Learning to sleep through the night: Solution or strain for mothers and young children?

Abstract

Is the process of helping infants and young children learn to sleep through the night a solution to family sleep problems or does it exacerbate matters for mother and child? Retrospective and current accounts from a nonclinical, convenience sample of 102 mothers of preschool-aged children provided information on sleep issues from early infancy through preschool age. Child, mother, and parenting characteristics, along with family sleep arrangements, were differentially related to the age at which children learned to sleep through the night and to the extent of difficulty that characterized this experience. Mothers who indicated more difficulty as their children learned to sleep through the night also reported more depressive symptoms and more strain in the mother-child relationship. Later age at sleeping through the night was more common among early bedsharers, but timing of sleeping through the night was not associated with preschool children's reported independence in several nonsleep domains. Sleep arrangements and the importance placed on sleeping through the night were the strongest contributors to variance explained in whether children learned to sleep through the night during infancy or toddlerhood. When advising parents about sleep interventions, practitioners should seek to understand whether families' parenting values fit their nighttime sleep practices.

Uninterrupted Infant Sleep, Development, and Maternal Mood

“…22 Moreover, some mothers have reported feeling tense and depressed when they tried to get their infant to sleep through the night, explaining that for them rapid sleep consolidation was not a priority. 54 In addition, authors have proposed that because parents are routinely asked about sleep consolidation at medical follow-up meetings, this may implicitly suggest that infants should sleep through the night. 55,56 In a recent review, authors concluded that behavioral interventions at <6 months of age neither reduced crying nor prevented sleep problems, and they noted side effects such as anxiety and a premature cessation of breastfeeding.…”

From “Crying Expands the Lungs” to “You’re Going to Spoil That Baby”: How the Cry-It-Out Method Became Authoritative Knowledge

“…Acceptable parenting practices and norms, specifically those centered around infant sleep, have drastically evolved over the last few centuries. From preindustrial segmented sleep patterns ("first sleep, second sleep"; Ekirch, 2006) where family members would often take turns caring for babies as they frequently woke during the night (Small, 1999) to communal beds where all family members (and many times guests and/or servants) slept together (Davies, 1995) and where babies could be quickly attended to when they woke to modern households where children are expected to sleep on their own, many times in their own rooms, and through the night (Germo et al, 2009) soon after birth, sleep practices have changed to accommodate shifting cultural values and society member wants and needs.…”

“…While the transition to parenthood is both a physically and emotionally challenging time (Antonucci & Mikus, 1998) for numerous reasons, the dramatic lack of sleep and increased fatigue experienced in the first year of child raising (Elek et al, 2002;Gardner & Campbell, 1991;Gay, Lee, & Lee, 2004;Ruchala & Halstead, 1994) is consistently cited as one of the most trying aspects of caring for an infant (Ramos & Youngclarke, 2006). In addition, it is a common expectation in the United States for babies to learn how to sleep through the night, on their own, within the first year of life (Germo et al, 2009). Several sleep training methods have been developed (Ramos & Youngclarke, 2006;Smith, 2016) and disseminated by opinion leaders (e.g., Ferber and Weissbluth) as viable options for parents to help them achieve that goal and get some rest.…”

Sleep arrangements and night waking at 6 and 12 months in relation to infants' stress‐induced cortisol responses

“…Higher scores reflected a more 'difficult' child, with the construct of difficulty including negative mood, lack of approach to strangers, slow adaptability to change and high intensity of emotional expression (Carey & McDevitt, 1978). The PAT measure has established reliability and validity and has been shown to work well both as a current and retrospective account of temperament (Clarke- Stewart et al, 2000;Germo, Goldberg, & Keller, 2009). …”