Can I Breastfeed and Sleep Train?

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I did SO much reading and researching. Probably more than I did during phases of my college education! I was determined to learn as much as I could about what was happening to my body, the birthing process, and everything else about having a baby so I could be “prepared.” (HA!)

What I wasn’t prepared for was the overwhelming amount of information along with how much of the information seemed to be conflicting! Like most other parents, I looked at all the information and put together what I felt was a strategy and approach I felt most comfortable with. 

But one area that I truly felt lost was breastfeeding and sleeping. Since I had zero personal experience in this area and no one close to me that had a wealth of knowledge regarding breastfeeding, I truly felt a little lost on this one and couldn’t find a middle ground between the two conflicting sides of information. Could I breastfeed and sleep train so we could all start sleeping better?

One of the main arguments against breastfeeding and consolidated sleeping was that breast milk gets digested faster than formula, so breastfed babies need to eat more frequently, even during the night. Otherwise, they’ll be unable to sleep or will suffer from malnutrition. 

Yes, there are different schools of thought on this matter and whichever one feels best to you is probably the one you have subscribed to. But, like most areas in parenting, there is not so much of a right vs. wrong as opposed to what’s right for your child and your family. So let’s break down a few facts about breastfeeding before trying to decide if sleep training will work for you. After all, what’s the point of sleep training if your baby’s nutritional needs prevent them from sleeping through the night? 

 Interesting fact: Nobody sleeps through the night. 

You may think you do, or did before you had a baby. Or that your deeply snoring partner does, but unless you’re heavily sedated or passing out after a truly top notch bender, you actually wale up several times a night, every night, and you always have.  

When we sleep, we all go through “sleep cycles,” and these cycles go from light sleep, into deep sleep, then back to light sleep and repeat again. This happens about four to five times each night. When we reach the end of a cycle and enter back into that really light stage of sleep, we often wake up. People who think they sleep straight through the night simply don’t remember these brief rousings, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. 

Babies’ sleep cycles are shorter than adult ones, so they wake up more often during the night. Babies who are “sleeping through then night” are in fact still waking up, they just manage to put themselves right back to sleep on their own without help from mom or dad. 

 So when we talk about a baby sleeping through the night, what we’re really just saying is that they’re able to get to sleep on their own and have what I refer to as independent sleep skills. 

 It doesn’t matter if baby’s breasted, formula fed, or having Whataburger for 3 meals a day. They are going to wake up at night, multiple times, for the rest of their lives. 

 Now, let’s talk about breast milk digestion. 

Breast milk does digest faster than formula, but not to the degree that is often described. Newborns eat about 2-3 hours if they are effectively breastfeeding. If the baby is eating formula, that number may move closer to 3-4 hours. As babies get older and their stomachs grow larger, it’s common to see many babies eating every 3-4 hours (regardless of the source).  

So it’s not that formula magically keeps your baby satisfied for 10 or 11 hours. Their stomachs are still small and they are going to eat frequently throughout the day.

What this actually means for parents in the newborn phase is no, you or your baby will not be sleeping all night. Its just part of having a young baby! It’s likely that you may have to get up at least once during the night until they hit 6 months of age. 

But what this doesn’t mean is that sleep is put on the back burner until they hit 6 months of age. Quite the opposite, actually, teaching your baby to fall asleep independently is something that you can’t start too early. I just hope to be clear that if they are under 6 months of age, it may not be realistic to expect a full night’s sleep just yet. It just doesn’t depend on whether they are breastfed or formula fed. Both have similar results when it comes to keeping a baby well fed and growing. 

However, generally after the 6 month mark, most babies should be able to start sleeping through the night without a feed, including breastfed babies. (This is where things can heat up a bit between the two sides of this debate).

Let’s say you breastfeed on demand, which is very popular and an approach I fully support if it works for you, your baby, and your schedule. If baby is waking five times a night for a feed, the principle of feeding on demand would require you to get up and feed baby five times a night, correct? 

Sure. But if baby’s hit 6 months of age, gaining weight at an appropriate rate for their body, and able to eat enough during the day, chances are that baby is not waking during the night based on caloric need. The most common reason for waking at night past the 6 month mark is because eating is part of their strategy for falling asleep. 

Sleep Routines

This is something else we have in common with our babies. We each have our own strategy for falling asleep. As grown ups, we create our own routine to get ready for bed and do it each night. It helps signal our brains and bodies that it’s time for sleep! 

Baby sleep strategies are simpler than ours, but they still serve the same purpose. They help your baby reach a comfortable and predictable place so their system recognizes what’s coming and what they are supposed to do, and they are able to doze off. 

If feeding is a part of that strategy, then it doesn’t matter if there’s actual food coming or not. It’s the sucking motion, the feeling of mom cuddled with them, and the familiarity of the situation that enables them to fall back to sleep and they can become very dependent on it. 

While every baby is different, and some may actually still be getting hungry during the night and need to eat, there are a few indicators that can help you determine if those nighttime wake ups are the result of hunger or lack of independent sleep skills.  

·       Does baby only take a small feeding when they wake in the night? 

·       Do they fall asleep within five minutes of starting their feed? 

·       Does baby eventually go back to sleep if they don’t get fed? 

·       Do they sleep only 45 min to an hour after a nighttime feed? 

If you answered yes or some or most of those, then it’s probably safe to say your baby falls into the feeding as a sleep strategy camp, and could truly benefit from learning independent sleep skills! It doesn’t mean that you can’t breast feed on demand, or continue breastfeeding in general, just that you’ll have to reassess when exactly baby is demanding a feed vs. when they are looking for help getting to sleep. 

So to answer the questions I asked in the beginning of this post, if sleep training and breastfeeding are mutually exclusive, the answer in my mind is a very clear NO! Breastfeeding can be a wonderful experience for both mom and baby and I support it 100%. I was fortunate enough to breastfeed both of my children so far, and they were also able to become fully independent sleepers throughout our breastfeeding experience. 

Having a baby who can sleep through the night is not quite as magical as a mutually beneficial breastfeeding relationship, but it sure comes close, and there is no reason why you can’t have both together.  

As always, if you need a little help guiding you through the occasionally tricky process of teaching your baby to sleep through the night, I’ve got you covered. Send me a message so we can get your family rested sooner rather than later!