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Parents matter: barriers and solutions when implementing behavioural sleep interventions for infant sleep problems

Hannah Whittall1, Michal Kahn1, Meg Pillion1

  • 1Flinders University, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Sleep Medicine
|June 28, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Behavioral sleep interventions, like extinction-based methods, effectively treat infant sleep problems. This review identifies barriers to implementing these methods and suggests strategies to help families succeed with infant sleep solutions.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Behavioral sleep interventions are effective for infant sleep problems.
  • Implementation of these interventions can be challenging for families.
  • Extinction-based methods are a key type of behavioral sleep intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review research on barriers to implementing extinction-based sleep methods.
  • To present a model of contextual barriers (socio-cultural, parent, infant).
  • To propose strategies to aid successful implementation.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of research on extinction-based sleep interventions.
  • Development of a contextual barrier model.
  • Synthesis of evidence-based strategies for implementation.

Main Results:

  • Identified socio-cultural, parent, and infant barriers to intervention success.
  • Proposed strategies include stepped care, planning, support, motivational interviewing, and emotional regulation.
  • These strategies can help overcome implementation challenges.

Conclusions:

  • Addressing contextual barriers is crucial for successful behavioral sleep intervention.
  • Proposed strategies can empower parents to implement extinction-based methods effectively.
  • Improved implementation can lead to better infant sleep outcomes for more families.

Keywords:
Behavioural insomnia of childhoodBehavioural treatmentIntervention challengesParents

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