Interaction between bed sharing and other sleep environments during the first six months of life

This investigation was carried out to determine the relationship between bed sharing and other places of infant sleep in the first six months of life, and to identify patterns of change in the place of infant sleep for infants who do and do not routinely bed share in the first six months of life. Th...

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Published inEarly human development Vol. 66; no. 2; pp. 123 - 132
Main Authors Buckley, Pat, Rigda, Rachael S, Mundy, Linda, McMillen, I.Caroline
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Lausanne Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.02.2002
New York,NY Elsevier
Amsterdam
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Bed sharing
Beds
Biological and medical sciences
Delivery. Postpartum. Lactation
Disorders
Female
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Infant
Infant Care - methods
Infant Equipment
Infant, Newborn
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Parent-Child Relations
Place of sleep
SIDS
Sleep - physiology
Social Class
Infant
Place of sleep
SIDS
Bed sharing
Human
Bed
Sleep
Sharing
Sudden death
Environment
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Summary:This investigation was carried out to determine the relationship between bed sharing and other places of infant sleep in the first six months of life, and to identify patterns of change in the place of infant sleep for infants who do and do not routinely bed share in the first six months of life. The sleep–wake behaviour and place of infant sleep were recorded, at weekly intervals, for bed sharing ( n=25) and non-bed sharing ( n=68) infants between 2 and 24 weeks after birth. Bed sharing infants spent a significantly increased proportion of their total sleep time per 24 h in other sleep environments which favoured close parental proximity and significantly less time in solitary sleep. Non-bed sharing infants spent a substantial proportion of their time sleeping alone from 2 weeks of age whereas the transition to sleeping alone occurred after 16 weeks for bed sharing infants. We have found that bed sharing acts as a proxy for increased close parental proximity during the first six months of life. This may be of significance in studies which examine the relationship between bed sharing and sudden infant death syndrome.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:0378-3782
1872-6232
DOI:10.1016/S0378-3782(01)00243-2