Family lifestyles, timing of sleep, and sleep problems in one-year-old infants

Abstract

<p>Studies demonstrate that 10 to 74% of young children experience nocturnal sleep problems, specifically difficulty initiating sleep and waking and signaling. Many factors had been correlated with sleep problems in young children. However, family lifestyle factors and the timing and duration of sleep have not been explored as related factors in this age group. A descriptive correlational research design, framed in circadian theory, was used to describe sleep-wake schedules and sleep problems of one-year-old infants, using a convenience sample of 80 participants recruited from suburban medical practices. Parents were asked to complete the Sleep Study Family Questionnaire and a four-day Sleep Diary. Infants (<em>n</em>&nbsp;= 61, 76.2%) experienced from 1 to 15 episodes of difficulty initiating sleep during the 4-day data collection period. Sixty-nine (86%) of the infants experienced 1 to 21 episodes of waking and signaling. Infants' sleep placement times shifted by 30 minutes an average of 2.21 times (<em>SD</em>&nbsp;= 1.18). The largest group of infants (<em>n</em>&nbsp;= 26, 32.5%) experienced four alterations in sleep durations, 24 (30%) infants had three alterations, and 19 (23.8%) had two alterations in sleep duration. A positive relationship was identified between the number of changes in bedtimes and difficulty initiating sleep, indicating that infants who experienced more changes in bedtimes were likely to have difficulty initiating sleep. Infants who spent more hours in childcare had fewer changes in temporal placement of sleep (bedtime). Infants receiving child care in someone else's home were likely to have more episodes of difficulty initiating sleep. Waking and signaling and difficulty initiating sleep are common problems in infants and young children. In general, outcomes of the present study demonstrated that sleep habits of one-year-old infants were sensitive to parental absence, shifts in nocturnal bedtimes, and childcare hours and settings. Shifts in bedtimes were related to difficulty initiating sleep which was associated with waking and signaling. Relationships between shifts in the timing of sleep and alterations in duration of sleep, and sleep problems need further assessment, as do relationships between family lifestyle factors and sleep problems in young children.</p>