News You Can Use
What does the latest research say about co-sleeping, nutrition education for preschoolers and sibling relationships? Here’s what we found:
Moms Who Co-sleep Feel More Depressed
According to a new study out of Penn State, moms who choose to co-sleep (sharing a room or a bed with your children) beyond the age of 6 months tend to feel more depressed, worried about their babies’ sleep habits and criticized for their choices.
The study followed 103 mothers through the first year of their babies’ lives, and a pattern emerged. Most mothers started out co-sleeping, but gradually babies were moved out of their parents’ rooms. After six months, only 25 percent of mothers continued to co-sleep.
Although co-sleeping is commonly practiced around the world, it is less prevalent in the United States. Current parenting trends and concerns about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) contribute to U.S. parents’ tendency to regard long-term co-sleeping as a no-no.
Douglas Teti, department head and professor of human development and family studies at Penn State, says the study isn't about whether co-sleeping is good or bad, but about the importance of finding a sleep arrangement that works well for both parents and doesn’t leave one’s partner feeling neglected.
Healthy Eating Habits for Preschoolers
Because one in four preschoolers is overweight, and because nutrition is a key factor in a child’s development, researchers are looking at ways to educate young children about nutrition and encourage them to make healthier choices. In a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, researchers looked at a preschool age child’s ability to categorize food as healthy or unhealthy. The study found that if the child could label a food as healthy or unhealthy, he tended to say he would choose the healthy option for a snack.
Lead author Jody S. Nicholson, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of North Florida, says, "At this age [preschoolers] are not able to explain why they know something is healthy or how the body processes food, but they can identify that fruit, vegetables and milk are good for them."
Children in the study were shown pictures of two high contrast foods (e.g., a banana and a candy bar) and asked to point to the healthy choice. They also were shown low contrast pictures (e.g., chips and crackers), making it more difficult to label which was the healthy choice.
Sibling Influence on Empathy
Sibling relationships are often complicated, and parents who must try to manage kids’ fights and rivalries can sometimes feel like they are running a zoo. However, some encouraging news has emerged about the positive influences siblings can have on each other. The recent study, a collaborative effort between the University of Calgary, Universite Laval, Tel Aviv University and the University of Toronto, looked at 452 sibling pairs from diverse backgrounds. They wanted to examine how siblings affect one another’s ability to experience empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
"Although it's assumed that older siblings and parents are the primary socializing influences on younger siblings' development (but not vice versa), we found that both younger and older siblings positively contributed to each other's empathy over time," explains Marc Jambon, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto.
This study is important because it begins to illuminate how all family members, not just parents and older children, contribute to the development of younger siblings. Age and gender had no significant impact on the study except when it came to little brothers and older sisters. Little brothers appear to have no significant impact on older sisters when it comes to empathy.
Erin McIntosh is a mom of four children, 15, 12, 10, and 6. She works at the Kansas City Art Institute and is also a freelance writer and photographer. She is currently working on her first book, a memoir about single parenting
As always, please consult your health care provider with any questions or concerns.