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Pediatric Health
Published in Gia Merlo, Kathy Berra, Lifestyle Nursing, 2023
Adequate sleep duration and sleep quality are essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle for children and adolescents (Hagan et al., 2017). What constitutes proper sleep hygiene in children will vary by age. For infants, sleep discussions have to include information about a safe sleep environment (noting that families from various cultures may view sleep differently). A safe sleep environment, as described by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), is one that reduces the risk of suffocation through the elimination of items such as loose, soft bedding in the crib. Infant sleep position is as important as the sleep environment. Infants should be placed on their backs for every sleep because of the reduction of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Room sharing but not bed sharing is recommended by the AAP. With room sharing, the infant is placed in a separate, but nearby, sleep space (such as a crib) rather than sharing the same bed as their parents. Bed sharing is discouraged as it has been shown to increase the risk of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) (AAP, 2016).
Breastfeeding and infant sleep – what medical practitioners need to know
Published in Amy Brown, Wendy Jones, A Guide to Supporting Breastfeeding for the Medical Profession, 2019
Although breastfeeders get the same or more total sleep per night, feeding-related sleep fragmentation means an experience of poorer sleep quality for breastfeeding mothers in some cases (Ball 2003; McBean and Montgomery-Downs 2014). As a consequence, the vast majority of breastfeeding mothers tend to sleep with their babies in their bed as a strategy to cope with sleep disruption for at least some of the time (Ball 2003; Ateah and Hamelin 2008; Rudzik and Ball 2016). Numerous studies have confirmed that, although bed-sharing breastfeeding mothers wake frequently to feed, they also wake for shorter periods and fall back to sleep more rapidly (Mosko et al. 1997b) when compared to not bed-sharing. It is unsurprising that breastfeeding mothers comprise the largest group of co-sleepers. Of 34 studies exploring maternal reasons for co-sleeping, 26 reported breastfeeding as the key reason (Salm-Ward 2015). It is important to understand, therefore, that bed-sharing is a common night-time care strategy for breastfeeding mothers and babies which supports their evolved biology (Ball and Russell 2012; McKenna and Gettler 2016; Ball 2017).
‘Race’, ethnicity, poverty and child health
Published in Nick Spencer, Sir Donald Acheson, Poverty and Child Health, 2018
Nick Spencer, Sir Donald Acheson
A debate has developed around the observation, first made in studies in New Zealand, that bed sharing may be a risk factor for SIDS.23 Bed sharing is more prevalent amongst Maori families than those of northern European origin and is only a risk factor in this ethnic group.23 When confounding factors are accounted for, the effect of bed sharing disappears.48 Bed sharing occurs in 90% of the world’s population48 but in Western industrialised societies it has come to be considered as undesirable and infants are expected to develop an adult pattern of sleep by three to four months of age. Continuous close proximity of the infant with the adults in the household may be protective and may be part of the explanation for the very low SIDS rate noted among infants of Bangladeshi mothers in the UK.49
Early Childhood Co-Sleeping Predicts Behavior Problems in Preadolescence: A Prospective Cohort Study
Published in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 2021
Zehang Chen, Ying Dai, Xianchen Liu, Jianghong Liu
Childhood co-sleeping practice remains a controversial topic in pediatrics (Mileva-Seitz et al., 2017). While the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against bed-sharing during infancy (Moon, 2016), pediatricians have differing positions on the topic (Schaeffer & Asnes, 2018). The gap between health guidelines and practice also exists in China. The latest Chinese guidelines for sleep hygiene among children aged 0–5 years recommend that preschool children should sleep in their own bed, and ideally should have solitary sleeping (National Health Commission of the People Republic of China, 2017). Yet co-sleeping in the Chinese family remains common practice, with the prevalence of co-sleeping ranging from 60% in infancy and preschool age to 37.63% in school age and 25.4% in preadolescence (Huang et al., 2016; Li et al., 2009; Z. Liu et al., 2016).
Bedtime behaviors: Parental mental health, parental sleep, parental accommodation, and children’s sleep disturbance
Published in Children's Health Care, 2020
Caroline M. Roberts, Kristina L. Harper, Steven L. Bistricky, Mary B. Short
Reactive bed sharing is a specific type of accommodation behavior that involves the parents allowing the child to sleep in the same bed as a response to the child’s sleep disturbance behavior (Cassels, 2013; Mileva-Seitz, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Battaini, & Luijk, 2017). Whereas intended bed sharing derives from valued familial or cultural traditions, reactive bed sharing is often done in “desperation” or for “convenience” when immediately reacting to the child’s sleep disturbance behavior (Keller & Goldberg, 2004, p. 371). Reactive bed sharing can reduce a child’s sleep associated distress, especially in the short term, but may be a burden to the parents and inadvertently reinforce and perpetuate child sleep difficulties in the long term (Cortesi, Giannotti, Sebastiani, Vagnoni, & Marioni, 2008; Germo, Chang, Keller, & Goldberg, 2007; Keller & Goldberg, 2004; Mileva-Seitz et al., 2017). As with other forms of parental accommodation, reactive bed sharing may lead to a child associating falling asleep and waking up next to a parent, which can be problematic when the child tries to sleep independently (Meltzer & Crabtree, 2015; Morsbach et al., 2014). Although reactive bed sharing may contribute to children’s behavioral difficulties and parental distress, research suggests around 20–28% of children regularly engage in reactive bed sharing (Keller & Goldberg, 2004; Ramos, 2003).
Prevalence and Predictors of Postpartum Maternal and Infant Bed-Sharing Among Chinese-Canadian Women
Published in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 2020
Cindy-Lee Dennis, Hilary K. Brown, Sarah Brennenstuhl, Summer Haddad, Flavia C. Marini, Robyn Stremler
The primary outcome was use of bed-sharing. Women were provided a list of places their baby may have slept at night in the past week: crib, bassinet, adult bed or mattress, sofa or chair, playpen, stroller, carseat, swing, on mother or partner, or other. When women indicated that they used a particular location, they were asked how many nights per week they used that location, for what portion of the night (≥ 50%, 25% to < 50%, or < 25%) and whether the location was shared. Predominant bed-sharing was defined as an infant sharing a bed or mattress for more than half the night, on more than half the nights of the preceding week. Any bed-sharing was defined as an infant sharing an adult bed or mattress for any part of the night on any number of nights in the preceding week. The same questions on sleep location were asked at 4 and 12 weeks postpartum.