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What affects the age of first sleeping through the night?

S M Adams1, D R Jones, A Esmail

  • 1Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Biological Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
|March 11, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Most babies sleep through the night by 12 weeks. Factors like birthweight, gender, and co-sleeping habits influence when infants achieve this sleep milestone.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Establishing regular nighttime sleep is a significant developmental milestone for infants.
  • Understanding the factors influencing this milestone can aid parental guidance and support.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the typical age range for infants to achieve regular nighttime sleep.
  • To identify key factors associated with the age of first sustained nighttime sleep.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study of 700 infants in south-east England.
  • Data collected via parental interviews (n=511) and obstetric records.
  • Multivariate survival analysis applied to investigate 61 potential influencing factors.

Main Results:

  • 50% of infants achieved nighttime sleep by 8 weeks; 75% by 12 weeks.
  • Earlier sleep achievement was associated with higher birthweight, female gender, and less co-sleeping.
  • Maternal age, maternal education, reduced stress, improved housing conditions, and room-sharing arrangements also correlated with earlier sleep onset.

Conclusions:

  • Several factors are associated with the age of infant nighttime sleep achievement.
  • However, these identified factors explained only a small portion of the variation observed between infants.
Abstract

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