Associations Between Diaper Need and Child Sleep in Under-resourced Families.

Objective: Sleep is critical for child health, but factors related to poverty create barriers to the achievement of healthful sleep. In this study, we examined the associations of insufficient diaper supply, a measure of material hardship, with child sleep.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 129 parents of very young children. Each participant responded to an online material hardship assessment and the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire-Revised. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between diaper need and sleep.

Results: Controlling for family and socioeconomic variables, diaper need was associated with disrupted, shorter sleep periods (β = -11.95, p < 0.001) and lower total sleep scores (β = -6.49, p = 0.004). High diaper need was associated with parent perception of poor sleep (β = -7.28, p = 0.017).

Conclusion: The findings suggest that an inadequate supply of diapers adversely affects children's sleep. Further research should evaluate how screening and connecting families to resources may improve pediatric sleep.