Bedsharing and Oral Health-related Feeding Behaviors Among Zero- to Three-year-old Children

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between bedsharing and oral health-related feeding behaviors among zero- to three-year-old children.

Data were collected from records of children attending the University of Iowa's Infant Oral Health Program (1998 to 2009), including maternal demographics, children's nighttime dietary practices, bedsharing habits, methods to help children sleep, and clinical evidence of plaque and caries. Statistical analyses utilized bivariate and logistic regression analyses.

Mother-child dyads (n equals 629) who either bedshared every night (n equals 273) or did not bedshare (n equals 356) were included. Of the 629 children (mean±standard deviation [SD] age equals 21.6±12.1 months), 51 percent were male, 50 percent were nonwhite, and 72 percent lived with both parents. Logistic regression analysis revealed that children who bedshared were more likely to be healthy (OR equals 6.78; P=.008), older (OR equals 1.56; P=.007), nonwhite (OR equals 2.96; P<.001), live with a single mother (OR equals 3.41; P<.001), breastfed throughout the night (OR equals 4.33; P<.001), and bottle-fed and breastfed to help them sleep (OR equals 2.34; P=.03; OR equals 3.27; P=.03, respectively). Moreover, these children were more likely to be in the high caries-risk category (OR equals 2.19; P=.01).

Bedsharing was significantly associated with the child's health status, age, race, nighttime feeding habits, and high caries-risk and with whom the child lived. Caries preventive measures should be targeted to mother-child dyads who bedshare.