Sinclair Dominique, Staton Sally, Smith Simon S, Pattinson Cassandra L, Marriott Annette, Thorpe Karen
School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Centre for Children's Health Research, Lady Cilento Children's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Sleep Health. 2016 Mar;2(1):12-18. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2015.11.002. Epub 2015 Dec 28.
While most children cease napping between the ages of 2 and 5 years, across a range of international settings the allocation of a mandatory naptime is a common feature of the daily routine in Early Care and Education (ECE) programs for children of this age. Evidence regarding the developmental effects of napping is limited but, beyond age 2, is consistently associated with delayed night sleep onset and increased number of awakenings.
The present study examined parent preferences towards napping in ECE.
Participants were 750 parents of preschool-aged children attending a representative sample of Australian ECE programs across metropolitan, regional and rural sites in 2011. We analysed quantitative and open-ended questionnaire data from a large, longitudinal study of the effectiveness of Australian early education programs (E4Kids). Statistical analyses examined prevalence of parent preference for sleep and demographic correlates. Thematic analyses were employed to identify parents' rationale for this preference.
The majority of parents (78.7%) preferred that their children did not regularly sleep while attending ECE. The dominant explanation provided by parents was that regular naps were no longer appropriate and adversely impacted their children's health and development. Parents of younger children were more likely to support regular naps.
The results highlight a disjuncture between parent preferences and current sleep policy and practices in ECE. Further research is needed to establish evidence-based guidelines to support healthy sleep-rest practices in ECE. Such evidence will guide appropriate practice and support parent-educator communication regarding sleep and rest.
虽然大多数儿童在2至5岁之间就不再午睡，但在一系列国际环境中，强制安排午睡时间是这个年龄段儿童早期护理和教育（ECE）项目日常安排的一个常见特征。关于午睡对发育影响的证据有限，但在2岁之后，午睡一直与夜间入睡延迟和醒来次数增加有关。
本研究调查了家长对儿童早期护理和教育项目中午睡的偏好。
参与者为2011年澳大利亚儿童早期护理和教育项目具有代表性样本中750名学龄前儿童的家长，这些项目分布在大城市、地区和农村地区。我们分析了一项关于澳大利亚早期教育项目有效性的大型纵向研究（E4Kids）中的定量和开放式问卷数据。统计分析考察了家长对睡眠偏好的普遍性及其人口统计学相关性。采用主题分析来确定家长这种偏好的理由。
大多数家长（78.7%）希望他们的孩子在参加儿童早期护理和教育项目时不经常午睡。家长给出的主要理由是，常规午睡不再合适，且会对孩子的健康和发育产生不利影响。年龄较小孩子的家长更倾向于支持常规午睡。
研究结果凸显了家长偏好与当前儿童早期护理和教育项目中睡眠政策及做法之间的脱节。需要进一步研究以制定基于证据的指南，来支持儿童早期护理和教育项目中健康的睡眠休息习惯。这些证据将指导适当的做法，并支持家长与教育工作者就睡眠和休息进行沟通。
