Sleep Patterns of Infants and Effects of Sleep Training: Longitudinal Single Center Experience from Turkey

Abstract

Objective:To know cultural characteristics of infant sleep pattern and guide the families can be useful to prevent sleep problems. The aim of this study to determine the sleep habits during infancy and to evaluate the effectiveness of sleep training.Materials and Methods:This longitudinal study included 127 healthy infants. Infants were randomly assigned to intervention group [(IG) n=33] or control group [(CG) n=94] and followed up from the 3rd to 18th months at well-child-visits. Face to face sleep training was given to the IG firstly in the 3rd month and then subsequent follow-ups. Families in both groups filled out a detailed questionnaire at each visit.Results:Bed sharing was not detected in the IG. The frequency of rocking was lower in the IG in each period, the difference was significant only at the sixth month (p=0.006). The frequency of sleeping in the supine position compared to the side position was higher in the IG than CG at the 3rd, 6th and 9th months (p=0.013, p=0.005, p=0.003; respectively). Bedtime was earlier and duration to fall asleep after night awakenings was shorter in the IG than CG at 9 and 12 months (p=0.009, p=0.018; p<0.001, p=0.002; respectively).Conclusion:Sleep training during the infancy provide to sleep supine position, prevents rocking during falling asleep, provide earlier bedtime, and shortens the duration to fall asleep again after night awakenings. Further studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of sleep training and to determine the main components of the training.

Keywords

• sleep pattern
• infancy
• sleep training