Sudden infant death syndrome is defined as the sudden and unexpected death of a child under one year of age. Although the exact cause is unknown, doctors and scientists believe that there are several factors involved and there are a series of recommendations that parents should follow to prevent it from happening.
One of them is to avoid co-sleeping during the baby’s first weeks and months, however, a recent study found that in the case of babies who are exclusively breastfed, co-sleeping with them would not increase the risk of sudden death . We explain why.
It has long been recommended that babies sleep in their parents’ room for the first year of life, as a way to avoid the risk of sudden death, in a bed or crib separate from them. However, this new study clarifies the issue of co-sleeping in the case of babies who are breastfed .
The research, led by James McKenna, a breastfeeding expert and director of the Mother-Baby Sleep Behavioral Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, found that when babies are breastfed and without the presence of other risk factors, co-sleeping does not increases the risk of sudden death .
The team of researchers even explains that it is possible that co-sleeping is beneficial exclusively for babies who are breastfed , in terms of preventing sudden death:
” When nursing mothers sleep with their babies, they protect them from possible physiological stressors, including airway covering and overheating by their characteristic sleeping position (snuggled around their babies, creating limited space for sleeping with their bodies), known as the “C” position. That is, nursing mothers, even when sleeping, are in constant vigilance mode .
But on top of that, compared to babies who are breastfed but sleep alone, babies who are breastfed and co-share with their mother spend less time in deep sleep stages and more time in light stages of sleep , facilitating a quick awakening. and the termination of apneas.
This is actually nothing new, as James McKenna himself and his research team began talking about this practice for years, calling it “breastsleeping”, a mixture of “breastfeeding” and “co-sleeping.” “(co-sleeping) , something we got to talk about at the time.
With this new research, they report that there is no evidence indicating that co-sleeping with babies who are breastfed increases the risk of sudden death , but could even help prevent it (as long as there are no other risk factors and the recommendations are followed. of professionals).
They conclude that the medical community needs to review the current recommendations, since different factors can change the risk factor, as in this case, where the difference is made by the type of feeding the baby receives .
Photo | iStock
Via | Motherly
In Babies and more | Babies over 3 months should co-sleep with their parents as protection against sudden death, co-sleeping yes, but safely: avoid the risk of suffocation
