“Ghosts in the Nursery:” Infant sleep and sleep‐related cognitions of parents raised under communal sleeping arrangements

Abstract

In an experiment of nature, a normal cohort of parents who were raised under communal sleeping arrangements (CSA) in Israeli kibbutzim are raising their infants at home under home-based family sleeping arrangements. The present study focused on exploring the links between the early sleep experiences of CSA parents and their present sleep-related beliefs and behaviors. In particular, the study assessed whether the cognitions of CSA parents regarding infant sleep differ from cognitions of parents who were raised under home-based family sleeping arrangements. Furthermore, parental soothing methods and infant sleep patterns were compared. One hundred forty-one families participated in this study. The children's ages ranged between 4.5 to 30 months. Parental cognitions were evaluated by two questionnaires. Infant sleep was assessed by a questionnaire and by daily parental reports. As expected, CSA parents were more likely than were control parents to: (a) interpret infant night wakings as a sign of distress and (b) actively soothe their infants at bedtime, co-sleep with them, and report more night wakings of their infants. These findings support the hypothesis that early childhood sleep-related experiences of parents ("Ghosts in the Nursery") influence their parental sleep-related cognitions that in turn affect infant sleep patterns.

Consensus statement on group care for children and adolescents: A statement of policy of the American Orthopsychiatric Association.

“…A night-time experience characterized by parental inaccessibility and nonavailability, combined with exposure to numerous unfamiliar adults, was associated with increased risk of insecure attachments. In fact, some adults who had experienced such a setting in their childhood reported that they had no significant memory of their parents (Tikotzky, Sharabany, Hirsch, & Sadeh, 2010). Because the kibbutz made the group of children a family unit, some may have felt that the natural protection expected by the family was lacking.…”

Maternal Depression, Mothering and Child Development

“…Such linkages are predicted by cognitively-based theories of depression (Abramson et al, 1989;Beck, 1987;NolenHoeksema, 1990) and from earlier work indicating that mothers of infants with sleep problems worry more about their parenting competence, their ability to set limits at night, and about their infants' physical and emotional well-being (Morrell, 1999;Sadeh, Flint-Ofir, Tirosh, & Tikotsky, 2007). These cognitions in turn are associated with mothers' attempts to soothe infants to sleep and to co-sleep with them (Morrell & Steele, 2003;Tikotsky & Sadeh, 2009;Tikotzky, Sharabany, Hirsch, & Sadeh, 2010).…”

Child Sleep Problems Affect Mothers and Fathers Differently: How Infant and Young Child Sleep Affects Paternal and Maternal Sleep Quality, Emotion Regulation, and Sleep-Related Cognitions

“…49–51 There are few studies examining sleep-related cognition of both parents. 46 , 52 The only study analyzing data with respect to parental gender differences was conducted in Israel and found significant differences between mothers and fathers on the cognition scales, indicating that parents could hold different cognitions regarding their children’s demands during the night. 53 One main result of the study related to parental cognitions about potential difficulties in limit-setting parenting behavior - eg, resisting the child’s demands when it wakes up at night to help the child learn to fall asleep on its own - were found to be associated with poorer child sleep quality.…”