Infant and Toddler Sleep: Parent Perceived Problems and Goals

Introduction: Approximately 20-30% of parents of young children report that their child has a sleep problem. However, few studies have evaluated the specifics of those sleep problems or areas of change that parents have about their child's sleep. Thus, the aim was to assess parent perceptions of their child's sleep and sleep-related goals, regardless of sleep quality. Methods: Caregivers (97.6% mothers) of 807 infants and toddlers (birth to 37 mos; M = 16.5 months; 49.0% male) reported on child sleep patterns and problems via an online survey. The survey included an abbreviated version of the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire, and a list of potential sleep-related areas of change. Results: 29.1% of caregivers reported a perceived sleep-problem, whereas 90.1% indicated an area of desired change related to their child's sleep. Overall, parents most commonly wanted their child to sleep for longer stretches overnight (19.4%). An additional 14.1% of parents wanted an earlier bedtime or later morning wake time. Further, 10.4% wanted their child to fall asleep independently at bedtime (without an adult in the room) or without a specific sleep aid (12.1%; e.g., pacifier, feeding, swaddle, music). As expected, more parents indicated that they wanted to change something about their child's sleep if they endorsed a sleep problem (99.5%), as compared to those who did not endorse a sleep problem (87.1%), p