By learning a few strategies, new mothers can help their babies overcome sleep problems and ensure health benefits for both themselves and their babies. Many new mothers spend sleepless nights trying to put their infants to sleep. Not only is the sleep pattern of newly born babies erratic, it also runs the risk of putting the mother's well-being in jeopardy. It is seen that the sleep habits vary to a great extent from one baby to another. While some babies sleep for long stretches at night, waking up for feeds, others find trouble going back to sleep. Though this pattern can be erratic in the beginning, with time a more consistent sleep schedule emerges as the nervous system of the baby develops and matures. In a recent study conducted to determine whether a community-delivered intervention targeting infant sleep problems improves infant sleep and maternal well-being, Australian researchers studied 328 mothers who reported that their seven month old was having (and giving) sleep problems. This involved implementing a sleep intervention programme, which entailed having a trained nurse determine the nature of the sleep problem, identify solutions, and write an individualised sleep management plan with the mother. The mothers were also educated on normal sleep patterns for 6- to 12-month-olds. These mothers had to choose between 2 strategies: the "controlled crying" strategy, whereby parents respond to their infant's cry at increasing time intervals to allow "independent settling" or the "camping out" strategy, whereby a parent sits with the baby until the child falls asleep and gradually leaves the room over 3 weeks. The results showed that following these strategies ensured an improvement in sleep problems of the babies. Out of the 328 mothers, those who were randomly assigned to participate in a brief behavioral intervention noticed an improvement in their child's sleep problem, and in their own sleep, and felt less depressed compared with those randomly assigned not to participate in the program. Besides the babies' health, this programme also had beneficial effects on the mother's mental health. It was found that mothers in the intervention group were far less depressed than those in the control group. Not only this, there was also seen an improvement in the sleep quality and quantity of these mothers and they were also less likely to seek professional help for infant sleep problems. Thus, by following a few simple strategies, mothers can ensure better health of both their babies and themselves.
Archives of Disease in Childhood,
November 2007