1 in 4 Moms Fall Asleep While Breastfeeding, Putting Babies at Risk for SIDS

November 8, 2024
Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter

A new study finds that a quarter of (no doubt exhausted) breastfeeding moms admit to falling asleep while their baby was feeding, a moment that can raise risks for infant suffocation.

That's because whenever a baby falls asleep in an area that's got soft cushions and cramped surroundings -- as can happen in sofas, easy chairs and beds -- the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) rises, explained a team from the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville.

In more than 80% of cases described by the mothers, the woman had no intention of dosing off, it just happened.

“While falling asleep while feeding young infants is not in itself too surprising, what is very alarming is that the majority of mothers did not plan to fall asleep, so the sleep space was potentially unsafe for the baby while both slept,” said researcher Dr. Fern Hauck. She's a safe-sleep expert at UVA Health and the UVA School of Medicine.

“This highlights the need for parents to be educated about the potential risk of falling asleep while feeding and to plan for that possibility by making the space around the baby as safe as possible," Hauck said in a university news release. "That would include removing pillows and blankets to ensure an open airway for the baby."

The new data comes from a survey of 1,250 new moms interviewed at 16 U.S. hospitals in 2015 and 2016. Babies were between 2 and 3 months of age when the moms completed the survey.

More than 28% of the women said they "sometimes" or "usually" fell asleep while breastfeeding during the two weeks prior to the survey.

Many of the women who fell asleep said they'd chosen to breastfeed while on a sofa or chair, rather than a bed, to lower their odds of drifting off. It often didn't work, however.

The findings were published in the November issue of Pediatrics.

Current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics do not support sharing an adult bed with an infant, to avoid rolling on top of a vulnerable infant or having the baby get caught up in bedding.

The study found that falling asleep while breastfeeding was much more likely in a bed (about 34% of cases) than in a sofa or chair (about 17%).

However, AAP guidelines also stress that, if you are breastfeeding and worry that you might fall asleep, chairs and sofas are actually a more dangerous spot for baby compared to beds.

The real issue is how to help moms avoid the need for sleep while breastfeeding, said study co-author Dr. Ann Kellams.

“We need to meet families where they are and come up with a nighttime plan for sleeping and feeding their baby that works for them and is as safe as possible,” said Kellams, a pediatrician and breastfeeding and lactation medicine specialist at UVA Health Children’s. “Our data suggest that too many of these falling asleep incidents are not planned, so discussions about how to plan for feeding your baby when you are very tired are important.”

Educating mothers who breastfeed about the potential dangers is key, the study team said.

“We hope that parents of young infants will think proactively about what might happen in the middle of the night,” said study co-author Dr. Rachel Moon, a pediatrician and safe-sleep expert at UVA Health Children’s. “Feeding your baby in your bed is safer than feeding on a couch or armchair if you might fall asleep.”

More information

Find out more about safe sleep practices at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCE: University of Virginia, news release, Nov. 8, 2024

Breast-Feeding