Sleeping problems in young children are very common, affecting up to 20% of 1-year-olds.
Behaviour therapy is the most widely recognised treatment but a significant proportion of
parents find it aversive. This suggests that parental cognitions may be important and
underevaluated. The aims of this study were therefore fourfold: (1) to describe the
development of a new tool to measure maternal cognitions in relation to infant sleeping
problems, the Maternal Cognitions about Infant Sleep Questionnaire (MCISQ); (2) to assess
the psychometric properties of the MCISQ; (3) to test the hypothesis that maternal
cognitions will be associated with, and specific to, infant sleep problems; and (4) to discuss
the implications of the findings with respect to aetiological models of infant sleep problems,
treatment, and future research. Results showed that maternal cognitions about setting limits,
anger at the infant's demands, and doubts about parenting competence were significantly
associated with infant sleep problems, whereas cognitions about infant hunger or cot death
were not. It is hypothesised that these cognitive responses, if extreme, may disrupt sensitive
parent–child interactions, which over time could lead to impairments in the development of
infant self-regulation.