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Uninterrupted Infant Sleep, Development, and Maternal Mood

Marie-Hélène Pennestri1,2, Christine Laganière3,2,4, Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot4

  • 1Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and marie-helene.pennestri@mcgill.ca.

Pediatrics
|November 14, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Many infants do not sleep through the night by 6-12 months. Sleeping through the night was not linked to infant development or maternal mood, but was associated with lower breastfeeding rates.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric sleep science
  • Infant development research

Background:

  • The importance of total sleep duration is established, but the link between uninterrupted infant sleep and developmental outcomes is less clear.
  • Understanding infant sleep patterns is crucial for parental expectations and well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the proportion of infants sleeping through the night (6 or 8-hour blocks) at 6 and 12 months.
  • To explore associations between sleeping through the night and infant mental/psychomotor development, maternal mood, and breastfeeding.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal cohort study with maternal reports of infant sleep (n=388) at 6 and 12 months.
  • Defined "sleeping through the night" as 6 or 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
  • Assessed infant development (Bayley Scales) and maternal mood (CES-D) at 6, 12, and 36 months.

Main Results:

  • 27.9% to 57.0% of infants did not sleep through the night at 6 and 12 months.
  • No significant associations were found between sleeping through the night and concurrent or later mental/psychomotor development or maternal mood.
  • Sleeping through the night was significantly associated with lower breastfeeding rates (P < .0001).

Conclusions:

  • High proportions of infants do not achieve uninterrupted sleep by 12 months.
  • Current expectations for early sleep consolidation may need moderation.
  • Findings suggest focusing on infant development and maternal well-being beyond sleep consolidation alone.
Abstract

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