's not just the quantity of sleep that maters it's the quality.
I don't think that this study looked into sleep quality but I remember one of the midwives who visited me at home telling me that breastfeeding stimulates a bio-chemical reaction that makes it faster to fall into deep sleep. So even if the quanities are not so differant I would think that getting more deep sleep would have quite an impact.

I will admitt I have never found it hard to fall asleep after feeding bubs. When DH works night shift & I watch bubs 24/7, feed, bath, play, clean house & so on I am that tired I am dying to get back into bed!! before bubs was born I couldn't sleep when DH worked the night shift, I was a whimp - watched telly all night. Now I'm in bed & out in 5mins until bubs wakes up for a feed. So can't say I feel I lose any sleep FF, but again I can certainly see what the study is saying.

The trouble I would have filling out this study is that some nights I wake up with DS in bed with me and I simpley cannot remember getting out of bed, picking him up, lying down, pulling my top open and latching DS on - so I am thinking I also cannot remember night feeds when he's already in bed (I have to check with DH to see if he recalls any more wake-ups). So can other mummies who co-sleep and BF?

But I am very rested and wouldn't be if I did formula because you have to be awake for that. But not all FF mummies get up - remember my mum's SiL who told me formula was easier because you sleep with the made-up bottle of formula next to your skin all night to keep it the correct temperature?

(BTW, DH and I agreed he did 6ish hours last night, we feel great now!)

I wonder if the reason that some of these mums had their bubs on formula in the first place was because they were already unsettled/sleeping poorly? So then it stands to reason that they would continue to be unsettled/sleep poorly even when ff is introduced? Just a thought. I found that when I conducted a study on popular parenting practices that only a very small percentage of mums actually choose to ff from day 1.

Can you tell I've never had to use formula before. LOL. Ask me about breastfeeding and I can answer you though.

I dunno really Ryn but DD never had FF at night because it was such a hassle. By the time i weaned her at 7months onto FF only she wasn't waking in the night for a feed anymore. I remember the first week or 2 being a hassle at night - having to wake up, sit up latch and re-latch her until we got it right and then it took sometimes an hour for her to feed because it's a tiring business when they're tiny. But when she was like a month old we'd gotten into the groove and when she was 2 months old XP and i split and he moved himself to the spare room so we could co-sleep more then (he wouldn't let me before then). From then on i slept in no bra and to be honest i was only aware the next day that i'd fed because there was milk on the towel i slept on (to catch leaks from the non-suckled boob when i got let down). Very occasionally i'd wake to roll me and her onto he other side so she could access the other side, but hardly ever.

I was always grateful that my milk lasted in the nights until she didn't need it anymore.


Bx

I think one of the reasons a BF baby *may* sleep better (or appear to sleep better) if a bottle of artifical infant milk is given is because the baby has to work so hard to digest it. BM is easily digested & is so with in 2 hours. Where AIM takes much longer and is harder work on the digestive system of a BF baby.
So while they may appear to be having a better nights sleep it may actually be because their little body is working so hard to digest the concret in their gut that it shuts down so it can work on that & that alone. But you may also end up with a very unsettled baby that just doesn't know how to deal with sucha heavy tummy.

Isn't this about the Parents getting more sleep, not the bubs?? Think it's more to do with how you feed, do you have to get up & so on. Not sure that it was in regards to what you feed baby makes them sleep longer.

Erin, your right its about the amount parents get. But the topic has got side tracked I think. Well I did anyway LOL

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Imagine those of us who do both.

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I hear ya!! When I was breastfeeding and supplementing with formula, each night time feed took approx 1 - 1.5 hrs. Thankfully it was only 2 or 3 times per night, or I would never have gotten any sleep.

I wonder if the study took into account how the breastfeeding was occurring? I was never able to get the knack of bf lying down. For me, night feeds always involved getting out of bed, having to position myself correctly sitting upright before I could bf, so ff was only a minute or two longer (to heat the water in the microwave and add the powder).

In the early days I was feeding in the rocking chair in DS's room. But I still didn't feel the sleep deprivation.. like I said before, I reckon the sleepy hormones that come from breastfeeding were doing the trick with me.. which I believe would improve the quality of the sleep I did get.