This book studies and reveals perspectives on sleep from very young children (ages 25) and their parents. Employing interviews with children and their mothers, as well as photo elicitation, Scherer amplifies childrens own voices on how sleep is managed in their homes. Research participants were recruited from The Beyond Sleep Training Project, a large Facebook group of more than 180,000 members who approach childrens sleep with the aim to respond to their nighttime needs for comfort, safety, and nourishment as they would during the day. Topics covered include the history of infant sleep and sleep training, family sleep set-ups and routines, and competition and support amongst mothers discussing sleep on and offline. The book also outlines the research methodology used for interviewing very young children.
Chapter
1. Introduction.
Chapter
2. Reviewing the literature on advice
on infant sleep.
Chapter
3. Methodology.
Chapter
4. What helps you sleep:
Embodied milk and cuddly toys.
Chapter
5. Getting it wrong and doing
it wrong gendered symbolic violence, competition and judgment in mothering
sleep.
Chapter
6. Time, timeliness and acceptance of sleep.
Chapter
7.
Children analyse visual data: hacks and practical solutions to managing
sleep.
Chapter
8. Conclusion.
Lexie Scherer is Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies in the Department of Education, Languages and Linguistics, University of Portsmouth, UK. Her research interests include participative methods, and research around young childrens sleep. Her previous book, Children, Literacy and Ethnicity (2016), was shortlisted for the Philip Abrams Memorial Prize.
