T-O-125 INFANT SLEEP LOCATION: BED SHARING, ROOM SHARING AND SOLITARY SLEEPING AT 6 AND 12WEEKS POSTPARTUM

Abstract

Objectives: Parents may have their infant sleep with them in the same bed (bed sharing (BS)), in the same room, but a separate bed (room sharing (RS)), or a separate room in a separate bed (solitary sleeping (SS)); prevalence estimates of these choices are limited. Little is known regarding the effects of infant sleep location (ISL) on infant or maternal sleep or other health outcomes. Methods: Healthy first-time mothers (n=246) in an RCT of a sleep intervention provided information regarding planned and actual ISL at 6 and 12 weeks postpartum when maternal and infant sleep were measured using actigraphy. Other outcomes included subjective maternal sleep disturbance, breastfeeding exclusivity, fatigue, and depressive symptomatology. Results: Most women (65%) planned RS with their infant; the next most common plan was to use both BS and RS (22%). The most common usual ISL was RS, with 46% of infants RS at 6 weeks and 39% at 12 weeks. Usual BS was common; at 6 weeks 17% of families were usually BS and 12% at 12 weeks. BS to any extent was quite common at 6 (51%) and 12 weeks (41%) postpartum. At 6 weeks, usually BS mothers had shorter stretches of sleep than those usually SS (130 mins vs 156 mins ; p=0.03) and more awakenings than those usually RS and SS (11.2 vs 8.9 vs 8.3; p=0.001). At 12 weeks, mothers who were usually RS had shorter stretches of sleep than those usually SS (164 mins vs 192 mins; p=0.04). There were no significant differences between ISL groups on any other outcomes.