.png){kind=small}
The Return of Breastsleeping: What Science Says About Babies and Parents Sleeping Together
- Lacey Capshaw
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Few topics spark more debate than where a baby should sleep. Many parents quietly admit to bedsharing in the middle of the night, yet feel guilty or worried about judgment. What often gets lost in the conversation is that science has a name for this ancient practice: breastsleeping.
Coined by Dr. James McKenna of the University of Notre Dame’s Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, breastsleeping describes the integrated system of a breastfeeding parent and baby sleeping together in close proximity. It’s not just bedsharing — it’s a biological dance of feeding, regulating, and resting.
What Is Breastsleeping?
Breastsleeping means a breastfeeding parent and their baby share sleep space in a way that is biologically synchronized. Research shows that nighttime proximity changes how both parent and baby sleep, feed, and even breathe.
Dr. McKenna and colleagues describe it as a bio-behavioral system:
Babies feed more often but cry less.
Parents enter lighter sleep, making them more responsive.
The baby’s breathing, temperature, and heart rate are regulated by the parent’s presence.
As McKenna and Gettler put it: “There is no such thing as infant sleep, there is no such thing as breastfeeding — there is only breastsleeping.”
Why So Much Controversy?
Western culture has long promoted solitary sleep. Campaigns against bedsharing often frame a parent’s body as dangerous rather than protective. Yet cross-cultural studies show that for most of human history, babies have slept in close contact with caregivers.
This mismatch between biology and cultural messaging leaves parents confused. Many bedshare anyway, often without clear safety information.
Safety Matters
Breastsleeping is not the same as any form of bedsharing. Research highlights key distinctions:
It occurs only in the absence of known hazards (smoking, alcohol, sedating medications, unsafe surfaces).
The parent is breastfeeding, not formula-feeding during bedsharing.
The baby is placed supine (on the back), close to the parent’s body in a protective “C” curl position.
McKenna emphasizes that when practiced with safety guidelines, breastsleeping can be a protective arrangement rather than a risk.
What Parents Gain From Knowing the Science
Relief from secrecy: You don’t have to hide what’s biologically normal.
Confidence in safety: With the right information, you can make informed choices.
Clarity in support: Understanding breastsleeping helps parents advocate for themselves when talking to providers.
Closing Thought
Breastsleeping is not new. It’s the oldest, most natural infant sleep arrangement. What’s new is that science is finally naming and studying it, giving parents language and reassurance for what their instincts already knew: babies are meant to sleep close to us.
Comments