Bedsharing Promotes Breastfeeding and AAP Task Force on Infant Positioning and SIDS

To the Editor. McKenna, Mosko, and Richard compare nocturnal breastfeeding patterns of 35 infants while both sleeping with their mothers and while sleeping alone in a laboratory setting.1 Although the results of the study are interesting and it is difficult to argue with the desirability of enhancing breastfeeding in relation to a number of infant outcomes, the authors draw conclusions about the possible protective effect of bedsharing against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) that have no foundation, based either on their own study or the work of numerous other researchers.The literature on breastfeeding and SIDS is inconsistent. Gilbert and coauthors summarized the results of 17 case-control and 1 cohort study that analyzed feeding methods in relation to SIDS.2 Eleven showed…