Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 23, 2025
Setup of Consumer Wearable Devices for Exposure and Health Monitoring in Population Studies
Published on: February 3, 2023
Sleeping through COVID-19: a longitudinal comparison of 2019 and 2020 infant auto-videosomnography metrics
Michal Kahn1, Michael Gradisar1
1Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.
Insights
COVID-19 lockdowns objectively improved infant sleep, showing longer nighttime sleep durations and more consistent schedules. These findings suggest potential benefits of restrictions for infant sleep patterns.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Sleep Medicine
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic prompted stay-at-home orders, raising concerns about child well-being.
- Limited objective data exists on the impact of these restrictions on infant sleep.
- This study utilized auto-videosomnography for objective infant sleep assessment during the pandemic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To objectively measure the effects of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders on infant sleep.
- To compare infant sleep metrics before and during lockdown periods using objective data.
Main Methods:
- Employed auto-videosomnography to collect nightly sleep data from infants aged 6-18 months.
- Compared sleep metrics from January-May 2020 (during lockdown) with an equivalent cohort from 2019.
- Utilized multilevel models to analyze differences in sleep patterns between the two periods, including 610 infants and 71,472 nights.
Main Results:
- Infants during the 2020 lockdown exhibited significantly longer nighttime sleep durations (11.0 min increase).
- Lockdown was associated with later morning rise times (9.5 min) and out-of-crib times (12.3 min).
- Weekday-weekend sleep timing differences were reduced during lockdown, indicating more consistent sleep schedules.
Conclusions:
- COVID-19 restrictions, despite other challenges, may have positively impacted infant sleep duration and consistency.
- These findings highlight a potential benefit for infant sleep that should inform public health policies during pandemics.
Background:
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric experts called attention to the potential adverse effects of living restrictions (e.g., lockdown) on child well-being, but at the same time- acknowledged their possible benefits. To date, only few data-driven reports have been published on child sleep during COVID-19, and all have been based on parent- or self-reports. This study used auto-videosomnography to capture the effects of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders imposed in the USA on objectively measured infant sleep.
Methods:
Auto-videosomnography metrics of infants assessed nightly between January and May 2020 were compared with metrics of an equivalent infant cohort, assessed in the corresponding 2019 period. A total of 610 infants (50.7% girls) aged 6-18 months (M = 11.8, SD = 3.6) were included, with 71,472 analyzed nights. Multilevel models were applied to assess differences between 2019 and 2020 infant sleep pre- and during-lockdown.
Results:
Whereas infant cohorts were equivalent in demographic and January-March/April sleep characteristics, during the 2020 lockdown infants had longer nighttime sleep durations (Mdifference = 11.0 min, p = .01), later morning rise times (Mdifference = 9.5 min, p = .008), and later out-of-crib times (Mdifference = 12.3 min, p < .0001), compared to the equivalent 2019 period. In addition, weekday-weekend differences in sleep onset and midpoint times were diminished during 2020 home-confinement compared to the equivalent 2019 period (2019: Mdifference = 5.5 min, p < .0001; Mdifference = 4.5 min, p < .0001; 2020: Mdifference = 2.3 min, p = .01; Mdifference = 3.1 min, p < .0001, respectively).
Conclusions:
Notwithstanding the negative implications of COVID-19 living restrictions in other domains, our findings indicate that there might be a silver lining-in promoting longer and more consistent infant sleep. These benefits should be considered in determining policy for the current and future pandemics.
Related Concept Videos
02:20Longitudinal Research
01:26Longitudinal Studies