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Night awakening in infancy: Developmental stability and longitudinal associations with psychomotor development

Tiina E Mäkelä1, Mikko J Peltola1, Pirkko Nieminen1

  • 1Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere.

Developmental Psychology
|March 30, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Fragmented sleep in infancy, characterized by frequent night awakenings, did not negatively impact psychomotor development by age two. Despite sleep differences, infants with fragmented sleep showed comparable developmental outcomes to those with consolidated sleep patterns.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Child Health

Background:

  • Fragmented sleep and frequent night awakenings are common in infancy.
  • Persistent night awakenings can continue into later childhood.
  • The impact of fragmented sleep on infant development remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the longitudinal relationship between fragmented sleep and psychomotor development in infants.
  • To compare sleep parameters in infants with and without fragmented sleep.
  • To assess psychomotor development using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III).

Main Methods:

  • A longitudinal study within the CHILD-SLEEP birth cohort.
  • Inclusion of infants with fragmented sleep (≥3 night awakenings) and without (≤1 night awakening).
  • Assessment of sleep parameters using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) at 8, 18, and 24 months.
  • Psychomotor development evaluation at 8 and 24 months.

Main Results:

  • Group differences in night awakenings remained stable across assessments.
  • Infants with fragmented sleep had shorter total sleep times and more time awake at night.
  • No significant differences in psychomotor development were observed between groups at 8 or 24 months.

Conclusions:

  • Early-onset fragmented sleep does not appear to negatively affect psychomotor development in the first two years of life.
  • Despite differences in sleep duration and fragmentation, developmental trajectories were similar.
  • Future research should explore specific cognitive domains and other factors influencing sleep fragmentation's developmental impact.

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