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Help them make it through the night: The behavioural treatment of infant sleep disturbance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Abstract

Sleep disturbances such as bed refusal and resistance, sleep-onset delay, night waking with crying, and unwanted co-sleeping with parents affect 15% to 25% of families during their infant's first two years. A program is described that involves structured pre-bedtime activities, putting the child into his or her own bed awake at a regular time, and responding to subsequent waking and crying with planned ignoring and minimally-arousing checks when necessary. This programme was demonstrated in four families and shown to resolve infant sleep disturbances to a clinically significant degree and to the satisfaction of the parents.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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