Simple Education on Building Infant Sleeping Patterns for Mothers Have a Newborn Baby

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate a simple parent education for parenting behavior change and prevention of infant’s sleep problem. Mothers of Education Group (EG) were provided with a booklet which introduce how to promote healthy, self-sufficient sleep patterns in infants, when a midwife visited mother’s home by after birth. Mothers of Control Group (CG) weren’t provided with it. When infants were four months old, the outcome compared with parenting behaviors, sleep habits in mothers and infants, and maternal health between EG (N=46) and CG (n=30). Numbers of desirable parenting for infant’s sleep was more in EG than in CG (EG:CG=4.0:2.9, p<0.01). And numbers of undesirable parenting was less in EG than in CG (EG:CG=1.3:1.7, p<0.05). Furthermore, mothers and infants in EG had significantly higher rate of a regular bedtime than CG, and mothers in EG had significantly lower rate of headache than CG (EG:CG=2.3%: 20.0%, p<0.05). Although parenting behaviors changed, sleep problems in infants didn’t differ between two groups. It is suggested that parenting behavior was changed by a simple education. The regularity of Infant’s bed time could affect mother’ sleep regularity and prevention of headache.