#35 in popularitySince 2020Opposes sleep training
Breastsleeping
Opposes sleep training Listed as an alternative for families who'd rather not sleep train.
James McKenna, PhD (Notre Dame Mother-Baby Sleep Lab), Safe Infant Sleep
Nursing plus close proximity as the biological norm, with safety criteria for bed-sharing.
- Starts
- BirthNo formal training phase
- Results in
- No set timeline
- Crying
- No training
- Evidence
- Moderate
Check with your pediatrician. Bed-sharing conflicts with AAP safe-sleep guidance, which recommends room-sharing on a separate sleep surface.
Overview
Anthropologist James McKenna, who founded the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, uses the term breastsleeping for the combination of breastfeeding and sleeping close together. In Safe Infant Sleep he argues this arrangement is biologically normal and opposes sleep training.
The book gives criteria for when bed-sharing may be safer, alongside alternatives. It supports breastfeeding and reduces nighttime separation. Its position on bed-sharing is contested and conflicts with AAP guidance.
How it works
Argues nursing plus close proximity is biologically normal; gives safety criteria for bed-sharing.
Pros
- Supports breastfeeding
- Less night separation
Cons
- Bed-sharing conflicts with AAP guidance
Evidence
Moderate. Lab research on mother-infant sleep; contested safety debate.
Details
- Popularity
- #35 of 39 · Niche (estimated)
- Since
- 2020 (6 years) · Safe Infant Sleep, 2020
- When to start
- From birth
- Day structure
- Baby-led (no set structure)
- Format
- Book
- Good fit for
- Breastfeeding families who want a research-informed view of sharing sleep.