"We're Doing the Best Job We Can": Maternal Experiences of Facilitators and Barriers to Preschoolers Sleeping Well in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Objectives: This study considered sleep from a social determinants of health and socioecological perspective. It aimed to explore facilitators and barriers to 4-year-old children sleeping well, as experienced by Māori and non-Māori mothers, with low and high socioeconomic position (SEP), in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Design: Experiential qualitative research involving face-to-face, semistructured individual interviews.

Participants: Fifteen Māori (low SEP = 7; high SEP = 8) and 16 non-Māori (low SEP = 7; high SEP = 9) mothers of preschoolers.

Measurements: Interviews were guided by questions about how preschoolers slept and what mothers thought made a difference to their child's sleep. Data were analyzed inductively using thematic analysis.

Results: Four themes were identified: "health, activity, and diet"; "sleep-promoting physical environments"; "consistency"; and "doing it our way." Children being healthy and active, sleep-conducive bedroom spaces, consistent routines, and supportive social environments assisted preschoolers to sleep well. However, broader contextual factors beyond mothers' control influenced the degree of autonomy they had over implementing sleep-supporting strategies that worked for their families. External influences included access to financial resources; parental work patterns; early childhood education service practices; access to quality housing; and affordable, culturally responsive, and respectful professional sleep advice.

Conclusion: Efforts aimed at facilitating healthy sleep among preschoolers and effective preschooler sleep interventions must go beyond simply recommending individual-focused sleep-promoting tips to include actions on the social determinants of sleep and the sociopolitical drivers that influence these.