As is mentioned elsewhere on the site the advice described here is “evidence based”. This is a term used to describe medical advice where there is research evidence that it works.

The research that I have completed was funded by the research foundation of the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital. It uses a technique called a Randomised Controlled Trial or RCT. In science a RCT is the “highest level of evidence” meaning that it is least likely to be affected by external distortions which might include the author’s opinions. There are two comparison groups. Controls and interventions. The control group receives their normal care and the intervention group receive the treatment. In this case a tutorial very similar to the information on the “First Visit Sheet” elsewhere on this site.

To summarise the 379 pages of the PhD in three sentences:

1. The advice given in this research was provided by a single tutorial to the parents when the child was about 3 weeks old.
2. By 6 and 12 weeks children in the intervention groups were sleeping an extra 9 hrs per week compared to the controls.
3. At five years of age there were no sleep differences between groups BUT there were no divorces in the intervention group.

Details:

Infant Sleep Disorders

Their significance and evidence-based strategies for prevention.
A Randomised Control Trial
by Dr Brian Symon

The complete paper is downloadable here in PDF format [PDF - 2.8MB].