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A comparison of the sleep-wake patterns of cosleeping and solitary-sleeping infants

Amy Mao1, Melissa M Burnham, Beth L Goodlin-Jones

  • 1George Washington University, USA.

Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|December 4, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Cosleeping infants experienced more nighttime awakenings than solitary-sleeping infants, but their awake periods were shorter. Cosleeping babies spent 40% of the night in face-to-face contact with their mothers.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Infant Development
  • Behavioral Sleep Studies

Background:

  • Cosleeping is a common infant sleep practice with debated effects on sleep architecture and maternal-infant interaction.
  • Previous research suggested cosleeping infants spend most of the night in face-to-face contact with mothers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare sleep patterns, specifically active/quiet sleep duration and nighttime awakenings, between cosleeping and solitary-sleeping infants.
  • To quantify the face-to-face sleeping duration between mothers and infants in a cosleeping arrangement.

Main Methods:

  • Matched comparison study involving 9 cosleeping and 9 solitary-sleeping infants (3-15 months old).
  • Infants were matched for age, gender, ethnicity, maternal age, and socioeconomic status.
  • Nighttime sleep was recorded via video to analyze sleep states (active, quiet, awake), number of awakenings, and maternal-infant face-to-face time.

Main Results:

  • Cosleeping infants exhibited a significantly higher number of nighttime awakenings (mean 5.8) compared to solitary-sleeping infants (mean 3.2).
  • The total percentage of nighttime spent awake did not differ between the groups, indicating shorter awakenings in cosleepers.
  • Cosleeping infants spent approximately 40% of the night in face-to-face contact with their mothers.

Conclusions:

  • Cosleeping is associated with more frequent but shorter nighttime awakenings in infants.
  • Infants in cosleeping arrangements maintain significant face-to-face proximity with their mothers throughout the night.
  • Findings suggest that cosleeping may facilitate shorter, more frequent arousals rather than prolonged wakefulness.

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