Updated guidelines on infant sleep

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated its advice on how to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related deaths in a policy statement released Oct. 24. The guidelines reaffirm recommendations that infants sleep on their backs in the same bedroom as their parents - but on a separate surface, such as a crib or bassinet, without any soft or loose bedding. What's new is that tired parents should never feed their baby on a couch, armchair or other soft surface. "The process of breastfeeding renders a mom sleepy, physiologically," says Lori Feldman-Winter, co-author of the AAP policy statement. If a mother thinks she may fall asleep while feeding, "we actually recommend that she feed the baby in the bed, because feeding the baby in a sofa or an armchair is more hazardous," she adds. The policy statement is here and a news report is here.

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