Rock-a-bye Baby: Bedtime Advice for Moms

Moms have a new source of help for putting baby to sleep – the Internet. A yearlong review of the online Customized Sleep Profile shows that the advice given out there worked. Babies and toddlers – and their mothers – were able to sleep better as a result.

The Customized Sleep Profile has a database of sleep information stored in its memory. The information is separated into categories based on a child’s age. When a mom accesses the online program, she fills out a series of questions about her child and her child’s sleep habits. The program analyzes mom’s answers and finds comparable examples in its database.

Suggestions for improving the child’s sleep are based on these examples. The suggestions include things like following a regular bedtime routine, stopping night feedings, and answering fewer cries in the night.

The Customized Sleep Profile is available for free from Johnson & Johnson at http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/sleep .

To test the effectiveness of the Customized Sleep Profile, researchers sent surveys to 264 mothers who were using the online program. After three weeks, 90 percent of the moms said the Customized Sleep Profile was helpful and that they planned to continue using it. Their children were sleeping longer and waking up fewer times during the night, the moms said.

The moms also reported less tension, depression, fatigue and confusion because their babies were sleeping better.

A year later, researchers followed up with 171 of the moms still using the program. Their study was published in the Oct. 15 edition of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. The results show that the Customized Sleep Profile continued to be a valuable resource.

Read more about this study, or additional blog posts about infants and toddlers. The AASM has more about children’s sleep needs on the Your Sleep website.


Photo By: David Clow