Discussion
RP
SECONDARY
This secondary analysis of the Sleep SAAF RP randomized clinical trial among Black families found that the intervention significantly improved several aspects of infant sleep and sleep-related parenting practices over the first 16 weeks post partum. Most notably, at 16 weeks, infants in the RP condition were sleeping 41 minutes longer at night and 73 minutes longer over the entire day, resulting in greater likelihood of meeting the minimum recommended sleep duration of 12 hours per day. Infants in the RP group were also waking less frequently during the night and were fed fewer times after waking by 16 weeks. RP mothers reported engaging more in a number of targeted sleep parenting practices relative to mothers assigned to the child safety control condition. Although results were not entirely consistent across the 8- and 16-week assessments, some significant differences were observed for earlier bedtimes, using a bedtime routine, putting baby to bed while awake, using white noise, and not feeding as the last activity before bed. Mothers also reported engaging in more developmentally appropriate responses to nighttime wakings, including putting baby back down while awake and waiting a few minutes to see if the baby fell asleep on their own, and engaged in less stimulating responses, such as playing with baby, watching TV, or singing. Importantly, these benefits were realized in the RP group without reducing safe sleep practices and achieved in the context of a relatively brief multicomponent intervention (2 sessions totaling approximately 2-3 hours). Overall, consistent with the INSIGHT study on which the Sleep SAAF RP intervention was based,The positive effects of the RP intervention are particularly noteworthy in light of well-documented disparities in sleep experienced by Black individuals in the US throughout the lifespan