Center for Childhood Obesity Research, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA; Department of Nutritional Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Sleep Med. 2022 Jul;95:29-36. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2022.04.018. Epub 2022 Apr 26.
OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Night wakings are common during infancy, with variability in infant self-soothing or requiring parent involvement to fall back asleep. Reasons for variable soothing behaviors are unclear and may be influenced by early-life sleep parenting practices. The study applied a novel method using sleep actigraphy in mother-father-infant triads to quantify infant-only wake bouts (i.e., "self-soothing") and examined associations between sleep parenting practices from 6 to 24 weeks of age.
PATIENTS/METHODS: Mother-father-infant triads (N = 20) wore sleep monitors for 1 week at infant ages 6, 15, and 24 weeks. Data were time-matched within families to quantify infant-only wake bouts (when infants woke in the night and parents remained asleep) to be indicative of infant self-soothing. Mothers reported on sleep parenting practices (e.g., feeding to sleep, putting infants to bed while awake) using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire at each age. Mixed models tested associations between parenting practices and infant-only wake bouts.
Most mothers (69.5%) reported typically feeding their infants to sleep at bedtime; 27.1% reported typically putting infants to bed while still awake. Parenting practices associated with a greater proportion and frequency of infant-only wake bouts included not typically feeding infants to sleep during night wakings, putting infants to bed while still awake (at 24 weeks of age), and using a greater proportion of low-, rather than high-, stimulus soothing strategies during night wakings.
These data suggest parenting practices, such as putting infants to bed when drowsy but still awake, are important strategies for promoting infant self-soothing during night wakings.
目的/背景：婴儿期夜间觉醒很常见，婴儿自我安抚或需要父母介入才能重新入睡的情况各不相同。导致安抚行为差异的原因尚不清楚，可能受到婴儿期睡眠养育实践的影响。本研究应用了一种新方法，在母婴-婴儿三联体中使用睡眠活动记录仪来量化婴儿独自醒来的时段（即“自我安抚”），并检查了从 6 周到 24 周龄的睡眠养育实践之间的关联。
患者/方法：母婴-婴儿三联体（N=20）在婴儿 6、15 和 24 周龄时佩戴睡眠监测器一周。数据在家庭内进行时间匹配，以量化婴儿独自醒来的时段（即婴儿在夜间醒来而父母仍在睡觉的时段），以指示婴儿自我安抚。母亲在每个年龄段使用简短婴儿睡眠问卷报告睡眠养育实践（例如，喂奶入睡、让婴儿在清醒时入睡）。混合模型检验了养育实践与婴儿独自醒来时段之间的关联。
大多数母亲（69.5%）报告通常在睡前给婴儿喂奶入睡；27.1%报告通常让婴儿在清醒时入睡。与婴儿独自醒来时段比例和频率增加相关的养育实践包括在夜间醒来时不通常喂奶入睡、在婴儿仍清醒时让婴儿入睡（在 24 周龄时），以及在夜间醒来时更多地使用低刺激而非高刺激的安抚策略。
这些数据表明，养育实践，如在婴儿困倦但仍清醒时让其入睡，是促进夜间觉醒时婴儿自我安抚的重要策略。
