Does Formula REALLY Help Baby Sleep Longer?

If you are the one going to comfort him when he wakes at night, he will think food - they can smell it. =) Do you know if he is getting enough breastmilk? At 7 months if he does need to eat in the middle of the night, it should only be once I would think..... could the father go the other 2-3 times, he could rock him or even rub his back - not pick him up. Perhaps it is a comfort thing for him vs a need for food..... good luck

It sounds like could be waking up because he is hungry. I don't know that formula will help him sleep longer, but some solid food, such as cereal at dinner, might help. At 7 months he should be ready for solids.

I don't think so. I've breastfed for 10 months, we've had to supplement off and on because I truly had a supply issue for awhile. I didn't see a bit of difference in his waking pattern. And I gave it right before bed. The problem with giving him formula is that his natural feeding needs are waking him up. When you replace the breastmilk with formula at night, it signals to your breasts that the baby needs less milk and to make less. Then you are making less milk and he could end up not getting enough unless you always give him formula at night. Thing is, whats the point? I far prefer being able to just pop him in bed with me to nurse than to get up and give a bottle.

It does because it is harder for the body to digest formula so it stays in the belly longer. Good or bad, that's the fact of it.

I bfed my babies and my youngest didn't want solid food until close to 8.5 months. Even then -- well, my kids were both terrible sleepers. Many Bfing moms have sleep issues for a year or in my case, more, but for me it was worth it. At least in hindsight it was. :)

I congratulate you on making it this long and I empathise with the lack of sleep. If you're supplementing at this point, I don't think it's bad but I wonder if it's hunger or habit and wanting mommy more at this point.

IMHO, getting up, turning on lights, finding bottle parts, mixing, heating, testing, all of that is so much more work in the night than putting him next to you, and lifting your shirt while you drift back to sleep.

Whatever you decide, I hope you get more sleep because of it!

sleeping through the night is developmental.. the kids grow into the sleeping all night pattern.. it is totally normal for babies to wake to eat once or twice or even more.. they wake up and want a snack to go back to sleep.. he doesnt need to eat this many times a night but he wakes up and cries.. and mom brings food..

my duaghter slept through at 7 months my son not until age 2..

I personally don't believe that formula will make a baby sleep longer. I have been through 3 babies and am pregnant with the fourth. My son didn't sleep through the night (even after cutting out the night time nursings, no formula, just not allowing him to nurse) until he was 18 months old. My oldest daughter slept through the night starting about 10 months. My youngest daughter slept through the night at a glorious 4 weeks old. I always fed each one whenever they woke at night until 9 months, then no more night time feedings.....just cuddles and back to bed. Obviously, not my 4 week old.....but if she did wake on occasion, I fed her.

I believe every child has his/her own needs and desires. Not one of my children followed a chart all the way through their baby and toddler years. The "books" and "professionals" can only give you guidelines and/or averages......not what is going to happen for your child.

Not being there, I can't say for sure, but partly could be your reaction with his night time crying. 2 of my 3 children would "talk" (cry out) in their sleep and I found that I was actually disrupting their sleep patterns. I understand your not wanting to wake your husband, I never did either, because my husband gets up about 3:30 - 4am most mornings for work. However, I soon learned that he is just as much the child's dad as I was the mom and sometimes that means missing out on some sleep temporarily. It is just a stage and it too will pass, but not unless you let it! ;)

Good luck and use your mommy instincts!

I agree with the comments about giving him some solids. I would caution about giving your little guy with formula from personal experience
(I actually lost my milk due to a medical condition) when I had to put my daughter on formula after she was used to breast milk it really upset her stomach, which lead to many nights of screaming and discomfort until she was used to it. If you do decide to supplement with formula, you should also know that it can actually decrease your milk production because of less nursing. It's the whole "you only produce what your body thinks baby needs" and if he's not nursing and you aren't pumping it will put a pretty big dent on your production.

The questions you're asking are so common to breastfeeding mothers. I'd really encourage you to contact your local LLL group. You can find the one nearest you by going to llli.org

Adding formula to the diet will potentially cause her to sleep 3-4 hours. But remember, you're offering her a potential allergen.

You might want to read some parenting books on sleep. The LLL groups will have some you can check out for free.

Best of luck.

Nope, doesn't work. I haven't personally tried, but my sister weaned all 4 of hers at 6 months to formula. Some parents find it easier, because you can just hand your LO a bottle and let them self feed - however that is NOT recommended.
I also have to note that breastfeed babies SHOULD eat through the night if they are hungry! Not feeding them at night is outdated advice and can lead to supply issues and even failure to thrive. It is perfectly normal for children under 6 months to nurse frequently (every 3-4 hours and more often during growth spurts). Breast feeding is on demand... that means night time demand as well!
Good luck!

I was unable to breastfeed like I would have liked but my son woke up every night until he was 9 months old at around 4 a.m. for a feeding, his bedtime was 8:30 p.m.

When I went for his 9 month check up his doctor told me to give him water when he woke up for the 4 a.m. feeding, so I did.

The first night he took a couple of sucks and when back to bed. The next night he woke up and I did the same thing only this time when I put the bottle in his mouth he pushed it away and went back to bed. He never woke again for a middle of the night feeding.

I hope this can some how help! Good luck!

It did help my son sleep thru the night! I went back to work when he was about 8 weeks old. My pediatrician and my mom recommended I give him formula before bed. I would put him to bed around 11:00-11:30 pm and he would sleep thru the night until about 6:00-6:30 am. I still BF in the morning and after work. It was a lifesaver, I needed my sleep too.

When my son was first born we would put him in a bassinet beside our bed at night. He would wake up many times during the night. Once again my mom suggested putting him to bed in his crib. She said my brothers and I always slept much better in the crib than bassinet. We tried it and after a few nights, he was only waking up once or twice a night, or about every 4-5 hours.

I know you have a lot of advice, but I agree that maybe keeping him in your room is causing him to wake up. I exclusively breastfed both of my daughters. We let our oldest sleep in the room until 6 months and she was sleeping through the night by 6-8 wks but then stopped because she would hear us move and that would wake her. My youngest was premature so I didn't want to move her out at 6 months, but she would roll over in the PNP and then cry out for me to get her. We moved her to her room but she still didn't sleep through the night until well after 1 year old. I would try finding a way to temporarily move your 2 year old to let the baby have his own room. See what happens. He just might surprise you and sleep through the night.
Also, there was a time around 9 months when the youngest wouldn't take any breastmilk when I wasn't around (I am a working mom). I broke down and tried some formula. She refused to drink any of it, to the point that she would vomit anytime she drank anything. Training him to formula may not work as well as you think.

It worked for me! I started giving formula before bedtime at about 4 months old. At first there was one wake up during the night but after a short time...sleeping thru the night and it was awesome!

I don't think it works, and if he hasn't had formula or a bottle yet, he may not take to it anyway. It could be teething pain that is waking up your son too, not just hunger, but I felt like if my son woke up and was hungry, I would feed him, unless it was excessive. My son would wake up maybe once or twice at night until he was 9 or 10 months old, so I don't think this is out of the realm of normal. But you could make the decision to feed him only once or twice at night, say at 10 or 11, and again at 4 or 5, and then if he happens to wake up any other times at night, don't get up, and let your hubby put him back to sleep, so he knows not to expect you. Honestly, making your hubby get involved may have him getting less sleep for a little while, but your son will start to realize that he doesn't get any benefit from waking up, and may start to sleep longer. But not cutting out night feedings completely will ensure that he is still getting enough milk.

Nope! At least not in my experience. My first daughter was weaned at 5 months and still woke up 2-3 times a night. Sometimes she'd take a bottle and sometimes she wouldn't. My 10.5 month old daughter just now started sleeping for long stretches of time and it's still hit or miss. She starts her night in the crib and when she wakes up, I just pull her into our bed and nurse her lying down. I usually fall asleep before she's finished. Sometimes she doesn't want to nurse, she just wants to be close to someone.
The only thing that I've found that kinda helps is solids right before bed. Your little guys is old enough to be getting baby food or cereal. Maybe a little of that immediately before bed would help.
The other thing you might want to consider..is he nursing because he's hungry or for comfort? If he nurses for just a few minutes before dropping off to sleep, it's just for comfort. In that case, maybe just giving him some snuggles would work. But, it sounds like you do co-sleeping? So, maybe he really is hungry. I don't know. Like you, I'm a SAHM, so we never really did any type of sleep training. I figure they'll sleep when they sleep. I totally know the feeling of being exhausted though! Good luck!

No.

But, I would check to make sure that he is latching on properly and that you are producing enough milk... if not, he will not be getting enough intake... and this means a hungry baby whose intake is not keeping pace with him or his growth and development. 6 months was a growth-spurt time.

If you start to 'replace' Formula, in lieu of nursing, then your milk production WILL decrease.

It is really up to you.
But he is 7 months old and they do wake. Both my kids were like that too and very heavy feeders (I breastsfed), when growing... which seemed always.
I woke a lot too. It is normal.

To me, he sounds hungry... and at his 6 month growth-spurt time... he did not increase his intake proportionately.
Are you still feeding on-demand 24/7? For the 1st year, a baby still needs this.

Many babies, do NOT sleep through the night at this age.... not until much older.

Dear J.,
I hear you about needing your sleep!
I don't know about formula making your baby sleep better, but I believe that while I was exclusively breast feeding, I didn't get pregnant. As soon as I started supplementing cereal, or anything, I got pregnant. I used to take our babies in my bed for the night time feedings. She would nurse while I slept. The worst thing that happened was that I sometimes woke up with a stiff neck. I got used to sleeping with a nursing baby, or any way I could.
Congrats on your large family!
Good luck,
N

At 7 months old your baby should not be waking up at all. However its up to you to let him know that its night night time. Formula does not help him sleep longer. He cries for you (not your b**b) and its become a habit for him. its up to you to break that habit. Tell you hubby to buy a pair of earplugs or go sleep in a hotel for a week. Even though he works 12 hours a day...you are working 24 and that is not fair to you. It should take about a week to break this habit but worth it. As My hubby and I say, "its the worst week of your life, but the best thing you ever did".
Something to try is put your baby to bed in another room so he is not IN the room with you guys. My baby is accross the hall. when we sleep trained her, we put her in her crib, said good night and turned our monitor off. we still heard her cry but it wasnt as loud as when she is was right next to us.. We did this when she was 4.5 months old (im a working mom and my 12 hour days were horrible) we were able to get 9 hours solid after a week.Good luck. I STILL remember those sleepless nights. they super stunk

I forgot to mention food. (sorry I just assumed) is your baby eating solids? Cereal? try that first..it may help fill his tank longer in the night time.

I would get through the feedings "as usual" rather than start giving him formula. There isn't much real evidence that supports formula helping babies sleep through the night; I beleive that is more wives' tales. 4 months is still pretty young and a lot of babies don't sleep through the night by then. I had the same problem with my second and third kids, who I breastfed until they were 1. You're right-it's exhausting. However, I didn't use formula (which is food) to try and fix a behavior (sleeping); I just think it ended up working out if I patted them on the bottom to get them back to sleep or if they really wanted to, I nursed them (maybe they were really hungry of touching and patting didn't help?). But they both got a lot better by 6-8 months. Good luck.

It sounds like you got a lot of advice on formula/solids/or not, but what if you and the baby or your husband slept in another room if you decided to let the baby cry? My husband works a 24 hour shift, so I never was comfortable having them scream while he was sleeping either. Once or twice I had him sleep on the couch in the basement, so I could get the kids to sleep longer at night. In the end that worked out best for everyone.

Breast milk is easily digested making a baby feel hungry sooner than they would on formula. With that said formula probably would help your baby sleep longer, or perhaps the better choice would be to begin solid foods and keep on exclusively nursing.

I think I stopped multiple night time feedings around this time. My son was starting to eat a lot of solid food during the day and I started doing oatmeal and bananas before I put him to sleep and that seemed to help a lot. As I recall he was going down about 7PM and I was waking him up to nurse him at 11PM before I went to bed and he would sometimes sleep all the way through until about 5AM, have another drink and go back down until 6:30 or so. Of course, this scenario only occurred when he wasn't having a growth spurt, getting teeth or sick!

I believe seven month olds can physically make it through the night without nursing, but it does take some fiddling to figure out what keep them full. I don't think milk alone does it. I can totally appreciate not being able to let him cry it out in the night because of sleep needs and I do think seven months is too young for that anyway.

Good Luck.

the theory behind formula helping babies sleep longer is that it takes longer to digest keeping baby fuller longer. however this depends on your baby my son is exclusivly formula fed and has eaten every two hrs since he was a week old (except at night he has slept through the night since month 4). however if your son in 7mnths old he does not need the nutrition he did when he was a newborn and doesnt need nightly feedings unless he is not getting enough to eat during the day. When he wakes up at night try just rocking him or singing to him or try giving him a bottle with a little water in it. once he sees he is not going to get to nurse he might get bored and stop waking up so much, giving him formula might help if he is hungry but like i mentioned before 7mnth old dont need that extra nutrition so i dont think giving him a bottle would really help....good luck!

If i were you i would try a bottle with cereal warmed a little bit not to hout for him of course you need to test it before giving it to him.but this is what i have done for both my girls and it seemed to work for both.but i hope this helps you. good luck

I haven't read the other responses & I'm sure you'll have a few moms recommend against this. However, as a mom... my dd started sleeping 9 & 10 hours through the night when we put cereal in her formula. It thickened it up really nice & her belly was full and cozy. She'd pass out & we wouldn't see those pretty blue eyes again until morning. I can't remember if my daughter liked the oatmeal or the rice more but play around with it. It did wonders! Good luck Momma!

What helped me get my son to start sleeping longer was moving him from our room to his own room.
I know you said he will share a room with your 2 year old- maybe you should try it out for a couple days. The biggest issue with my son (who was breastfed and still waking up 2-3 times a night at 9 months) was that if he woke up at night and saw me, he wouldn't stop crying until I picked him up.
Once he moved to his own room it was like night and day. I don't agree with the "cry it out" method, so when he woke up at night and started crying I went to go get him but guess what? He stopped before I even got to his room! :)
Try putting him in your 2yr olds room. It might work, it might not. I'd advise against the formula though. There's a reason babies sleep longer with it- its harder for their belly's to digest.

I was in almost the exact same situation. My guess is that your son is waking more out of habit than really being hungry. He has just gotten used to waking up and eating, so you need to get him out of that habit. I had my son in our room so he wouldn't wake up my other one and was also afraid of him waking my hubby, so would nurse him every time he woke up. At two years old, he is still waking up every 2-3 hours (not to eat, but wanting me to comfort him or sleep in our bed) and has really bad sleep habits. I don't know how you feel about letting him cry it out, but it might be a good time to do that. Maybe suggest that your hubby sleep on the couch for a couple nights so that he can still get a good night's sleep? If not, maybe try to comfort him back to sleep without feeding him. At 7 months, he should be able to sleep through without eating, or maybe just one feeding. I hope things get better for you, good luck!

My doctor told me when I had my first that babies do not need to eat at night after the first 2 weeks of life, that they do it because we train them too by using food to put them back to sleep rather than teaching them good sleeping habits. Following that advice both of my boys have been sleeping through the night since 1 month old, even when I was breast feeding only. Your child is older, so it will take some time for him to learn to comfort at night with out food, but you can help him. At first it may be best to have dad go in to comfort since the child knows you are the one with the food supply.