Poor sleep can have adverse effects on the health of both mother and child: Study

A new study analyzes maternal and infant sleep patterns, identifies predictors and provides recommendations for inculcating healthy habits. The study was published in the journal “Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics”.

“The first two years are a really important period where a lot of growth is happening, and sleep is important for health. We wanted to look at the relationship between mother and infant sleep and whether it changes over time,” said Tianying Cai, now a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University.

“We identified two distinct groups, a low maternal sleep group where mothers get 5 to 6 hours of sleep per night, and an average maternal sleep group, which meets national recommended sleep guidelines with 7 to 8 hours per night. Children in the low maternal sleep group also slept less, although the difference was not as large as that of the mothers,” Cai said.

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The research team followed the parents of 464 infants over the first two years of life. Mothers completed surveys at 3, 12, 18 and 24 months about their child’s bedtime routine, sleep duration, night waking and sleep problems.

The family was part of Strong Kids 2, which premiered in the U.K. is a program that promotes nutrition and healthy habits in families with young children. Strong Kids 2 co-director Barbara Fise, HDFS professor emerita, and Sharon Donovan, professor of food science and human nutrition, also contributed to the study.

Mothers who fit the low maternal sleep profile got an average of 5.74 hours of sleep per night at 3 months and 5.9 hours at 12 to 24 months, while their babies got 9.6 and 10.52 hours, respectively. In the average sleep profile, mothers got 7.31 hours of sleep at 3 months and 7.28 hours at 12 to 24 months, while the child’s sleep averaged 9.99 hours at 3 months and 11 hours at 12 to 24 months.

The research team also identified factors that influence the amount of sleep a mother gets. Not surprisingly, one of the strongest predictors is infant-signalled night waking, meaning the infant is more likely to alert the parent during the night. This could be either because these babies wake more often, or because mothers are more likely to wake when the babies move, Cai said.

Mothers who had longer working hours were more likely to be in the short sleep group at 3 months, although this was no longer a factor by 12 months. In addition, those who breastfed their infant at 12 months were more likely to be in the average sleep group.

Over time, as the infant’s sleep patterns consolidated, many families transitioned from a low to average sleep group. At 3 months, 60 percent were in the low maternal sleep group and 40 percent were in the average group, while at 12 months the numbers were reversed. Of those who were in the average sleep group at 3 months, most remained that way throughout the study period.

The researchers found that an earlier bedtime and regular routine were associated with better sleep patterns, confirming a previous study by Fiese and Cai. “If parents can establish a bedtime routine early at three months, it improves sleep duration and reduces sleep problems,” Fiese said.

“Parents can feel overwhelmed and may not realize they have this in their toolkit. Something as simple as setting an early bedtime and creating a routine, like reading a story to your child before going to bed. You may not think they understand, but the timbre of your voice establishes predictability, and you can extend this bedtime routine into the first few years of life.

The researchers noted that they did not see any significant difference due to the demographic characteristics in the sample. “Maternal education, income, or ethnicity did not predict sleep group membership during months 3 to 24; All the parents were facing similar challenges. “I think having a baby is a great equalizer for many things, although moms who have to go back to work or work longer hours can have more pressure on them,” Donovan said.

Still, there are steps everyone can take to improve bedtime habits and sleep patterns. “It’s really important to get kids to sleep early and try to meet the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines because studies have shown that sleep is associated with a lot of neurocognitive outcomes and health in kids. Parents can also be proactive enough early in life to get their children off on the right foot,” they concluded.