A systematic review of treatments for settling problems and night waking in young children

Objectives To assess the efficacy of treatments for settling problems and n ight waking in young children. Design A systematic review of randomised controlled trials of interventions for settling problems and night waking in young children. Setting Electronic bibliographic databases and references on identified pap ers, hand searches, and personal contact with specialists. Subjects Children aged 5 years or less who had established settling problem s or night waking. Interventions Interventions had to be described and a placebo, waiting list , or another intervention needed to have been used as a comparison. Interve ntions comprised drug trials or non-drug trials. Main outcome measures Number of wakes at night, time to settle, or number o f nights in which these problems occurred. Results Drugs seemed to be effective in treating night caking in the short term, but long term efficacy nas questionable. In contrast, specific behavi oural interventions showed both short term efficacy and possible longer ter m effects for dealing with settling problems and night waking. Conclusions Given the prevalence and persistence of childhood sleep problem s and the effects they can have on children and families, treatments that o ffer long lasting benefits are appealing and these are likely to be behavio ural interventions.