Effects of co-sleeping on the sleep pattern in young preschoolers: an observational cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to investigate the association between co-sleeping practiced during the first year of life and preschoolers' sleep patterns. Methods A prospective, cross-sectional study was designed to analyze including preschoolers between the ages of 12 and 30 months. The Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire validated in Spanish was used to measure sleep quality. A latent class analysis was performed to identify qualitative subgroups in the sample and explore the effects of co-sleeping and other variables. Results The sleep patterns of 276 children were finally analyzed. A total of 181 (65.6%) mothers reported having practiced co-sleeping with their children. The latent class analysis identified a two-class solution with two different sleep patterns. One of them showed a worse quality sleep pattern. This pattern, defined as "Sleep-Disordered Pattern", showed a significant association with having practiced co-sleeping during the first year of life. In the logistic regression model, having practiced co-sleeping during the first year resulted to be independently associated with the "Sleep-Disordered Pattern" (odds ratio 2.83). Conclusions Based on the present findings co-sleeping during the first year of life appears to be associated with poor sleep patterns of young preschoolers.