Education in children's sleep hygiene: which approaches are effective? A systematic review

Abstract

AimTo analyze the interventions aimed at the practice of sleep hygiene, as well as their applicability and effectiveness in the clinical scenario, so that they may be used by pediatricians and family physicians for parental advice. Source of dataA search of the PubMed database was performed using the following descriptors: sleep hygiene OR sleep education AND children or school‐aged. In the LILACS and SciELO databases, the descriptors in Portuguese were: higiene E sono, educação E sono, educação E sono E crianças, e higiene E sono E infância, with no limitations of the publication period. Summary of the findingsIn total, ten articles were reviewed, in which the main objectives were to analyze the effectiveness of behavioral approaches and sleep hygiene techniques on children's sleep quality and parents’ quality of life. The techniques used were one or more of the following: positive routines; controlled comforting and gradual extinction or sleep remodeling; as well as written diaries to monitor children's sleep patterns. All of the approaches yielded positive results. ConclusionsAlthough behavioral approaches to pediatric sleep hygiene are easy to apply and adhere to, there have been very few studies evaluating the effectiveness of the available techniques. This review demonstrated that these methods are efficient in providing sleep hygiene for children, thus reflecting on parents’ improved quality of life. It is of utmost importance that pediatricians and family physicians are aware of such methods in order to adequately advise patients and their families.