Study: Many Moms Fall Asleep While Feeding, Endangering Their Babies

“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. That would include removing pillows and blankets to ensure an open airway for the baby,” Hauck said.

Safe Infant Feeding

Hauck and her collaborators, including UVA’s Dr. Ann Kellams and Dr. Rachel Moon, analyzed survey results collected from more than 1,250 new mothers as part of the Social Media and Risk-reduction Training study conducted at 16 U.S. hospitals in 2015 and 2016. Most respondents completed the survey when their infant was between 2 and 3 months of age.

More than 28% of the respondents said they had “usually” or “sometimes” fallen asleep during feeding in the prior two weeks. Of those, a whopping 83.4% said falling asleep was unplanned.

Women who fed in bed were more likely to fall asleep (33.6%) than those who fed while on a chair or couch (16.8%).

The American Academy of Pediatrics warns moms against sharing a bed or other sleep space with an infant because of the risk the parent accidentally rolling over and smothering the child, or the child becomeing tangled in bedding. But the group also says beds are safer than chairs and sofas if falling asleep while feeding is a possibility.

Drs. Fern Hauck, left; Ann Kellams, center; and Rachel Moon, right, say too many mothers are at risk of falling asleep while feeding their babies after analyzed survey results collected from more than 1,250 new mothers. (Contributed photos)

“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.”

Researchers say informing parents about safe sleep and feeding practices has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of unexpected infant death. They are urging additional studies to find ways to assist parents in both safe-sleep practices and breastfeeding.

“We hope that parents of young infants will think proactively about what might happen in the middle of the night,” said 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.” 

The researchers have published their findings in the scientific journal Pediatrics. 

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, grant number R01HD072815.