Switched to formula and baby naps forever now!

[Laeyla]

Is this normal or out of the ordinary at all?

I was exclusuively breastfeeding but decided to make the switch gradually to formula. Today is his first day of all formula feeds. Since we've started giving him formula he naps for soooooo long now. He used to only nap for 20-40 minutes at a time about 3x a day. Now he seems to want to sleep all the time and for long periods. He now naps for at least an hour at a time and wants to nap about 4x a day now. He used to sleep through the night but started waking up 2-4x which was part of the reason we switched to formula. He seems to be sleeping better at night now, only waking up once now. Last night he made it to 4am until he woke up.
Is this normal for him to be napping so much now? Has anyone else noticed this when/if they switched from BF to FF?

 

[Maviyildiz]

At your LO's age, babies start consolidating sleep into longer segments so it could just be a coincidence. Or not, I couldn't say as we are still BF...I was curious about how your LO handled the switch? Sometimes I consider switching too, and I wondered about how non-newborns take to it.

 

[Laeyla]

Thanks for the reply! He actually handled it really well. I was kind of surprised I didn't get more of a fight with it. We never really gave him bottles of breastmilk so I thought we would have problems with him taking the bottle but he took to it right away. After only a couple bottles he was reaching for them as soon as he saw them and makes noise for it, lol it's cute. It kinda hurt my feelings a little...seems like he likes it more than when I breastfed him, lol!
We had also started him on cereal recently before we started giving him the formula and we mixed it with formula instead of breastmilk so that might have helped with the switch as well.

 

[overcomer79]

you are fortunate. My ff baby never naps and still wakes up twice a night. Really depends on the baby.

 

[Twinkie210]

I EP with occasional formula feeds and it made a world of difference just switching to bottle feeding over directly from the breast. He would take larger feeds and gained weight so much better when we switched to bottles. He is so much happier drinking from bottles than he was when he was breastfed!

 

[Irish Eyes]

It's probably the novelty of being able to get lots of milk really easily, a bottle takes hardly any work compared to the breast. It's also thicker than BM so will make him feel more full. Is he having a lot for each feed?

 

[bookreader]

My HV told me before that breastmilk is digested faster, so maybe your baby is fuller for longer.

 

[Laeyla]

It's probably the novelty of being able to get lots of milk really easily, a bottle takes hardly any work compared to the breast. It's also thicker than BM so will make him feel more full. Is he having a lot for each feed?

Yeah, he finishes 8oz bottles no problem and still seems to want more after that. He's had a couple 9oz bottles too...he never turns away from it. He did the first bottle but hasnt since.

He also seems a lot happier now too...he definately seems to enjoy it more. And I can already notice a weight gain. I just find it a little surprising that he used to refuse to sleep longer than 20 minutes and now sleeps for an hour, sometimes more and seems to yawn again shortly after such a long nap.

 

[Irish Eyes]

It's probably the novelty of being able to get lots of milk really easily, a bottle takes hardly any work compared to the breast. It's also thicker than BM so will make him feel more full. Is he having a lot for each feed?

Yeah, he finishes 8oz bottles no problem and still seems to want more after that. He's had a couple 9oz bottles too...he never turns away from it. He did the first bottle but hasnt since.

He also seems a lot happier now too...he definately seems to enjoy it more. And I can already notice a weight gain. I just find it a little surprising that he used to refuse to sleep longer than 20 minutes and now sleeps for an hour, sometimes more and seems to yawn again shortly after such a long nap.

Imagine that BM is like your lunchtime salad, it satisfies you for a couple of hours. Then formula is your christmas dinner where you eat as much as you can. You're so full afterwards that you have a great nap! It's easier for baby to drink from a bottle and some women do feel that they seem more settled when on formula. He'll settle down with it soon and will probably eat a bit less.

 

[mommy0629]

It most likely just that the formula is taking longer to digest, so he feels fuller for longer and the full feeling is letting him sleep better, plus you mentioned that you started on cereal right before the formula switch, so that's keeping him full much longer than either bm of formula alone.

I think you're probably still wondering why though he seems more sleepy even after he wakes up? Sleep induces more sleep, so it's actually because he's sleeping better and longer that he's sleeping more. I hope that makes at least some sense lol.

It's not something to worry about though, it's good He's getting the rest he needs now finally and may even need to catch up on some sleep a bit. It should balance out in another week or two I'd imagine.

 

[Laeyla]

Thanks for all the replies. He still seems to be sleeping for hour long naps 3-4 times a day. Still waking up once a night as well. Most friends and family members say I need to cut a nap out to get him to sleep through the night cause he's sleeping too much during the day now......but I haven't even attempted to keep him from taking a nap. I let him sleep when he wants and it doesn't seem to make him wake up any more at night so I don't see why I would regulate his naps. Does anyone do this? If I tried to entertain him instead of putting him down for a nap he'd just get super cranky.

 

[Irish Eyes]

Sleep=more sleep! It's very normal for him to wake once in the night, once is good! Don't mess with something that's already working!

 

[mommy0629]

Thanks for all the replies. He still seems to be sleeping for hour long naps 3-4 times a day. Still waking up once a night as well. Most friends and family members say I need to cut a nap out to get him to sleep through the night cause he's sleeping too much during the day now......but I haven't even attempted to keep him from taking a nap. I let him sleep when he wants and it doesn't seem to make him wake up any more at night so I don't see why I would regulate his naps. Does anyone do this? If I tried to entertain him instead of putting him down for a nap he'd just get super cranky.

No, don't mess with it. The last thing you want if for him to get overtired and cranky, he'll actually sleep worse at night if that happens.

What happens at night when he wakes up? Does he take a full feeding and then go right back to sleep? There are other ways to wean him off of that night waking, cutting out a nap won't help though.

 

[Laeyla]

No, don't mess with it. The last thing you want if for him to get overtired and cranky, he'll actually sleep worse at night if that happens.

What happens at night when he wakes up? Does he take a full feeding and then go right back to sleep? There are other ways to wean him off of that night waking, cutting out a nap won't help though.

I was slowly switching to formula from breastfeeding so I still breastfeed him at night when he wakes up but it's not a full feeding. Only a few minutes and I put him back in the crib and he's fine. He's always been like that...when I was just breastfeeding him it was obvious he wanted to eat at night...he'd kind of gnaw at the air til I got him to the breast. But now he doesn't do that but I still just feed him for a few minutes...seems to be the only thing that works.

 

[mommy0629]

No, don't mess with it. The last thing you want if for him to get overtired and cranky, he'll actually sleep worse at night if that happens.

What happens at night when he wakes up? Does he take a full feeding and then go right back to sleep? There are other ways to wean him off of that night waking, cutting out a nap won't help though.

I was slowly switching to formula from breastfeeding so I still breastfeed him at night when he wakes up but it's not a full feeding. Only a few minutes and I put him back in the crib and he's fine. He's always been like that...when I was just breastfeeding him it was obvious he wanted to eat at night...he'd kind of gnaw at the air til I got him to the breast. But now he doesn't do that but I still just feed him for a few minutes...seems to be the only thing that works.

Yeah, it's just a habit then really, definatly doesn't have anything to do with his naps. It's probably best to just stay with that for a little while longer since it's only once and only takes a few minutes, then you can try weaning him off of that little middle of the night comfort suckle when you feel like he's ready.

 

[Michelle80]

Formula is harder to digest than breastfed milk so they basically stay fuller for longer! hence why they can sleep longer. I have done a lot of reserach on this because i plan to bf but i will only be doing it 5-6 months because i know ill be a crap mother if i dont get proper sleep over a long period of time.

 

[Irish Eyes]

Formula is harder to digest than breastfed milk so they basically stay fuller for longer! hence why they can sleep longer. I have done a lot of reserach on this because i plan to bf but i will only be doing it 5-6 months because i know ill be a crap mother if i dont get proper sleep over a long period of time.

By the time you get to 5/6 months then all babies can sttn & you'll find formula won't make a difference at that point. My ff baby wakes every hour whereas my friend bfs her same age baby and he sleeps 8-8! Please don't switch just because you think baby will sleep better!

 

[Laeyla]

By the time you get to 5/6 months then all babies can sttn & you'll find formula won't make a difference at that point. My ff baby wakes every hour whereas my friend bfs her same age baby and he sleeps 8-8! Please don't switch just because you think baby will sleep better!

I have to agree with that. I was exclusively breastfeeding until now and my babe's always been a really good sleeper at night. At around 2 months he was sleeping through the night...he probably would have sttn earlier but I woke him to feed him. Around 3.5 months he started waking up 2-4x a night , which was part of the reason we switched to formula. All babies are different.

And for an update on my lil guy he's slept through the night again for the last three nights!! Yay! I've also still been letting him nap as long as he wants during the day - which now seems to be 930-11, 1230-2, and 430-530 bed at 8 wake up between 7 and 8.

 

[Michelle80]

Formula is harder to digest than breastfed milk so they basically stay fuller for longer! hence why they can sleep longer. I have done a lot of reserach on this because i plan to bf but i will only be doing it 5-6 months because i know ill be a crap mother if i dont get proper sleep over a long period of time.

By the time you get to 5/6 months then all babies can sttn & you'll find formula won't make a difference at that point. My ff baby wakes every hour whereas my friend bfs her same age baby and he sleeps 8-8! Please don't switch just because you think baby will sleep better!

oh no that is just one reason, We need to TTC when LO turns 6 month due to my age and hubbys count. Took us 2 years to concieve this one. Im going to need regular periods back you see.

I know everyone is different, but the only 2 ladies i know now (in real life) who BF still get up through the night there babys are 6 month and 9 months.

Like I say im going by my experience too, my first born -13 years ago mind, was FF and started sleeping through at 6 weeks. Back then most people around me who had babies including my 2 sisters both FF and no one still got up through the night after a couple of months.