If you have not already done so, please read Blog Posts 1 through 5 that describe how sleep is important and beneficial. I will post specific information for parents and children based on my book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.” Please do not be put off by my book’s length. This is a reference book. Read only the topic of interest to you.
Q: Do parents cause sleep problems or are some babies born to have difficulty sleeping?
A: Parents cause sleep problems.
A 2025 paper by Professor Liat Tikotzky studied over 200 families when the baby was 4 months, 8 months, and 12 months of age. Objective measurements of infant sleep were made at these ages.
The assessment of parental involvement at bedtime and during the night was based on a self-rating scale. The soothing scales describe how parents help their children fall asleep. This scale has five options ranging from low involvement (1) to high/active involvement (5). The options, from low to high involvement include:
An average score of all nights at each assessment point was calculated separately for parental bedtime and nighttime involvement.
The higher the level of parental involvement in soothing their baby, the more likely their baby would be up at night:
A higher number of night wakings.
Longer nighttime wakefulness
“Active involvement of parents in soothing the infant to sleep at bedtime and following night-wakings may hinder the development of consolidated and regular sleep…Only limited evidence was found for infant-driven links.”
These findings are similar to those in Blog Post 145: Less parent-soothing promotes more infant self-soothing skills and better quality infant sleep.
