An infant girl died when her mother fell asleep as she nursed at 35,000 feet. Is sleeping on a plane with a baby ever safe?

The tragedy happened on an American Airlines flight from Washington, D.C., to Kuwait. A 29-year-old mother, traveling with her 4-week-old daughter, fell asleep while breastfeeding. When the mother woke an hour later, the baby had been smothered. The woman was on her way to introduce her new baby to relatives in Kuwait. Police are calling the death "a tragic accident."

Corky Harvey, a certified lactation consultant and co-founder of The Pump Station, points out that the incident, although tragic, is not a breastfeeding issue. "Breastfeeding is going to get the blame. It makes me so sad when these stories come out," says Harvey. "It's not good for breastfeeding."

Dr. James McKenna, Director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Lab at the University of Notre Dame, agrees the story has nothing to do with the dangers of breastfeeding. "What should NOT happen is to conclude: that a mother cannot safely breastfeed her baby while flying (or sleeping) on an airliner," says Dr. McKenna. However, he does suggest for "a very long flight with no accompanying partner to share infant care, either wait until the infant is older and larger, or insist on being able to place your baby in a hard, small, portable bassinet. If not permissible, insist the flight rules be changed."