Parent perceptions and practices regarding sleep in children

Abstract

A good night’s sleep is highly important for children’s healthy development. Therefore, it is also important to provide parents with information on sleep and disturbed sleep of children. Little is known about German parents’ knowledge about sleep in children, or about how parents react when faced with children’s sleep problems. Therefore, a preliminary, primarily descriptive demographic survey was carried out. A questionnaire comprising theoretical and applied items on healthy sleep in children, as well as on prevention and handling of childhood sleep problems, was developed. Information on prevention and handling of childhood sleep difficulties was requested using open questions. Parents of seven randomly selected primary schools and kindergartens in Germany were included. Altogether, 875 questionnaires were issued and N = 391 (45 %) parents responded. All in all, parents had a good knowledge of sleep and sleep difficulties in children, as they correctly answered 69.56 % of the questions. In particular, parents correctly answered 56.96 % of the knowledge questions and 84.30 % of the applied questions. In comparison, families with a child suffering from sleep problems answered significantly fewer of the questions correctly (68.78 %) and more of the questions with “do not know” (19.34 %), as compared to families with children without sleep problems (14.86 %). The results demonstrate a need for sleep education – particularly in terms of transferring knowledge into daily life. Therefore, prevention programs and practical guidelines should be implemented to support families seeking help.