Greater Parental Bedtime Soothing Predicts Worse Infant Sleep Outcomes

More parental involvement at bedtime and during the night predicts worse infant sleep quality, according to study findings published in the journal Sleep Medicine.

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel hypothesized that parental involvement at bedtime and at nocturnal awakenings would be bi-directionally associated with worse infant sleep quality and shorter sleep duration.

Couples (N=232) expecting their first or second child were recruited for this prospective study via parental internet forums. Infant sleep was assessed by actigraphy, the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ), and weekday sleep logs and parental involvement by parent report for at least 5 nights at 4, 8, and 12 months of age.

Among the mothers (mean age, 29.77 years) and fathers (mean age, 31.48 years), 50.44% and 58.99% had a Bachelor’s degree, and 85.1% and 97.6% worked at 12 months postpartum, respectively. Most families (53.53%) had above average income and most mothers (84.9%) breastfed at 4 months.

No significant correlations between sociodemographic characteristics and sleep outcomes or parental involvement were observed.

The proportion of infants who slept solitary in a separate room increased from 19.89% at 4 months to 53.74% and 70.87% at 8 and 12 months, respectively.

With increasing infant age, the number of night awakenings (F range, 4.2-9.39; all P £.05) and time to wake after sleep onset (WASO; F range, 12.92-29.61; all P <.001) decreased and sleep duration increased (F range, 9.49-23.01; all P <.001) according to parent report, the BISQ, and actigraphy.

In addition, sleep quality varied by age according to parent report (F, 3.57; P <.05) and the longest sleep period increased with age according to actigraphy (F, 5.89; P <.05).

From month 4 to month 12 (F, 8.71; P <.001), parental involvement at bedtime decreased, however, it remained consistent at months 4 to 8 during the night, and decreased at month 12 (F, 7.73; P <.001).

Parental involvement at bedtime was significantly correlated with night awakenings at months 8 and 12. Greater parental involvement at month 4 predicted increased night awakenings between months 4 and 8 after controlling for awakenings at month 4. Parental involvement during the night correlated with night awakenings at all time points.

At months 4 and 12, parental involvement at bedtime correlated with WASO. Greater parental involvement at month 8 predicted increased WASO between 8 and 12 months after controlling for infant sleep at 8 months. Parental involvement during the night correlated with WASO at all time points. Greater parental involvement at month 8 predicted increased WASO between 8 and 12 months after controlling for WASO at 8 months.

Parental involvement at bedtime and nighttime correlated with infant sleep problems at all time points. Infant sleep problems at 4 months predicted parental bedtime involvement at 8 months after controlling for bedtime involvement at 4 months.

The major limitation of this study was the lack of participant diversity, which may affect the generalizability of these findings.

“… [P]arents’ active involvement in soothing the infant to sleep at bedtime and nighttime predicts poorer infant sleep quality, mainly in the second half of the first year of life,” the researchers concluded.