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Co-sleeping and clinical correlates in children seen at a child guidance clinic

R Mahendran1, J A Vaingankar, S Mythily

  • 1Department of General Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore. rathi_mahendran@imh.com.sg

Singapore Medical Journal
|November 1, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Co-sleeping, or bed-sharing, was common in 72.7% of children at a child guidance clinic and did not correlate with significant sleep issues. This practice may help resolve existing sleep problems in children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Child Psychology
  • Behavioral Pediatrics

Background:

  • Co-sleeping (bed-sharing) is a prevalent practice with limited research.
  • It is often perceived as cultural but may stem from parental responses to sleep disturbances.
  • Existing studies suggest potential links between co-sleeping and behavioral difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence of co-sleeping among children and adolescents at a child guidance clinic.
  • To examine the relationship between co-sleeping and reported sleep problems in this cohort.
  • To understand the role of co-sleeping as a potential parental strategy for sleep issues.

Main Methods:

  • A questionnaire-based study was conducted with new patients at a child guidance clinic.
  • Parents/guardians provided consent and completed surveys on socio-demographics and sleep problems.
  • The survey included data on the frequency of nine common sleep problems over the past six months.

Main Results:

  • Co-sleeping was reported by 72.7% of the study cohort.
  • Children who co-slept were significantly younger, with prevalence decreasing by age.
  • Children sleeping alone experienced significantly more sleep starts and nightmares.

Conclusions:

  • Co-sleeping was not associated with significant sleep problems in the studied child guidance clinic cohort.
  • The practice may initiate as a response to sleep issues but can ultimately resolve them.
  • Restricting co-sleeping might exacerbate sleep problems, leading to increased sleep starts and nightmares.
Abstract

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