Breastfeeding Duration and Infant Sleep Location in a Cohort of Volunteer Breastfeeding Counselors

Abstract

Background Debate about mother and infant bed sharing has been polarized between supporters of bed sharing and public health policies that attempt to mitigate the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Differences in group demographics may be an important aspect in co-sleeping acceptability. Research aims The first aim of this study was to investigate infant sleeping location in a dataset of mothers with strong breastfeeding outcomes. The second aim was to investigate the association between infant sleeping location and breastfeeding (exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months and total breastfeeding duration). Finally, we aimed to investigate predictors of breastfeeding duration. Methods Participants comprised 174 women who had applied to train as counselors with the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Data were compiled from a survey of the participants’ lactation histories, including questions related to the exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding, concerns about and problems encountered during breastfeeding, type of birth, medications during birth, demographics, and infant sleeping location. The study design was a cross-sectional, one-group survey design. Results A high proportion of participants in this study bed shared and room shared: At 0–1 month ( n = 58), 33% of participants bed-shared, which increased to 58% by 6–12 months ( n = 80). Infants who co-slept were more likely to be exclusively breastfed at 6 months (χ2 (2, n = 116) = 4.83, p = .03) and had longer breastfeeding duration ( t (62.61) = 3.81, p < .001). Conclusions Breastfeeding targets have been difficult to achieve globally, and innovative ideas are required to improve breastfeeding outcomes through public health messaging. There was a strong association in the current study between breastfeeding outcomes and degree of closeness of the infant to the mother at night. This finding should be brought into the discourse on breastfeeding and infant sleep arrangements, accompanied by evidence-based advice about safe sleeping and the promotion of breastfeeding.

Infant Care Practices, Caregiver Awareness of Safe Sleep Advice and Barriers to Implementation: A Scoping Review

“…Further, they found that infant sleep location had a significant association with breastfeeding. Five studies reported that infants who co-slept were more likely to be exclusively breastfeed at 6 months [43,66,103,104,142]. As described in the previous section, many studies found a significant relationship between bed-sharing and breastfeeding [43,55,66,103,104,133,142].…”

“…A recent Australian study found that 33% of participants reported bed-sharing at 0-1 month; however, by 6-12 months, the prevalence of surface sharing had increased to 58% [43]. Conversely, Krouse and colleagues [97] reported that in their longitudinal descriptive study of an American cohort, bed-sharing with an adult caregiver decreased from 47% at one-month-old to 17% at three-months-old, while no mothers had intended to bed-share.…”

“…An Iranian study noted that parent's education status had a significant association with breastfeeding rates [17]. Similarly, in Australia, Bailey et al [43] and Cole et al [55] reported predictors for breastfeeding included maternal education, as well as maternal wellness during pregnancy, birth type, maternal age, marital status, smoking status, inhospital formula supplementation, admission to a neonatal nursery, dummy use, lack of confidence, lack of knowledge and conflicting advice. Further, they found that infant sleep location had a significant association with breastfeeding.…”

Telelactation with a Mobile App: User Profile and Most Common Queries

“…The most consulted topics within LactApp are related to critical issues regarding when women stop BF. The critical issues that stand out are related to the "baby's sleep", a topic that different authors note as important in relation to the establishment and maintenance of BF 30 . Also noteworthy is the lack of training that health professionals have regarding safe sleeping and its importance, both in the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome and with the maintenance of BF [31][32][33] .…”

The impact of swaddling upon breastfeeding: A critical review

“…Recent research underscores a strong association between breastfeeding outcomes and proximity of the infant to the mother (Bailey et al, 2020 ). In this regard, swaddling might be considered a double‐edged sword: the visual obscuring or suppression of feeding cues means that crying is one of the few behaviors a swaddled infant can adopt to communicate their hunger.…”