[The role of parents in the development of infant sleep patterns]

Abstract

This paper reviews the scientific Literature regarding the relationships between parenting and infant sleep. The first part of the paper briefly addresses the development of sleep and sleep disorders during the first years of life. The evolution of these problems is described in the context of a transactional model which assumes that there are dynamic and bidirectional influences between infants' sleep and different physiological and psycho-social factors. The second part of the paper focuses on the role parents may have in the development of infant sleep patterns. In particular the paper describes: (A) findings demonstrating significant Links between infants sleep and parental nighttime involvement and soothing behaviors; (B) studies demonstrating the efficacy of interventions aimed at improving infant sleep, that are based on changing parental practices at night; and (C) studies focusing on exploring the links between parental factors, such as parental sleep-related perceptions and psychopathology and between parental nighttime behavior and infant sleep.