Objective and subjective sleep measurement; parental perceptions and implications for clinical practice

Sleep knowledge and parental perceptions of infant sleep vary considerably among parents of infants. Parents can report their infant as having a severe sleep problem despite objective methods often differing from subjective measurements. This might suggest that parents are misinterpreting sleep as a problem when in fact it is a normal sleep pattern. This can have clinical implications and lead to a sleep intervention instead of a basic psychoeducation and further can impact significantly on the mental health of parents. This study aimed to assess whether parents can accurately identify a sleep problem in their child.