Sleeping Arrangements in Families With Twins☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Design
This secondary analysis was derived from a descriptive, correlational study examining sleep patterns in parents of twins during the first 3 months after hospital discharge. Barnard's Child Health Assessment Interaction Model guided the main study. In the model of Barnard and Eyres,20 the function and development of the family unit are affected by interactions between the infant, the parents, and the environment. For families with twins, the sleep environment of mothers, fathers, and infants
Sample Description
Most parents were white, non-Hispanic, and college educated and had middle to high family incomes. Twins in this study were 36.5 weeks mean gestational age at the time of delivery, with mean birth weights ranging from 2545 to 2609 grams. Time 1 data were obtained from approximately 85% of study families between 15 and 48 days after the twins' hospital discharge; one family was assessed on the sixth day at home, and three families were assessed on the seventh day at home. The mean chronologic
Discussion
Room sharing without cosleeping (with an adult) may decrease the risk of SIDS by as much as 50%.12 The effect of room sharing with the parent without cobedding with a twin sibling on SIDS risk for twin infants is currently unknown. Compliance with the current SIDS risk reduction recommendations of room sharing with no cobedding in this sample occurred in 16.9% of families when the twins were 4 weeks old, 12.9% of families when the twins were 9 weeks old, and 14.3% of families when the twins
Conclusion
Findings from this study document a high rate of cobedding, with more than 50% of twins cobedded by their parents at 4 and 9 weeks of age. In addition, a low rate of room sharing was observed, with less than 50% of the sample room sharing with at least one parent at 13 weeks of age. Although findings from this study suggest that many families of twins did not follow the recommended safe sleeping practices to reduce SIDS risk, parents' rationale for choosing a particular sleeping arrangement is
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Cited by (9)
Integrative Review of Cobedding of Infant Twins
2023, JOGNN - Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal NursingCaring for twins during infancy: A systematic review of the literature on sleeping and feeding practices amongst parents of twins
2022, Journal of Neonatal NursingCitation Excerpt :For this reason, it is important to inform parents about the risk and protective factors of co-sleeping so that they can decide whether to let their babies sleep together or separately. Two of the eight studies were aimed at providing empirical data on co-sleeping and whether this could be deemed a risk factor or a protective one for twin baby sleep (Damato et al., 2009, 2012). Ball (2007) emphasized that the data did not support the common explanations against co-sleeping (overheating or suffocation).
The effects of bed sharing on sleep: From partners to pets
2021, Sleep HealthCitation Excerpt :Prevalence of bed sharing among siblings is less clear, and the research in this area is lacking (Table 3). However, studies using both subjective and objective measures to examine the benefits and drawbacks of crib sharing for twins68 and bed sharing in early childhood28 suggest this practice is not uncommon. For instance, studies conducted in England69 and New Zealand70 have indicated that approximately 54%-60% of twins share their cribs within the first 4-6 weeks of infancy.
Sleep patterns of twins
2022, Contemporary Issues in Perinatal Education: Knowledge into PracticeBedsharing in Early Childhood: Frequency, Partner Characteristics, and Relations to Sleep
2021, Journal of Genetic Psychology
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This study was from Case Western Reserve University.
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This work was supported, in part, by the National Institute of Nursing Research (R15-NR009797) and The Foundation for Neonatal Research and Education