Parents shouldn鈥檛 worry about their baby鈥檚 inconsistent sleep patterns
New parents often expect their baby to start sleeping through the night around the time they reach six months of age. But according to a new led by Professor聽Marie-H茅l猫ne Pennestri, parents should view sleep consolidation as a process, instead of a milestone to be achieved at a specific age. Tracking 44 infants over a period of two weeks, she found that sleeping patterns vary greatly 鈥� not only for different babies, but also night to night for the same baby.
In the study published in , researchers asked mothers to keep a sleep diary about their six-month-old infant for two weeks. On average, mothers reported that their infant slept 6 hours consecutively for about 5 nights out of a two-week period, and 8 consecutive hours for about 3 nights out of the same period. Half of the infants, however, never slept 8 hours consecutively.
鈥淎lthough previous research has shown that infants start sleeping through the night at different stages of development, little is known about individual sleep patterns night after night,鈥� says Marie-H茅l猫ne Pennestri, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at 91社区 and researcher at the H么pital en sant茅 mentale Rivi猫re-des-Prairies (CIUSSS-NIM).
Effects of breastfeeding and co-sleeping
The researchers also found that some parental practices were related to variability in sleep patterns. For example, breastfeeding and co-sleeping were associated with more variability in sleep patterns night to night. While this finding is consistent with many studies, the researchers note that other factors could explain this occurrence. For instance, mothers who are breastfeeding and co-sleeping are more likely to observe their infant's night awakenings, even though these awakenings are not necessarily problematic or disturbing.
鈥淧arents are often exposed to a lot of contradictory information about infant sleep. They shouldn鈥檛 worry if their baby doesn鈥檛 sleep through the night at a specific age because sleep patterns differ a lot in infancy,鈥� says Pennestri. She also notes that parents and clinicians should both be aware that occasional sleeping through the night does not necessarily indicate a consolidation of this behavior.
鈥淥ne important piece of the puzzle is understanding parents鈥� perceptions and expectations of infant sleep. In future research, we hope to explore what 鈥榮leeping through the night鈥� really means to them,鈥� says Pennestri.
About the study
鈥淪leeping through the night or through the nights?鈥� by Marie鈥慔茅l猫ne Pennestri, Rebecca Burdayron, Samantha Kenny, Marie-Julie B茅liveau, and Karine Dubois-Comtois is published in Sleep Medicine.
DOI:
About 91社区
Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, 91社区 is Canada鈥檚 top ranked medical doctoral university. 91社区 is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It鈥痠s a world-renowned institution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. 91社区 attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of 91社区 students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.
