Walking and holding followed by sitting and holding is the best method to help crying infants fall asleep

Référence

Ohmura N, Okuma L, Truzzi A, et al. A method to soothe and promote sleep in crying infants utilizing the transport response. Curr Biol 2022;32(20):4521-4529.e4.

Sommaire

These investigators in Italy and Japan recruited 21 healthy infants between 2 weeks and 7.2 months of age (mean = 3.3 months) and conducted a total of 32 sessions. The infants were not specifically chosen for their sleep patterns; that is, they weren’t babies with specific sleep issues. Either in the participants’ home or in a laboratory, the interventions began 1 hour to 2 hours after the last feeding. Each mother performed a random series of 4 approaches to help infants sleep: (1) the mother holding the baby and walking; (2) the mother holding the infant while sitting; (3) laying the infant in a bassinet, crib (cot), or another flat motionless surface; and (4) rocking the infant back and forth or side to side in a stroller or mobile crib. Each approach was set to last either 30 seconds or 5 minutes. At the end of each approach, infants were categorized as asleep/drowsy, calm/fussy, or hard crying. The best approach to achieving sleep in a crying baby was a combination of 5 minutes of walking while holding the baby upright, followed by 5 to 8 minutes of sitting with the baby upright before placing the infant in a bed. Walking and holding, followed either by sitting with the baby or placing the baby in bed also worked for infants who were alert at the start. This study is limited by the narrow age range of the infants and the low number of participants.