MATERNAL REPRESENTATION AND CARE OF INFANT SLEEP

Maternal reports about infant sleep care and ideas about the causes of awakening were obtained from telephone interviews with 104 middle cla ss primiparae when their infants were 1 month and 1 year old. These re ports were compared with their expectations about infant sleep before the birth of their child. It was found that most of the mothers were w illing to 'help' their infants fall asleep, with 19 different kinds of techniques being spontaneously mentioned. Most of the techniques invo lved physical contact. The changes in technique from before birth to t he end of the first year of life mainly concerned a decrease in the us e of techniques involving holding the infant in the arms. From 1 month to 1 year, there was a decrease in rocking techniques, while at 1 yea r the use of a (bottle) feeding technique and taking the child into th e parents' bed became apparent. The reasons mothers gave for infant aw akenings varied from I month to 1 year. At I year, the most frequent r eason was that the infant has 'sufficient sleep'. Mothers' representat ions before the infant birth did not overlap with representations and reports of sleep handling after birth. Mothers were willing to apply a nd use a great variety of caring techniques that they perceived to be adjusted to the individual needs of their child. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.