Abstract Introduction Consistent and supportive bedtime routines are critical to good sleep health in childhood, with long-term implications for physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. Specific routines, tools, and behaviors American parents use to support their children’s wind-down to sleep are underexplored and not well understood. This study aimed to characterize common bedtime practices during a typical night among U.S. families with children. Methods A random, nationally representative survey of 926 U.S. parents of children ages 0-13 years old, including an oversample of Black and Hispanic respondents, was administered online in English or Spanish. Parents provided demographic information and identified specific aspects of bedtime routines commonly used with their child. Descriptive statistics quantified the proportion of parents reporting various bedtime activities used during their child’s routine. Results The most commonly reported elements of children’s bedtime routines were using room darkening or blackout curtains (49%), reading a book before bed (46%), and turning on a nightlight (37%). A large proportion of parents also reported using a sound machine (41%) or saying a prayer before bed (27%). Fewer parents reported singing a song before bed (26%), using sleep-monitoring technology (22%), or playing music or stories on a device (18%). Of note, twenty percent of parents reported laying in their child’s bed until their child falls asleep, while 15% reported staying in their child’s room until their child falls asleep. In terms of co-sleeping behavior, 17% of parents share their bed with their child for the full night, 14% share their bed at the beginning of the night, and 11% say their child enters their bed at some point during the night. Conclusion Findings reveal American parents engage in a variety of bedtime wind-down practices with their children, where reading a book, using a nightlight, and darkening the room are most common. Less frequently reported, though still prevalent, behaviors included using sleep-monitoring technology, playing music, and several co-sleeping arrangements. These insights provide more understanding of contemporary bedtime routines for the American child and may inform responsive guidance and interventions to support good sleep health in early childhood and for the broader family unit. Support (if any)
Miller et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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