Online Toolset Helps Young Children and Their Parents Find Sleep

Sleep-deprived new parents may want to put down the baby books and turn to the internet for help. A new study in the April issue of the journal SLEEP shows internet-based interventions work wonders reducing infant and toddler sleep disturbances.

Mothers in the study used Johnson & Johnson’s Customized Sleep Profile, an online program that compares a child’s sleep to other children of the same age. Parents enter details about the child’s sleep habits, such as position, sleep environment and bedtime routine and times awoken per night.

The program uses an algorithm to generate a summary of the child’s sleep habits and generates customized recommendations. A child can be an “excellent, good or disrupted sleeper.”

A group of 264 mothers were randomly assigned to an internet intervention group or a control group. Following an internet intervention, parents reported a 50 percent or more decrease in the number and duration of night wakings. Children took less time to fall asleep and had a longer total sleep time at night. As a result, the mothers slept better and had notable improvements in levels of tension, depression, fatigue and confusion.

Johnson & Johnson’s Customized Sleep Profile seems to be an effective place to start if your child is a disturbed sleeper. The algorithm gives at least some useful advice that benefited the mothers in the study.

Similar internet interventions are available from other online sources. It’s too early to know that the other programs work, because the study only examined the effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson’s Customized Sleep Profile.

Sleep problems are common among young children – as many as 30 percent of infants and toddlers have disrupted sleep. Young children have a form of sleep apnea, which would require treatment. If you believe your child’s sleep problems may be serious, skip the internet intervention and see your family pediatrician instead.

Read more about Sleep & Young Children.

New Parents Lose Six Months of Sleep, says Unscientific Survey

Prospective parents usually go into the final months of pregnancy bracing for months of poor sleep. New information about the amount of sleep most lose may surprise even the most experienced mothers and fathers.

There’s a report out that parents lose an average of six months of sleep in the first two years of raising a child.

There’s good reason to be suspicious about this seemingly inflated statistic. The information came from a completely unscientific survey conducted by a bed and mattress manufacturer. We’ll share the results anyway, but take them with a grain of salt.

The surveyors reached out to 1,000 parents in the United Kingdom earlier this July as part an event called “National Love Your Bed Week.”

Almost two thirds of parents reported getting about three and three-quarters hour of sleep, including naps during the first two years of raising a child. Silentnight Beds supposedly did the math. The press release reports those parents missed out on six months of total sleep during that period. About 1 in 10 parents had less than two-and-a-half hours of uninterrupted sleep.

There’s no way to verify any of these statistics, but it doesn’t take a peer-approved clinical study to know new parents will lose sleep. Luckily the Sleep Education Blog and Sleepeducation.com have some advice to get some sleep while raising a newborn.

Sleep-Deprived Parents May Find Answers in Infant Study

New parents go to bed knowing its coming and its going to ruin their sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, maybe around 3 or 4 a.m., they’ll waken to the sound of their infant child crying.

Everyone seems to take a different approach to getting their baby to sleep again. Do you leave the child alone, or do you rock the baby to sleep? Do you bring your baby to your bed with you? Right now there’s no clear answer to this parenting peril.

In a few years may change. Canadian researchers are launching a project called the “Rocky Baby Study,” to test these different approaches, the Montreal Gazette reports.

About 250 babies will wear a small wrist actigraph as they sleep to monitor their sleep/wake patterns.

The study coordinators are betting on something called the Australian model of intervention. The program educates parents about infant sleep habits and requirements. They will learn sleep patterns change and babies can sleep on their own for a longer time after six months. The parents will also receive training and tips for bedtime and daytime sleep rituals.

The study is expected to be completed in 2 ½ years. It may take even longer before the results are published.

The months after childbirth are usually the most difficult for parents. Most complaints about sleep disturbance and daytime impairment usually occur within the first six months.

Parents should make sleep a top priority, for the sake of their health and their family. Recent findings suggest first-time parents who are able to sleep are more satisfied with their partners.

The AASM reports there are several things new parents can do to improve their sleep.