Parental professional help-seeking for infant sleep.

Aims And Objectives: To explore the perceptions and experiences of parental professional help-seeking for infant sleep and sleep-related concerns.

Background: Infant sleep is a frequent concern for parents. However, very little is known about the reasons parents seek, do not seek or delay seeking professional attention about their concerns related to infant sleep.

Light and maternal influence in the entrainment of activity circadian rhythm in infants 4-12 weeks of age.

The influence of light and maternal activity on early infant activity rhythm were studied in 43 healthy, maternal-infant pairs. Aims included description of infant and maternal circadian rhythm of environmental light, assessing relations among of activity and light circadian rhythm parameters, and exploring the influence of light on infant activity independent of maternal activity. Three-day light and activity records were obtained using actigraphy monitors at infant ages 4, 8, and 12 weeks.

Sleep, Depression, and Fatigue in Late Postpartum.

Purpose: To study the relation of infant characteristics and home environment on maternal sleep, depression, and fatigue in late postpartum.

Study Design And Methods: Forty-two healthy mother-infant dyads completed a home-based study at infant age 32 weeks. Maternal measures included Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) sleep and wake disturbance, depression, and fatigue scales.

Maternal and infant activity: Analytic approaches for the study of circadian rhythm.

The study of infant and mother circadian rhythm entails choice of instruments appropriate for use in the home environment as well as selection of analytic approach that characterizes circadian rhythm. While actigraphy monitoring suits the needs of home study, limited studies have examined mother and infant rhythm derived from actigraphy. Among this existing research a variety of analyses have been employed to characterize 24-h rhythm, reducing ability to evaluate and synthesize findings.

Mother-infant circadian rhythm: development of individual patterns and dyadic synchrony.

Background: Mutual circadian rhythm is an early and essential component in the development of maternal-infant physiological synchrony.

Aims: The aim of this to examine the longitudinal pattern of maternal-infant circadian rhythm and rhythm synchrony as measured by rhythm parameters.

Study Design: In-home dyadic actigraphy monitoring at infant age 4, 8, and 12 weeks.

Quantification of neonatal amplitude-integrated EEG patterns.

Background: Amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) is increasingly used in research with premature infants; however, comprehensive interpretation is limited by the lack of simple approaches for reliably quantifying and summarizing the data.

Aim: Explore operational measures for quantifying continuity and discontinuity, measured by aEEG as components of infant brain function.

Study Design: An exploratory naturalistic study of neonates while in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Parents' responses to stress in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Background Parents' stress resulting from hospitalization of their infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) produces emotional and behavioral responses. The National Institutes of Health-sponsored Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) offers a valid and efficient means of assessing parents' responses. Objective To examine the relationship of stress to anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep disruption among parents of infants hospitalized in the NICU.

Sleep disturbances and depressive symptoms in healthy postpartum women: a pilot study.

In this pilot study we examined the relationship between objective and subjective sleep disturbances and depressive symptoms in 22 healthy primiparous postpartum women within 3 months after delivery. We found that none of the women in our study had clinically significant depression scores on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; nonetheless, a variable duration of night-time sleep from night to night during the 7-day monitoring period and reported awakening too early were significantly correlated with increased depressive symptoms. Results suggest that first-time mothers who complain of irregular night-time sleep duration and waking up too early should be screened and evaluated for potential postpartum depressive symptoms.

Daily sleep and fatigue characteristics in nulliparous women during the third trimester of pregnancy.

Objectives: To examine the association among nighttime sleep and daytime napping behaviors, depressive symptoms, and perception of fatigue in pregnant women.

Design: A prospective descriptive study with within-subject design.

Setting: A university-affiliated hospital and participants' home environments.

Light is beneficial for infant circadian entrainment: an actigraphic study.

Aim: This article is a report of an exploratory study of the relation between light exposure and circadian rest-activity patterns in infants.

Background: Ambient light is a major environmental stimulus for regulation of circadian rhythm of sleep and wake in adults, but few studies have been conducted to examine environmental light exposure in relation to rest-activity circadian rhythm parameters of infants.

Methods: An intensive within-subject design was used with a convenience sample of 22 infants (mean postnatal age 49·8 days) who wore a combined light and activity monitoring device for seven consecutive days at home.

Electrode challenges in amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG): research application of a novel noninvasive measure of brain function in preterm infants.

Continuous real-time brain function monitoring of preterm infants offers a novel way to evaluate neurological development in neonatal intensive care. Direct measurement of brain function is difficult and complicated by vulnerabilities of the preterm infant population. This study illustrates the feasibility of using noninvasive hydrogel electrodes with amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) as a simplified brain monitor in preterm infants.

Seasonal mapping of NICU temperature.

Purpose: To create a thermal map of ambient air, radiant, and evaporative temperatures and humidity throughout the NICU nursery by season across a calendar year.

Subjects: Each cubicle of the 32-bed NICU, distributed across 5 rooms, in a level III nursery was measured.

Methods: Temperatures were recorded at a consistent time on one day during January, April, July, and October.

NICU procedures are getting sweeter: development of a sucrose protocol for neonatal procedural pain.

Neonates in the neonatal intensive care nursery experience multiple, painful, tissue-damaging procedures daily. Pain among neonates is often underestimated and untreated, producing untoward consequences. A literature review established strong evidence supporting the use of sucrose as an analgesic for minor procedural pain among neonates.

Mother-infant activity synchrony as a correlate of the emergence of circadian rhythm.

Objective: Entrainment to the day-night cycle is critical for infant sleep and social development. Synchronization of infant circadian systems with the social 24-hr day may require maternal activity signals as an entraining cue. This descriptive and exploratory research examines the activity level and circadian pattern in mothers and infants.

Seasonal mapping of NICU temperature.

Purpose: To create a thermal map of ambient air, radiant, and evaporative temperatures and humidity throughout the NICU nursery by season across a calendar year.

Subjects: Each cubicle of the 32-bed NICU, distributed across 5 rooms, in a level III nursery was measured.

Methods: Temperatures were recorded at a consistent time on one day during January, April, July, and October.

Accurate assessment of mother & infant sleep: how many diary days are required?

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the number of days of diary data collection needed to reliably measure mother and infant sleep-wake pattern.

Study Design And Methods: Twenty healthy adult mothers and their healthy term gestation infants age 4 to 10 weeks postnatal participated in a single group, cross-sectional design. Mothers completed a paper and pencil sleep-wake diary divided into 15-minute time periods.

6-sulfatoxymelatonin collected from infant diapers: feasibility and implications for urinary biochemical markers.

The purpose of this study was to assess feasibility and acceptability of using a diaper pad for collection of in-home infant urinary samples and to test the accuracy of diaper pad extraction for 6-sulfatoxymelatonin and creatinine, which was used to correct assay results for urinary volume. To assess feasibility and acceptability, urine samples from 20 infants were collected over a 24-hr day using a cotton pad inserted in the diaper. The accuracy of diaper pad extraction was evaluated in the laboratory using urine samples collected from 11 adult volunteers and assayed using enzyme immunosorbent assay (EIA).

When neonatal ICU infants participate in research: special protections for special subjects.

Neonatal ICU research poses unique concerns for infants and parents. Children are considered a vulnerable research population. Federal regulations specify special protections when children participate in research.

Effect of external motion on correspondence between infant actigraphy and maternal diary.

Correspondence between infant actigraphy and mother-recorded diary differed significantly when receiver-operator function area under the curve, correlation, and logistic regression was calculated with and without excluding periods of external motion. External motion occurred in 40% of recording time and significantly changed activity count per epoch.

Individual and gender differences matter in preterm infant state development.

Objective: To further understand state development of preterm infants throughout hospitalization and the effects of selected infant characteristics on state development.

Design: Secondary data analysis of a 2-group, experimental design study.

Setting: Two nurseries in a Northwest medical center.

Twenty-four hours light exposure experiences in postpartum women and their 2-10-week-old infants: an intensive within-subject design pilot study.

Background: Adequate light exposure is critical for entraining circadian rhythms, regulating sleep-wake cycles, and maintaining optimal mood. Yet, few studies have reported normative data on light exposure experiences in postpartum women and young infants; none has examined the two simultaneously.

Objectives: The objective of this pilot study was to document the 24-h light exposure experiences in postpartum women and their infants.

State change in preterm infants in response to nursing caregiving: possible gender effects.

Purpose: To describe the effect of nursing caregiving on infant sleep-wake states by gender in preterm infants.

Design: Descriptive measures at 34 weeks postmenstrual age and at discharge.

Sample: Twenty-two hospitalized preterm infants.