A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics conducted by the Pediatric Psychology team at the University of West Virginia has left this conclusion: breastfeeding does not mean sleeping less.
To perform it, the analysis of various parameters was included: actual duration of sleep, number of awakenings, duration of effective nighttime vigil and subjective assessment of the quality of rest by mothers, which was also assessed in the quality of his rest with scientific scales that measure visual ability and concentration.
No significant differences were found between the differentiated groups and it was determined that breastfeeding, feeding bottles or using mixed breastfeeding had no real influence on the quality and duration of sleep of the mothers.
Many times, moms exhausted by the baby's nighttime awakenings, are tempted to switch to artificial or mixed breastfeeding hoping that this can improve their rest. But this study indicates that breastfeeding does not involve sleeping less.
My personal experience It is clearly positive in favor of breastfeeding, but, like all personal experiences, it can only serve as a testimony and not as a rule. I gave mixed breastfeeding for two months, of which the first was, at night, exclusively with bottles. I was absolutely shattered, although without a doubt it also influenced that my son was a premature baby with many problems not only to grab the breast, but also to drink the milk from the bottle. Getting exclusive breastfeeding influenced the quality of my sleep, not having to prepare anything at night and being able to simply put it to my chest if I asked for half asleep in the same bed.
This work that points out that breastfeeding does not mean sleeping less I hope that it serves as an incentive for mothers who breastfeed and have a lot of accumulated sleep, understanding that the awakening of babies is something natural and that, to improve them, it is preferable to have them close and feed them on demand, instead of tempting luck by leaving natural breastfeeding
