Investigating the biographic, social and temperamental correlates of young infants' sleeping, crying and feeding routines

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on feeding, sleeping and crying routines in infants aged between 4 and 10 weeks. Seventy-nine child-parent dyads from the North East of England participated in this cross-sectional study. Data on infant feeding, sleeping and crying routines was collected by parental diaries for a minimum of three days over the period of a week. Biographic data including age, birth-order, and sex and feeding method was collected by questionnaire and temperament was assessed using the Early Infancy Temperament Questionnaire. First-born infants were found to have longer feed duration and shorter nap and total sleep durations than subsequent infants. In addition, more positive temperament ratings tend to be related to greater total sleep duration. Breast-feeding and sex were related to more frequent waking and breast-feeding associated with more frequent feeding episodes. Age was associated with cry frequency. None of the independent variables used in the current analyses were related to infant cry duration. The results support previous findings but add to the current literature by showing that temperament and parity also have an effect on infant routines.