Getting the Baby on a Schedule: Dutch and American Mothers’ Ethnotheories and the Establishment of Diurnal Rhythms in Early Infancy

Abstract

One of the earliest challenges for infants and their parents is developing a diurnal sleep–wake cycle. Although the human biological rhythm is circadian by nature, its development varies across cultures, based in part on “zeitgebers” (German: literally “time‐givers”) or environmental cues. This study uses the developmental niche framework by Super and Harkness to address two different approaches to getting the baby on a schedule. 33 Dutch and 41 U.S. mothers were interviewed when their babies were 2 and 6 months old. A mixed‐methods analysis including counts of themes and practices as well as the examination of actual quotes shows that Dutch mothers emphasized the importance of regularity in the baby's daily life and mentioned practices to establish regular schedules for the baby's sleeping, eating, and time outside more than American mothers did. The U.S. mothers, in contrast, discussed regularity less often and when they did, they emphasized that their baby should develop his or her own schedule. Furthermore, actual daily schedules, based on time allocation diaries kept by the mothers, revealed greater regularity among the Dutch babies. Discussion focuses on how culture shapes the development of diurnal rhythms, with implications for “best practices” for infant care.

Parents' perceptions of the quality of infant sleep behaviours and practices: A qualitative systematic review

“…Five studies were conducted in the United States (Ajao et al, 2011; Chianese et al, 2009; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010; Stiffler et al, 2020), and one each in the United Kingdom (Rudzik & Ball, 2016), Taiwan (Tsai et al, 2014), Vietnam (Murray et al, 2019) and Norway (Sviggum et al, 2018). One study included participants from both the USA and the Netherlands (van Schaik et al, 2020). Sample sizes vary from 5 (Sviggum et al, 2018) to 83 (Ajao et al, 2011; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010), with the majority ( n = 8) of parents having infants younger than 6 months of age.…”

“…Sample sizes vary from 5 (Sviggum et al, 2018) to 83 (Ajao et al, 2011; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010), with the majority ( n = 8) of parents having infants younger than 6 months of age. Qualitative data was collected via a variety of methods, including focus groups (Chianese et al, 2009; Rudzik & Ball, 2016; Stiffler et al, 2020), interviews (Sviggum et al, 2018; Tsai et al, 2014; van Schaik et al, 2020), a combination of focus groups and interviews (Ajao et al, 2011; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010) and photo elicitation (Murray et al, 2019). The aims of these studies fell into one of two categories: investigating factors that influence parental decisions (Ajao et al, 2011; Chianese et al, 2009; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010; Stiffler et al, 2020) and exploring parents' experiences with infant sleep (Murray et al, 2019; Rudzik & Ball, 2016; Sviggum et al, 2018; Tsai et al, 2014; van Schaik et al, 2020).…”

“…The aims of these studies fell into one of two categories: investigating factors that influence parental decisions (Ajao et al, 2011; Chianese et al, 2009; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010; Stiffler et al, 2020) and exploring parents' experiences with infant sleep (Murray et al, 2019; Rudzik & Ball, 2016; Sviggum et al, 2018; Tsai et al, 2014; van Schaik et al, 2020). Two papers came from the same larger study about infant sleep quality (Murray et al, 2019; van Schaik et al, 2020). Three of the included papers were conducted by the same authors utilizing the same participant sample and investigated three key areas of parents' decision‐making regarding infant sleep arrangements (Ajao et al, 2011; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010).…”

“…Three of the included papers were conducted by the same authors utilizing the same participant sample and investigated three key areas of parents' decision‐making regarding infant sleep arrangements (Ajao et al, 2011; Joyner et al, 2010; Oden et al, 2010). Although the search was intended to capture qualitative data from both mothers and fathers, only one study included fathers in their study (van Schaik et al, 2020). However, the authors reported that most of the interviews were conducted only with mothers due to fathers' work schedules.…”

From birth to independent walking

“…63 Cross-cultural evidence revealed that, in the Netherlands, beliefs on rest and regularity prevail above beliefs about the stimulation of motor development among parents. 65,66 As a growing body of evidence points out that Dutch infants seem to develop at a slower pace than in other Western societies, 27,28,41 parental beliefs on motor development are an important factor to consider when studying the progress of infants in their gross motor development.…”