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Use of sleep aids during the first year of life

Melissa M Burnham1, Beth L Goodlin-Jones, Erika E Gaylor

  • 1Department of Human and Community Development, Infant-Family Development Laboratory, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA. mburnham@unr.edu

Pediatrics
|April 3, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Infants frequently use various sleep aids, like thumbs or soft objects, and often switch between them. A novel maternal odor sleep aid was explored for infant self-soothing during nighttime awakenings.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Infant Sleep Behavior

Background:

  • Infants often use objects for self-soothing during sleep.
  • Understanding infant sleep aid preferences is crucial for developing effective sleep interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate infant sleep aid usage across different age groups (3-12 months).
  • To examine the utilization of a novel maternal odor-infused sleep aid.
  • To assess the interchangeability of sleep aid preferences in infants.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study over 3 months with nighttime video recordings.
  • Observation of sleep onset and nighttime awakening behaviors.
  • Analysis of sleep aid use in 4 infant age groups.

Main Results:

  • Infants demonstrated age-dependent preferences for sleep aids (e.g., thumbs vs. soft objects).
  • 6-month-olds showed the highest usage of the novel maternal odor sleep aid.
  • Nearly all infants used some form of object, and patterns of use evolved over time.

Conclusions:

  • Infants in their first year commonly use multiple sleep aids interchangeably.
  • Sleep aid preference is dynamic, not fixed to a single object.
  • Findings support the frequent and flexible use of sleep aids by infants.
Abstract

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