Breastfeeding vs. Sleeping

Which moms sleep less? Those with breast fed or formula fed infants? The answer might surprise you.

The common wisdom is that breastfeeding mothers don't get as much sleep as those that don't breastfeed their infants. But don't believe everything you hear.

A new study, just published in the current edition of the journal Pediatrics, say that although breastfed infants are reported to awaken more often and sleep less, their mothers get just as much sleep as those with formula fed babies. Researchers had a group of 80 mothers keep daily diaries and wear devices that measured their sleep patterns. They looked at moms who exclusively breastfed, only formula fed or did a combination of the two. These researchers found no difference in total sleep time of quality of sleep between the groups. And all the mothers had the same amount of daytime sleepiness of fatigue.

So, it seems that contrary to what many have thought, breastfeeding an infant doesn't make for a more sleep deprived or tired mom. And with all the health and wellness benefits for both mom and baby breastfeeding has to offer, losing sleep isn't one thing you'll need to worry about.