My research on sleep and temperament
My research focuses on the impact of parenting advice on sleep, evaluating the research that presumably supports that advice....and how a "livewire" temperament affects sleep....and everything else.
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The continuities between research, parenting advice and parenting practice on the use of crying-it-out in early infancy.
2022 - International Congress on Infant Studies Conference
This review of the literature found stark differences between what experts communicate to parents about the necessity, ease, and effectiveness of using extinction (crying it out). The evidence for the early use of this strategy (<6 mos.) is scant or non-existent. Real world experiences of behavioral methods for sleep may not be as easy or effective as books suggest.
(See this on ResearchGate)
Forces of nature: Are there strengths that underlie a "difficult" temperament in infancy and early childhood?
2019 - Society for Research in Child Development
This large survey of parents found that children who could be rated as more temperamentally challenging also had higher ratings of persistence, sensory sensitivity, perceptiveness, and engagement. Results also showed that parents struggled significantly. They were more emotionally and physically fatigued and they rated themselves as having lower levels of self-confidence as parents.
(See this on ResearchGate)
The effect of "difficult" temperament on experiences of sleep and sleep training: A survey of parents.
2020 - Occasional Temperament Conference
Higher ratings of a "challenging temperament" predicted more trouble with all aspects of sleep: naps, bedtime, ability to go to sleep, nightwaking, etc. These parents also reported trying a higher number of strategies with less success. If they used a crying-based approach, parents reported that there was more crying than they expected and more crying than the books said there would be.
(See this on ResearchGate)
2006 - World Association for Infant Mental Health Conference
This study reviewed the research supporting extinction "crying it out" with infants under a year (and more specifically, under 6-months). Results revealed that very little research had been conducted on infants (as a group) and only one study included any infants under 6-months. The majority of research used to support the use of CIO with infants was not conducted on infants, but on toddlers and preschoolers.
(See this on ResearchGate)