More shut eye? Why a whole load of mums swear by breastsleeping
As any mum will attest, a pregnancy announcement often coincides with well-meaning words of advice from family and friends regarding bed-times, nap-times and sleep in general.
And they're not just referring to your impending arrival either.
There are very few mums among us who haven't been subject to a seminar on how little sleep we'll get once our baby arrives, and, as a result, we've all discovered tips and tricks on how to catch up on some much-needed shut-eye when we have a cranky baba on our hands.
And this is where breastsleeping comes in.
Breastsleeping – a concept which has gained considerable momentum as a result of research conducted by anthropologists Dr James McKenna and Dr Lee Gettler – is the combination of breastfeeding and co-sleeping, and ultimately allows a mother to nurse her child to sleep.
"When a mother breastfeeds her baby and then bed shares, it's a much, much safer environment than if a mother were bottle feeding and bed-sharing," argues Dr McKenna.
"We know that the breastsleeping mother/baby pair both sleep in lighter stages, which makes them more sensitive to the behaviour of the other. When babies are bottle fed, they move around a lot and have a much harder time waking up to breathe."
"It's so much more convenient for mothers in terms of not getting up three or four times a night every time the baby wants to feed," Dr McKenna added.
Elaborating on the practice, Dr Cecilia Tomori explains: "First, it helps to highlight the physiological interconnectedness of breastfeeding and sleep, including the importance of nighttime bodily closeness in establishing and maintaining breastfeeding, and the close physiological coordination of sleep and wakefulness between breastfeeding mothers and infants that makes this possible."
"Second, the term helps us rethink nighttime breastfeeding and infant sleep, which are usually treated as two separate categories in this cultural setting."
"We need to consider breastsleeping and all the complex physiological interactions in this concept as adaptations that ensured the survival of human infants," she added.
While favoured by countless mamas around the world, Dr Tomori does. however, insist that breastfeeding mothers need to take certain factors into account before engaging in the practice.
Referring to Dr McKenna's and Dr Gettler's recommendations, she argues: "The context of sleep and its environment is key here."
"They are discussing breastsleeping when practiced "in the absence of all known hazardous factors." So we need to think about this very carefully – they are assuming exclusively breastfeeding a full-term, healthy infant on a firm surface (never the couch or sofa), without any soft bedding that can entrap or cover the head of the baby."
"Breastsleeping is the recognition that evolutionary mechanisms underlie why so many breastfeeding parents find themselves sleeping next to their babies regardless of their intentions."
"So we need to help parents understand what is happening and how to minimise any potential risks involved. For some parents, this will mean that they will do this in the context of breastsleeping, while for others it may involve sleeping within arms reach of their babies."
Despite the popularity of the practice across various cultures, HSE guidelines state that an infant is safest when sleeping in a basket or crib beside their parent's bed.