Is this a myth or is there some truth behind it? Do babies who only breastfeed sleep worse and those who drink formula sleep more? Well, it is neither true nor false at all. I would say that breastfed babies sleep “differently” than bottle-fed babies.
What is a baby’s dream like?
The first thing to know is that babies’ sleep is very different from that of adults and older children. Newborns alternate only 2 sleep phases (the 4 of us): active sleep and quiet (or deep) sleep. Progressively the dream matures and they acquire new phases, which can increase awakenings. It is not uncommon to see babies who slept for several hours at a time that, around 4-6 months, begin to have more frequent awakenings.
On the other hand, babies “do not distinguish” day from night the first months; that is, they do not have an established circadian rhythm (whereby we sleep when it is dark and we are awake when it is light). Around 9-12 weeks they begin to acquire this circadian rhythm but it is not until the fifth or sixth month when it is fully established. Thus, until that age it is common for babies to alternate periods of sleep with periods of awake throughout the 24 hours of the day, regardless of whether it is day or night.
And finally, and especially during the first months, babies need to eat very frequently (a newborn usually takes between 8 and 12 feedings a day).
For this reason, it is essential that as parents we lower our expectations and assume that babies do not sleep straight. The good news: Every baby’s sleep improves with age .
Do infants who breastfeed or bottle sleep better?
This topic has been extensively studied but the results are not very conclusive. Several studies have concluded that babies younger than 6 months who are exclusively breastfed have more nocturnal awakenings than those who drink formula.
This may be due, on the one hand, to the fact that babies who drink breast milk need to eat even more frequently, since breast milk is digested better and faster than formula. On the other hand, to guarantee an adequate production of breast milk, babies need to breastfeed very frequently (the greater the suction, the greater the production).
However, they have not found differences in the total duration of sleep or more difficulties in conciliating it . What’s more, breastfed babies seem to sleep better and this may be due to the presence of melatonin in the breast milk that we produce at night. Melatonin levels in breast milk have been shown to be undetectable during the day, rise at night to a peak at 3 am, and then fall again.
Another advantage that breastfeeding offers in relation to sleep is that it prevents sudden infant death . In addition, breastfed babies have been found to have fewer sleep-related breathing problems.
And, on the other hand, babies who drink breast milk are less likely to suffer from infant colic. This crying, predominantly at night, is one of the most frequent problems that babies present in the first 3-4 months of life and is another cause that parents (and babies who suffer from them) sleep less at night .
Beyond six months of life, it seems that the method of feeding does not influence sleep as much . In Australia, Hysing interviewed more than 55,000 mothers and found no relationship between exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months of life and shorter sleep duration or more awakenings between 18 and 24 months of age.
And do breastfeeding mothers sleep worse?
Although breastfed babies seem to wake up more at night, at least for the first six months of life, this does not have to affect mothers. Therese Doan studied the sleep of a group of mothers in their first month postpartum and found that mothers who exclusively breastfed slept half an hour more at night than those who gave some formula at night (or always formula), without finding differences in number of awakenings or daytime sleep.
Additionally, breastfeeding mothers seem to have more sound sleep and fall asleep better . This may be due to prolactin , a hormone released during the night that plays a major role in breastfeeding.
Will my sleep improve if I mix breastfeeding?
Some families decide to give their babies a bottle at night to help them rest better. We have just seen in the previous study that giving some formula at night does not make the mother sleep better (it was associated with half an hour less sleep at night compared to mothers who were exclusively breastfeeding). It also does not appear that babies who are mixed breastfed sleep better than those who are exclusively breastfed or those who only receive formula.
In addition, prolactin, the quintessential breastfeeding hormone, is released primarily at night. Substituting nightly breast feeds for a bottle during the first weeks or months postpartum can interfere with the supply-demand system that regulates the breast and may decrease the production of breast milk.
If I give my baby cereal or more food during the day, will he sleep better?
WHO and other pediatric societies recommend exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months. Although there is not as much evidence for formula-fed babies, the trend is to wait until this age to start complementary feeding as well. However, many families decide to start it earlier, especially cereals, in an attempt to make their baby sleep better. But is this a myth or a reality?
In 2015, a study was carried out with 715 mothers with babies between 6 and 12 months of age and they found that, when babies were fed more during the day (they drank more milk or more solid foods), they were less likely to They needed to eat at night but no less likely to wake up .
It has also been studied whether giving cereals to babies before going to sleep improves their sleep and it has been shown that there are no differences.
And in this 2010 study, a relationship was found between the introduction of solids before 4 months of age with a shorter duration of sleep.
It is important to note here that complementary feeding should begin around the sixth month of life, when the baby is ready, but never before four months .
In summary, we will say that babies who are exclusively breastfed seem to have more nocturnal awakenings than those who drink formula. However, this does not appear to have an impact on total sleep duration or on conciliation. In addition, breastfed babies have other sleep benefits, such as less risk of sudden infant death, infant colic, or sleep-related breathing disorders.
On the other hand, mothers who breastfeed fall asleep again more easily and do not sleep less at night than those who give formula. Breastfeeding or feeding a bottle of formula at night has not been shown to improve a baby’s sleep.
After six months, sleep patterns do not seem to be influenced by the type of diet. Giving our baby more food during the day will not make him wake up less at night (although it is less likely that we will have to feed him in those awakenings). The good news: Babies’ sleep improves with age.
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In Babies and more | How to safely prepare a bottle of formula milk
