Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate preschool children’s sleep habits, determine parental behaviours that affect these sleep habits, and examine the potential factors that cause sleep problems. 400 children aged 5-6 and their mothers participated in the study. A Child Information Form and Sleep Habits Questionnaire were applied to the mothers. In this way, the children’s resistance to bedtime, delay in falling asleep, sleep duration, sleep anxiety, waking during the night, parasomnias, sleep-disordered breathing, and daytime sleepiness were evaluated. The results of the study revealed that six-year-old children’s scores in the sleep habits and problems scale were higher than those of five-year-olds, and that sleep duration decreased in six-year-olds. In the study, when varieties of sleep problems were examined, it was found that children sleeping in the same bed as their parents had more sleep problems, and that as length of time spent sleeping together increased, sleep problems also increased.

Key words: Sleep habits, Sleep problems, Bed-sharing, Sleeping together, Preschool