Increased Sleep Latency and Decreased Sleep Duration are Associated With Elevated Risk of Bed Sharing Among Mother-Infant Dyads

Bed sharing increases risk of sleep-related infant deaths. We hypothesized that infant sleep difficulties increase bed sharing, independent of social determinants of health (SDOH). In total, 191 mother-infant dyads in a prospective, longitudinal cohort study completed the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire at 1, 4, 6, and 12 months. Sleep characteristics at 1 month (latency, duration, night awakenings) were compared between dyads with/without bed sharing in the first 12 months. Infants who participated in bed sharing slept fewer hours at night (7.1 ± 1.7 hours vs 8.3 ± 1.5 hours, P =.001, d = −0.79), and took longer to fall asleep (0.7 ± 0.6 hours vs 0.5 ± 0.5 hours, P =.021, d = 0.43), even when controlling for SDOH variables that influence bed sharing. Maternal perception of sleep problems did not differ between groups (P =.12). Our findings suggest that infants with quantifiable sleep difficulties at 1 month are more likely to bed share.