A Comparative Study between Face-to-Face Training and E-Learning for Mothers, and Their Effects on Infant Sleep

Aim: Babies form the most sensitive and most vulnerable group in every society. Some studies have shown that improving the quality of infant sleep is a way to improve the quality of his/her life. Methods: The present interventional study was conducted on 110 mothers and babies using random sampling in three groups (face-to-face, e-learning and control). Educational interventions included the researcher’s individual meetings with the mothers in the face-to-face training group and giving educational CDs in the e-learning group to improve the quality of infant’s sleep. Information was completed in the parents’ diary registration forms. ANOVA and analysis of variance with repeated measures were used to analyze the data. Findings: The mean scores of infant sleep quality in the first care before and after the intervention between the three groups of face-to-face training, e-learning and control were not significantly different. While in the second and third cares, infant sleep in e-learning and face-to-face groups was better than in the control group. Moreover, at certain hours of the day, infants in face-to-face group had better sleeping in comparison with those in the e-learning group, and the difference was significant. Conclusion: Due to lack of statistically significant difference between the three groups in terms of infant sleep and given that increased sleep can be considered as a normal phenomenon in infants, more studies are needed in this area to achieve accurate results.