Telehealth for Infant and Toddler Sleep Disturbances

Sleep problem occurs in 20-30% of infants and toddlers.

Behavioral treatments are effective for bedtime problems and night wakings. Most existing interventions require personal contact with a trained professional, but many children remain untreated.

Through a customized sleep profile and brief infant sleep questionnaire, the Johnson’s^® Bedtime^® app offers advice based on their age-based algorithm and normative comparison.

Over 264 mothers and their infants and toddlers aged 6-36 months participated in a randomly assigned three-week study. 84 participated in a control group, 96 in an internet intervention, and 84 in an internet intervention and routine. All children had mild to moderate sleep problems.

Maternal confidence increased by the third week with the number of night wakings decreasing significantly as well. Sleep quality increased by week three, from 8.3% to 25% (control), 2.1% to 33.3% (tool), and 6.0 to 47.6% (tool and routine).

Telehealth, through an internet-based application and through the Johnson’s^® Bedtime^® app, provides parents with efficacious and accessible means of obtaining assistance and treatment for infant and toddler sleep disturbances.

These resources can easily be recommended by pediatric providers for the treatment of sleep problems in young children.