Use of Sleep Aids During the First Year of Life

Abstract

Objective.-In an attempt to foster self-soothing during the night, a novel sleep aid infused with maternal odor was introduced to 4 groups of infants ranging in age from 3 to 12 months. Infants' use of parent-provided sleep aids also was examined.Methodology.-Nighttime sleep and waking behaviors were videotaped for 2 consecutive nights on 3 occasions over a 3-month interval. Using all-night video recording, the study examined the infant's use of a novel sleep aid and parent-provided sleep aids during sleep onset and after nighttime awakenings.Results.-Results indicated that infants of different ages differed in the types of sleep aids used when falling asleep either at the beginning of the night or after awakenings in the middle of the night. More 3-month-olds used their thumbs/fingers/hands, whereas more 6-month-olds used soft objects. The 6-month-olds were most likely to use the novel sleep aid. Almost all of the infants at all 4 ages used some type of object during the night. Intra-individual analyses showed that infants tended to change their pattern of sleep aid use over the 3-month study period.Conclusions.-The data provide evidence that infants during the first year of life use sleep aids frequently and interchangeably rather than a specific favorite object.Parents of infants and young children regularly consult their pediatricians about how to get their child to fall asleep at the beginning of the night or how to get their child back to sleep after a middle-of-the-night awakening. Prevalence rates for these types of sleep disturbances have been reported to be as high as 20% to 30% for 1-and 2-year-olds.

Social experiences in infancy and early childhood co‐sleeping

“…In a short-term longitudinal study from 3 to 12 months of age, Burnham et al (2002a) reported that infant sleep location in a separate room was associated with self-soothing at all time points. Self-soothing was also related to greater delay in parental intervention for night crying.…”

“…genetic, maturational) and environmental factors are important in sleep development in infants, toddlers and preschoolers (Fagioli, Ficca, & Salzarulo, 2002;Fehlings, Weiss, & Stephens, 2001;Sadeh & Anders, 1993). Some of the factors that have been associated with the timing of this developmental milestone, characterized by a decline in nighttime awakenings, include bedtime parent-child interactions (Anders, Halpern, & Hua, 1992;Lozoff, Wolf, & Davis, 1984), sleep habits (Crowell, Keener, Ginsburg, & Anders, 1987;Lozoff et al, 1984); individual differences in child temperament (Hayes, Parker, Sallinen, & Davare, 2001;Keener, Zeanah, & Anders, 1988;Scher, Tirosh, & Lavie, 1998), sleep-wake rhythm (Burnham, Goodlin-Jones, Gaylor, & Anders, 2002a;Sadeh, Lavie, Scher, Tirosh, & Epstein, 1991), maternal psychological state (Morell, 1999;Scher & Blumberg, 1999), use of sleep aids/security or transitional objects (Burnham et al, 2002a;Winnicott, 1953), and aspects of the sleep environment and sleeping arrangement style (McKenna, Mosko, Dungy, & McAninch, 1990).…”

“…From a developmental perspective, parent-child interactions during sleep onset or during subsequent distressed awakenings is a reciprocally driven process affected by cultural tradition (Nelson, Schiefenhoevel, & Haimerl, 2000), parental reactivity (Burnham et al, 2002a) and attachment characteristics (Scher & Dror, 2003). Parental practices that promote 'independent' transitioning (as contrasted with the 'interdependent' or parent-mediated transitioning observed in non-Western societies) accelerate sleep continuity during early development (Anders et al, 1992).…”

Children's Sleep: An Interplay Between Culture and Biology

“…These sleep aids, commonly objects such as pacifiers, blankets, toys, stuffed animals, or children's thumbs for sucking, are depicted as facilitating children's falling asleep by providing a sense of comfort and security. 66 The use of a sleep aid is intimately linked to bedtime behavior, sleeping arrangements, and individuation-separation processes during the transition from wakefulness to sleep and, thus, to cultural beliefs and standards. Notably, Morelli et al 63 reported that no transitional objects were used by the Mayan infants in their study, a pattern that seems to typify cosleeping cultures.…”

Use of Home Videotapes to Confirm Parental Reports of Regression in Autism

“…In another study, a moderate to high degree of concordance was found between parental reports of infants' use of particular objects as sleep aids and observer coding of sleep aid use during a total of six all-night videotape sessions. Where discordance was evident, the error was on the side of the parents underreporting the use of sleep aids (Burnham et al 2002). Studies examining correspondence between parent report measures of temperament and observer ratings have reported conflicting results.…”