Does formula real help a baby sleep longer? Can't do this anymore.

[holdontohope]

I EBF my daughter who is 10 weeks old. She eats every 2-3 hours during the day. At night she will usually go 5 hours the first stretch and 3-4 the second stretch. She has slept the whole night a couple of times.

What I found works best is a routine. Starting at 7:30pm I cluster feed her. So she will eat, then play, then bath, then eat again and usually once more shortly after. By 9:30pm she is usually asleep. Do you swaddle? If not I highly recommended it! My daughter only sleep 20min-1 hour during the day with out it. Swaddling is amazing!! I also co sleep because she won't last that long in her crib yet. She still has days where she is a mess and wants to eat every hour all night, but for the most part this is starting to work for us!

Formula smells horrible in my opinion and if your baby EBF, they might refuse it for awhile. And adding rice cereal to a bottle doesn't help either. Dr had me try that because my baby has acid reflux and it didn't change her eating patter at all.

 

[ttc bubby no2]

Has anyone got any tips for bed sharing/co sleeping then? I'm getting the impression this so quite normal and it is me not coping with it rather than anything she is doing wrong. I'm scared that I am going to get pnd because the lack of sleep is making me really emotional I need coping mechanisms.

I have tried napping in the day but she only naps for 30 mins max in the day so by the time I got to bed and asleep it would be time to wake up!

She defiantly sounds like a normal baby and it is also normal for you to be exhausted! Tiredness can make you super emotional and everything harder to cope with. I don't think I truly experienced tiredness until I became a mum, now when people without kids say to me they are tired I'm just like 'oh sure, whatever' in my head lol.

She might only be sleeping 30 mins due to sleep cycles and not being able to resettle for the next cycle. With my first I would try to settle him when he stirred if it had only been 30-40 mins but with #2 it was too hard with a toddler around so I just had to put up with it (lucky he was a happy baby even with short naps). Sometimes having them sleep better in the day is supposed to make them sleep better at night but from personal experience it didn't really work that way with mine.

 

[babyface15]

I would be very weary of introducing any formula right now. Your lo is probably trying to increase your supply for her three month growth spurt. Any formula given will further reduce your supply and could make for an even fussier baby if the flow of milk at your breast slows. If you're interested in cosleeping search 'dr. Sears cosleeping'

good luck, it'll get better!! but babies go through phases formula or none and some babies just sleep better than others. xxx

 

[babyface15]

I agree on the swaddle, we used one of those Velcro swaddle sacks at this time and would get an average of an hour extra sleep per waking. she's too big and strong for them now, but we are pretty much full time cosleeping, do I find I'm getting plenty of rest now anyway.

 

[DianaB]

I had to supplement my first lo with formula in the beginning while I was relactating and if anything I think she slept worse on formula then breast milk. I used to make sure she had breast milk at night time or else she would be constantly waking all night from gas and an uncomfortable tummy.

 

[krysb]

Formula will fill up your baby's stomach for a length of time that is usually longer than BM does, AFAIK

Do you have evidence to support this claim?

Some babies feed even more often than yours. It is exhausting and frustrating, but you are doing the best thing by breastfeeding.

 

[AllyTiel]

Different moms and babies have very different experiences. Looks like there isn't a set answer and it will depend on your baby. In our experience, I bf'ed most of the time with a bottle of formula right before bed. My daughter slept 7 hours straight though at 10 days old. That length of sleep increased to 10 hours straight through by a month a half old.

 

[Piper84]

Formula will fill up your baby's stomach for a length of time that is usually longer than BM does, AFAIK

Do you have evidence to support this claim?

Formula contains far more casein than BM. It is digested more slowly by babies, meaning they can go longer between feeds.