MONDAY, Oct. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Behavioral interventions are effective in treating sleep problems in young children, with significant improvements in more than 80 percent of children that last for three to six months, according to a review in the Oct. 1 issue of Sleep.
Jodi A. Mindell, Ph.D., of St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, and colleagues reviewed 52 studies (more than 2,500 subjects) examining the efficacy of behavioral therapies in treating bedtime problems and night wakings in children.
The researchers found that 94 percent of the studies showed that behavioral treatments were very effective, with 82 percent of children having significant improvement for three to six months.
"Empirical evidence from controlled group studies strongly supports unmodified extinction, graduated extinction, and preventive parent education about sleep," Mindell and colleagues conclude. "The majority of studies also included a consistent bedtime routine, positive reinforcement and general parent education about sleep," the authors add.
"This review of 52 treatment studies indicates that several well-defined behavioral approaches produce reliable and durable changes in bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children," they write.
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