Our purpose was to explore maternal actigraphically measured sleep, subjective sleep reports, and daytime functioning on the basis of current feeding method status during postpartum weeks 2 through 12.
Objectively measured total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and fragmentation, subjectively reported numbers of nocturnal awakenings, total nocturnal wake time, and sleep quality, and sleepiness/fatigue measured by using the fatigue visual analog scale, the Stanford Sleepiness Scale, or the Epworth Sleepiness Scale were assessed.
We did not find differences between women who were exclusively breastfeeding, exclusively formula feeding, or using a combination of the 2 methods, with respect to the assessed parameters.
Efforts to encourage women to breastfeed should include information about sleep. Specifically, women should be told that choosing to formula feed does not equate with improved sleep. The risks of not breastfeeding should be weighed against the cumulative lack of evidence indicating any benefit of formula feeding on maternal sleep.
Comments
There is a difference in sleep patterns at 8 weeks
Dear Authors,
I appreciate you study in this area however your conclusions do not represent my personal practice experience. I have spoken with thousands of mothers; perhaps you would have a different conclusion if your sample size was bigger.
Newborn feeding patterns are similar initially. Mothers that breast feed have at lest one to two night time feedings from 2 to 12 weeks. However, by about 8 to 10 weeks formula fed babies that can eat at least 6 oz with 4 daytime feeds can sleep a solid 12 hours at night. I have seen this pattern hundreds of times. Mothers that have a formula fed infant that follow the above pattern are much more rested.
Even though breastfeeding is more time intensive and more sleep depriving it is far superior to formula and I highly recommend it to all of my moms.
I appreciate your research in this area, but I always like to compare what I read with my clinical experience.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared