Sleep problems in infants and toddlers are one of the most common concerns raised by parents. A sleep problem can be defined as any sleep pattern that impedes the reinvigorating nature of sleep or interferes with the sleep of others (Adair & Bauchner, 1993). These sleep problems, a prevalent one being night waking, can lead to fragmented sleep which is a frequent occurrence. Consequently, this reduction in total sleep time may have detrimental effects related to cognitive and social development, as well as poor emotional regulation and potential behavioral problems; links to maternal depression illustrate that parental well-being can also be affected (Touchette, Petit, & Paquet, 2005). This review will explore “normal” sleep expectations in young children, as well as the influence of parent and child characteristics. These characteristics may be important contributing factors to the occurrence of such sleep problems and, as such, a critical evaluation of the existing literature and research evidence will help to provide a deeper understanding of these characteristics and the underlying influences behind them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay What constitutes “normal” or adequate sleep in infants and toddlers is not particularly well defined in the existing literature (Dahl, 1998; Davis, Parker, & Montgomery, 2004). The total amount of sleep needed for optimal functioning varies between individuals, making it difficult to definitively answer common questions raised by parents regarding how much sleep their child needs. Davis et al. (2004) provides several physiological measures that can be used to get a general idea of ​​what is considered “normal” sleep. A child sleeps adequately if he has the ability to fall asleep easily at night; this is predicted as falling asleep in less than 20 minutes. Other measures include being able to wake up easily at your usual waking time (this “normal” waking time will vary for each baby or child), as well as not showing the need to nap during the day. Furthermore, children's sleep problems can also be defined in the context of parental expectations (Davis et al., 2004). For example, a sleep pattern that involves a child sleeping early and waking up early isn't necessarily abnormal, but it could pose a problem for parents. whose routines are disrupted. Therefore, it is important to educate parents about what is “normal” to prevent unrealistic expectations. One characteristic that according to persistent findings in the literature has a crucial influence on the development of sleep problems in early childhood is parental involvement. These interactive parental behaviors, such as holding, rocking, or feeding their infant, can interfere with the infant's or toddler's development of self-soothing (Morrel & Cortina-Borja, 2002). Children who fall asleep with significant parental involvement are more likely to experience longer and more frequent nighttime awakenings, due to a failure to adequately develop their self-regulation and comfort skills (Ferber, 1996). Children who experience continuous parental interventions throughout the night learn to expect these conditions present at the onset of sleep and often try to re-establish these conditions, thus becoming dependent on these interactions to return to sleep after experiencing a nocturnal awakening ( Davis et al., 2004;Ferber, 1996). Therefore, minimal parental involvement during the settling process at night can promote more consolidated sleep. Furthermore, parental presence in the form of co-sleeping or bed-sharing has also been linked to poor sleep patterns of infants and toddlers (Mindell, Sadeh, Kohyama, & How, 2010) and hinders their independence (Owens, France and Wiggs, 1999). However, many studies in this area have focused on Western cultures (Latz, Wolf, & Lozoff, 1999). These findings also provide multiple avenues for future research, for example, to determine the extent to which parental interaction is related to sleep problems, as well as to investigate cultural differences in terms of parental behaviors and characteristics. In exploring parental involvement and its effects on sleep consolidation in infants and toddlers, Touchette et al. (2005) conducted a longitudinal study that examined the factors most strongly associated with fragmented sleep in children, specifically at five, 17, and 29 months of age. Parent reports were used to identify the number of consecutive hours of sleep for 1,741 children in these age groups. Feeding the baby after waking was the factor most associated with fragmented sleep at five months of age, while parental presence until sleep onset was associated with the 17- and 29-month age groups. A strength of this study was the amount of variables measured longitudinally in a large sample of children. However, there were also several limitations, one of which was that while the study identified factors that covary with sleep consolidation in young children, it did not examine the underlying mechanisms behind those factors or the direction of influence. Furthermore, the subjective nature of parents' reports meant that the number of hours of consecutive sleep could include awakenings, with the possibility that the infant or child would wake up briefly and go back to sleep without the parent noticing. However, Sekine et al. (2002) found a strong correlation between a parent's approximation of a child's sleep hours and objective sleep laboratory data. Therefore, this study opens numerous avenues for future research, particularly to determine the extent to which parental interaction is linked to child sleep problems. The transactional model also outlines the role of another characteristic, parental cognitions, which can impact sleep in infants and children. children (Sadeh, Tikotzky, & Scher, 2010). Tikotzky and Shaashua (2012) explored early predictors of sleep patterns in four-year-olds in relation to parents' cognitions at 12 months. The findings revealed that maternal cognitions focused on the idea that infants experience discomfort upon waking, and therefore require direct assistance, were associated with more frequent nighttime waking at months of age, and predicted greater parental involvement at four years of age. In contrast, maternal cognitions that emphasized the importance of limiting nighttime interaction predicted more consolidated sleep. Morrell (1999) also explored this cognition related to difficulty setting limits, as well as parents' doubts about their own competence and anger at their child's late-night demands. These findings provide some clinical implications, particularly in terms of parent education programs that address parents' early cognitions and help prevent the development of sleep problems. Future research should also focus on using controlled studies to investigate causal links between parents' cognitions and children's sleep, as a..