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The following is a summary of “Mothers Falling Asleep During Infant Feeding,” published in the November 2024 issue of Pediatrics by Hauck et al.
Among mothers, falling asleep while feeding (FAF) is common and often associated with fatigue and the demands of caregiving.
Researchers conducted a prospective study to examine the prevalence of FAF and the association with sociodemographic factors, feeding methods, sleep locations, and educational interventions.
They analyzed data from 1,259 mothers of newborns (mean infants aged 11.2 weeks) who responded to a postpartum survey in the Social Media and Risk-reduction Training (SMART) study. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) logistic regression models examined sociodemographic factors, feeding methods, usual nighttime feeding location, and intervention group (safe sleep or breastfeeding) associations with FAF.
The results showed that 28.2% of mothers reported FAF usually or sometimes in the past 2 weeks, with 83.4% of them being unplanned. Sociodemographic factors found no differences in FAF. Compared with mothers who fed in their bed, those feeding in a chair were less likely to FAF (16.8% vs. 33.6%; aOR 0.41; 95% CI 0.31–0.56), FAF was reported less frequently among mothers receiving safe sleep interventions (15.6%) compared with those receiving breastfeeding interventions (33.0%; aOR 0.40; 95% CI 0.25–0.65).
They concluded that FAF was familiar and predominantly unplanned and that education on safe sleep could reduce the occurrence.
