Background: Bedtime routines are highly recurrent family activities with implications for children's wellbeing, development and health.
Aims: The objective of this study is to co-develop and test in a feasibility, proof-of-concept study a bedtime routines intervention using text messages aimed at first-time parents with young children.
Methods: Fifty first-time parents with children aged 1-3 years were recruited for this study. Parents received a text message-based intervention for 7-consecutive nights which provided support and information on achieving optimal bedtime routines. Parents completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires focusing on children's sleep, bedtime routines and parental mood disturbance. Feedback was provided at the end of the study.
Results: Recruitment target and high retention with 98%, or 49 out of 50 participants completing the study were achieved. Pre- and post-intervention, there were improvements in total children's sleep with children sleeping longer and having less disrupted sleep overall (MD = - 7.77 (SD = 17.91), t(48) = - 3.03, p = .004, CI (- 12.91, - 2.63) and in overall quality of bedtime routines (MD = - 5.00, SD = 7.01, t(48) = - 4.98, p < .001, CI (- 7.01, - 2.98). Parental mood disturbance decreased pre- to post-intervention (MD = 5.87, SD = 15.43, t(48) = 2.66), p = .010, CI (1.44, 10.30). Parents provided positive feedback about the intervention and valued the support that was provided to them.
Conclusions: Bedtime routines were successfully altered with short-term benefits for children's sleep and parental mood. Future research will need to utilize a more robust, longitudinal approach for a definite exploration of sustained changes in bedtime routines and their long-term implications for children and parents.
Keywords: Behaviour change; Child; Parenting; Sleep; Wellbeing.
© 2022. The Author(s).