Exploring Maternal Perceptions of Infant Sleep and Feeding Method Among Mothers in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Focus Group Study

Abstract

. (2016) 'Exploring maternal perceptions of infant sleep and feeding method among mothers in the United Kingdom : a qualitative focus group study.', Maternal and child health journal., 20 (1). pp. 33-40. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10995-015-1798-7Publisher's copyright statement:The nal publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10995-015-1798-7.Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. In a context with strong rhetorical support for breastfeeding in the health system, yet extremely low rates of breastfeeding after hospital discharge, UK women's decisions about infant feeding reflect the reality of competing priorities in their lives, including obtaining adequate sleep. Popular wisdom in the UK tightly links breastfeeding and inadequate night-time sleep. Mothers are advised by peers and family to introduce formula or solid foods to infants to promote longer sleep. The first objective of this study was to investigate women's understandings of the nature of infant sleep and their perceptions of links between infant feeding method and sleep. The second was to explore how these perceptions influence infant feeding and sleep practices in the first year. Underpinning our work is the understanding that infant care choices result from tradeoffs by which mothers strive to balance infant-and self-care. We conducted seven focus groups with mothers of infants in two regions of the UK. Verbatim transcripts were thematically coded and emergent themes were identified. We found clearly diverging narratives between breastfeeding and formula-feeding mothers. Breastfeeding mothers viewed the fragmentary nature of infant sleep as natural, while mothers who were formula feeding felt this was a problem to be fixed. The strategies and approaches used to promote infant and maternal sleep in each group were aligned with this underlying perception of how infant sleep works. Maternal perceptions of the nature of infant sleep and its relation to infant feeding method impact infant care practices in the first year of life. SignificanceParents of infants under a year of age desire to obtain adequate sleep for themselves and their infants. Infant feeding and sleep are tightly connected in popular perception, yet little research has directly explored women's experiences of infant feeding and sleep. This study reveals that a divergence of perceptions of infant sleep and feeding between feeding groups underlies the use of different strategies for night-time s...

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