A new study has analyzed maternal and infant sleep patterns, identified predictors and provided recommendations for instilling healthy habits. The study was published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
“The first two years are a really critical time when there’s a lot of development and sleep is important for health. We wanted to look at the association of maternal and infant sleep and whether it changes over time,” said Tianying Cai, now a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University.
“We identified two distinct groups, a low maternal sleep group where mothers sleep 5-6 hours per night, and a medium maternal sleep group, which meets national recommended sleep guidelines with 7-8 hours per night. The children in the low maternal sleep group also slept less, although the difference was not as large as for the mothers,” Cai said.
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The research team followed the parents of 464 infants through the first two years of life. The mothers completed surveys about bedtime routines, how long their child slept, nocturnal awakenings and sleep problems at 3, 12, 18 and 24 months.
The families were part of STRONG Kids 2, a program at the U. of I. which promotes nutrition and healthy habits in families with young children. STRONG Kids 2 co-directors Barbara Fiese, professor emeritus of HDFS, and Sharon Donovan, professor of food science and human nutrition, also contributed to the study.
Mothers who fit the low maternal sleep profile slept an average of 5.74 hours per night at 3 months and 5.9 hours at 12 to 24 months, while their children slept 9.6 and 10.52 hours, respectively. In the average sleep profile, mothers slept 7.31 hours at 3 months and 7.28 hours at 12-24 months, while children slept an average of 9.99 hours at 3 months and 11 hours at 12-24 months.
The research team also identified factors that influence how much a mother sleeps. Not surprisingly, one of the strongest predictors is infant-reported nocturnal awakening, meaning the infant is more likely to alert the parent at night. This could either be because these infants were waking up more frequently or because mothers were more likely to wake up when the infants were fidgety, Cai noted.
Mothers who worked longer hours were more likely to be in the low sleep group at 3 months, although this was no longer a factor at 12 months. Additionally, those who breastfed their baby at 12 months were more likely to be in the medium sleep group.
Over time, many families moved from the low sleep group to the medium sleep group as infant sleep patterns consolidated. At 3 months, 60% were in the low maternal sleep group and 40% in the medium group, while at 12 months the numbers were reversed. Most of those who were in the average sleep group at 3 months continued to be so throughout the study period.
Researchers found that an earlier bedtime and consistent routines were associated with better sleep patterns, corroborating a previous study by Fiese and Cai. “If parents can establish early bedtime routines at three months, it improves sleep duration and reduces sleep problems,” Fiese said.
“Parents may feel overwhelmed and not realize they have this in their toolbox. Something as simple as setting a regular bedtime early and having routines, like reading a story to your child before bedtime. You may think they don’t understand, but the rhythm of your voice establishes predictability and you can extend this bedtime routine into the first years of life.
The researchers noted that they observed no significant differences due to the demographic characteristics of the sample. “Mother’s education, income, or ethnicity did not predict sleep group membership over a 3- to 24-month period; all parents faced similar challenges. I think having a baby is a great equalizer for a lot of things, although moms who have to go back to work or work longer may have more pressures,” Donovan said.
Even so, everyone can take steps to improve their bedtime habits and sleep patterns. “Getting children to bed earlier and trying to adhere to American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines is very important, as studies have shown that sleep is associated with many neurocognitive outcomes and children’s health. Parents can be very proactive, even early in life, to get their children off to a good start,” she concluded.