Evaluation of the opinions of the parents on the sleeping habits and sleep problems of the babies

Evaluation Of Parents' Opinions On Sleeping Habits And Sleep Problems Of The Babies Purpose: Sleeping is the primary activity that covers a large part of the babies' time and the principal factor of brain development. Sleeping and sleep quality are very important for the healthy development of children. In the literature, it has been stated that sleeping difficulties among young children are associated with problems that occur later in life. This study was planned to evaluate sleeping habits and sleep problems of infants admitted to the Child Health Monitoring Clinic. Materials and Methods: Sleeping behaviors of 432 infants aged 0-36 months who applied to Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Social Pediatrics, Child Health Monitoring Outpatient Clinic were evaluated. The questionnaire that we prepared for the parents of the children was applied and their sleeping behaviors were evaluated accordingly. The questionnaires were then recorded for further statistical analysis. Our research was descriptive-observational. Socio- demographic characteristics (gender, age, birth weight, mother's age, mother's education level, mother's occupation, father's age, father's education level, father's occupation, number of siblings, family income) and sleeping habits of the children participating in our study were determined. Results: The median age of the babies was 3 months, and 55.1% were boys and 44.9% were girls. 82.4% of the respondents were mothers and 65.3% of the mothers were university graduates. The rate of those who were fed only with breast milk for the first 6 months was 46.3%, and those who did not receive any breast milk were recorded as 7.6%. Feeding before bedtime was seen at a rate of 65.5%. Considering the sleeping environment, 54.9% of them fell asleep in their own bed and they fell asleep most frequently in 5-15 minutes (51.6%). 66.2% of the parents reported that their babies had sleep problems. Among these problems were refusal to go to bed (34.7%), difficulty falling asleep (72.9%), and waking up at night (85.9%). Conclusion: A statistically significant difference was found between the age of the babies, close contact while sleeping, sharing the bed with the parents, the time to fall asleep, refusal to go to bed and sleep problems. No statistically significant correlation was found between the gender of the child, the education level of the family, the presence of siblings, the duration of breastfeeding, the father's participation in the sleep routine or the sleep training status and sleep problems. Keywords: Baby sleep habits, sleep problems, parental views