Sensory Hyper-Sensitivity Associates With Poor Infant Sleep and Different Parental Sleep Practices, in a UK Cohort

Sleep difficulties (e.g., increased sleep onset latency and more frequent night awakenings) are common in early development and are associated with increased parental stress. Sleep difficulties have been linked to sensory hypersensitivity in typically developing infants and infants with family history of autism. In the current study, we investigate whether infant sensory sensitivity is associated with the strategies parents employ when settling infants to sleep. Strategies encouraging autonomy, rather than those involving active physical comforting, have previously been shown to lead to better sleep. We report findings from a cross-sectional UK sample of 245 infants aged 6-13 months, from which we collected online parent-report measures of infant sleep and sensory sensitivity (ITSP). We replicate previous findings showing that poorer sleep is correlated with higher infant sensory sensitivity. We then show an association between higher infant sensory sensitivity and more frequent use of all settling strategies, as well as a higher number of different strategies used. A strong correlation between infant and maternal sensory sensitivity precluded testing whether parental settling strategies are driven by infant or parental sensory sensitivity. The current findings emphasize the need to integrate information about intrinsic (e.g., infant sensitivity) and social environment factors (e.g., parental sensitivity, settling strategies) to understand infant sleep.