Exploring Effects of a Randomized Online Infant Sleep Intervention on Weight-Related Outcomes Into Toddlerhood

Behavioral sleep interventions may have lasting impacts on sleep and health and serve as a novel obesity prevention strategy. We explored effects of an online infant sleep intervention on sleep, weight status, and weight-related behaviors (e.g., diet) into toddlerhood.

First-time parents or legal guardians ≥ 18 years old were recruited when their infant was < 6 weeks old and randomized (block size 2, 1:1 allocation ratio) to a sleep intervention (n = 36) or baby care control group (n = 38). The intervention was delivered weekly via private online groups when infants were 2-4 months old. Participants completed surveys at baseline (infant age 6 weeks), midpoint (3 months), post-intervention (4 months), and infant follow-up (7 months). Participants also completed a toddler follow-up survey (mean age = 20.7 months; n = 67) assessing behaviors and weight/length.

By toddlerhood, the intervention group slept longer (12.99 ± 2.03 vs. 11.94 ± 2.06 h per day, p = 0.049) and had lower weight-for-length z-scores (0.62 ± 1.34 vs. 1.33 ± 1.35, p = 0.04) than controls.

Results support early sleep interventions as a novel and promising approach to childhood obesity prevention and demonstrate the feasibility of online intervention delivery. Future research should further examine mechanisms and confirm findings using objective weight status measures.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05322174.