Sleep Myths Busted
This article will address the top 5 sleep myths out there. I’ve personally heard these myths banded about by my family and friends and I’m guessing you have too.
MYTH 1: “Breastfed babies don’t sleep as well as formula fed babies”
Why is this false? It just is! Research (examples such as 1,2,3) has shown that breastfeeding mothers actually got the same and in some cases more sleep than formula feeding mothers. It is hard to say why this is the case. It might be because it takes longer to make up a bottle than produce the breast or it’s possibly related to sleeping locations, for example breastfeeding mothers are more likely to bedshare.
It is often touted that formula fills a child up more and so they will sleep better because they won’t get hungry as often. Historically there was some truth in this claim as formula contained high levels of casein (a form of cow’s milk protein) which would sit in the babies stomach as it was difficult to digest, however these days the levels of casein have been significantly reduced, making this claim outdated.
This section is not designed to make mothers who couldn’t breastfeed feel bad about themselves, merely to highlight that if you have a choice, formula itself will not fix or improve sleep. Breastfed babies are just as capable of sleeping through the night as formula fed babies and potentially more so as breast milk contains tryptophan which is a precursor (producer) of melatonin (the hormone which makes us sleepy). Additionally, breastfeeding creates oxytocin in the mothers which can help them relax and therefore sleep better (4).
MYTH 2: “Later bedtime = later morning”
Why is this false? If you keep a little one up past their usual bedtime or the point at which they are tired, they will become overtired. When a little one becomes overtired they produce cortisol to stay awake. (Cortisol is a hormone which is produced in the morning to wake us up, or produced in times of stress to keep us awake). If a little one has started the night with extra cortisol, they will reach their wake up level of cortisol earlier than usual in the morning, often causing early rising (albeit still feeling tired and often crying). Additionally, most children are larks, this means their body clocks are naturally set to wake up early, unfortunately this means a later bedtime does not necessarily mean they will wake up later as you are fighting against their natural tendencies.
When can this be true? Most little one’s will sleep 10-12 hours in the night. If a child was a 12 hour sleeper and you put them down at 7pm they would usually wake up around 7am. However, if you decided to move the whole routine (naps and bedtime) forward an hour which meant a regular 6.00pm bedtime, then they would be likely to wake up around 6am.
MYTH 3: “Less daytime sleep means more nighttime sleep”
Why is this false? Little one’s cannot get through from the morning to the evening without a nap. Naps are there to facilitate the nighttime sleep by reducing little one’s sleep pressure (the need to sleep) to a manageable level for them. If you reduce the daytime naps the sleep pressure is not staying regulated, neither is the child. When a child becomes dysregulated, they will produce a hormone called Cortisol (a stress hormone), this keeps them awake, but can also make it harder for them to fall asleep (a bit like having a shot of caffeine) and can make it harder for them to stay asleep (particularly early in the morning).
When can this be true? It is sometimes the case that when a child is having excessive daytime sleep, they will compensate by reducing the amount of sleep overnight. In these instances we wouldn’t be looking to reduce the total sleep time, merely to redistribute some of the daytime sleep to the night.
MYTH 4: “Your baby will sleep better if you wean early”
You might have heard… “you’ve got a big baby and he needs solid food” or “he’s waking early because he’s hungry”. There is no evidence to suggest that babies need solids before 6 months. Waking in the night or early rising could be linked to a number of things such as; overtiredness, sleep maturation or a number of other environmental factors, such as temperature, light and noise; as opposed to being hungry. Even if your baby were waking due to hunger, weaning early will not necessarily fix this.
Why? Because…
Solid food is less calorie dense than infant milk
Infant milk has a combination of fast release carbohydrates and slow release protein and fats which keep a baby full up for longer
It takes time for a baby to competently eat enough food for the food to make a difference in their satiety levels
Weaning early may not actually help with sleep and the flip side is that you put the baby at risk of gut damage, digestive problems and possibly even colic (some of which may not be identifiable at the time) because a little one’s digestive system is not fully developed prior to the advised 6 months.
MYTH 5: “Babies sleep through the night from 3 months”
The fact is no-one sleeps through the night - not even you. All humans (except for newborns who have a different sleep structure) will wake in between sleep cycles (a sleep cycle is around 45 minutes for children and 90 minutes for adults). This is biologically normal and would have kept humans safe when we were ground sleeping outside as we would be able to assess our environment for danger. As adults most of us don’t remember waking in the night as we simply resettle and go back to sleep.
Why do some babies seemingly sleep through? These babies are still waking during the night, they just put themselves back to sleep without parental input. However, not all babies are born with the skills to self-settle when they wake during the night. These babies will be more reliant when they wake on the input that they had at bedtime. For example, if you were holding them in your arms and then placed them asleep in their crib, they may be confused/concerned when they wake that they are sleeping on their own rather than in your arms.
What determines if your baby can inherently self settle? It is nothing that you’ve done as a parent. The main determinants are the child’s (a) temperament (b) whether they are a signaller or self-soother (a signaller would call out for help and a self-soother might suck their thumb or twiddle hair, something which they can do themselves). Children who appear particularly alert, more sensitive to external stimuli, highly active or early to reach developmental milestones are often examples of the sort of temperament where little ones will find sleep more difficult.
Katie Venn
Kendall-Tackett, K., Cong, Z., & Hale, T. W. (2011). The effect of feeding method on sleep duration, maternal well-being, and postpartum depression. Clinical Lactation, 2(2), 22-26.
Montgomery-Downs, Hawley E., Heather M. Clawges, and Eleanor E. Santy. "Infant feeding methods and maternal sleep and daytime functioning." Pediatrics 126.6 (2010): e1562-e1568.
Brown, A., & Harries, V. (2015). Infant sleep and night feeding patterns during later infancy: Association with breastfeeding frequency, daytime complementary food intake, and infant weight. Breastfeeding Medicine, 10(5), 246-252.
Krol, K. M., & Grossmann, T. (2018). Psychological effects of breastfeeding on children and mothers. Bundesgesundheitsblatt-Gesundheitsforschung-Gesundheitsschutz, 61(8), 977-985.
