Photo by: Hassan Abdel-Rahman

Developmental Researchers Finally Focus Attention on Infant Sleep

by Amy of "The Thoughtful Parent"
Photo by: Hassan Abdel-Rahman

Since becoming a parent, sleep has become a major issue in my life. Probably like many of you other parents out there, I was somewhat unprepared for months of interrupted sleep and how this would affect my overall well-being. Once my son was born, I began reading everything I could get my hands on about infant/childhood sleep in an effort to understand how to get my son to sleep better. This was not only a selfish endeavor, of course, as I knew he needed good sleep and it obviously made him feel better and be more engaging in learning and exploring. I was somewhat disappointed when I found that child development researchers seem to have overlooked the issue of sleep. I found many books/articles written my pediatricians that were helpful but I still felt there was a gap in the child development research concerning infant/toddler sleep, it’s role in children’s behavior, and the role of parents’ behavior in helping children learn to sleep.

Then, just last week I came across this great study conducted by child development researchers (yeah!) on the topic of sleep and parental responsiveness. I was excited to see this study and the fact that it was conducted at Pennsylvania State University, one of the top programs in Human Development and Family Studies, gave me hope that it would be a well-thought out study. This particular study examined parents’ emotional responsiveness to infants/toddlers at bedtime and its association to how easily the child went to sleep and how well the child stayed asleep.

Like me, many parents had always heard that a bedtime routine is key in helping an infant or toddler go to sleep easily and sleep peacefully. This study somewhat debunks this long-held thought. The researchers studied infants and young children (2 years and under) and their parents using direct observation via video cameras in their bedrooms. The results showed that parents’ emotional responsiveness to children’s moods and needs prior to bedtime were a better predictor of children’s sleep than any sort of bedtime routine (i.e., reading books, quiet activities, etc.). So what does emotional responsiveness really mean? Well, it’s probably many of the things parents commonly do with their child—speaking softly if the child seems upset, changing activities if the child seems uninterested with the current one. The researchers point out that being emotionally available to the child at bedtime helps them feel safe and this, in turn, makes it easier for them to go to sleep without a struggle.

Personally, I don’t think this means that you should throw out your bedtime routine, but it did make me think about the importance of flexibility. I think bedtime routines can be useful and also make children feel safe, however, children are different from day to day. Some nights reading a book and rocking in a chair may work great, but other nights a child may not be into reading a book. The key, it seems from this research, is to be attentive to the child’s emotional needs at that particular moment. If the child doesn’t seem interested in a book, the best option may be to move on to something else and not worry too much about the routine. This research seems to indicate that if you get to caught up in keeping the routine exactly the same (even if the child is resistant) it may end up making it more difficult for them to fall asleep.

Hopefully more great research on sleep is coming down from the ivory tower soon!

Amy is a wife and stay-at-home mom with a PhD in Human Development and Family Sciences. She created her blog, The Thoughtful Parent, as a way to translate child development/parenting research into a parent-friendly format.

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29 Comments

Thank you for posting this!!

I am currently working through some awful bedtime habits we have created and starting a schedule.
It drives me nuts that we have to be exact with each routine, but this now helps me say hey, so we missed the book tonight but she is resting well. and I know that it will not mess up the schedule in the future.

happy sleeping :)

Thank you for this post!
Have you cone across anything about emotional responsiveness with a baby waking in the middle of the night. My almost 1 year old still wakes up every 3 hours and I have tried many things but not 'cry it out'. I am very responsive to her emotionally and haven't been able to allow her to cry herself back to sleep at night time. Though none of the "gentle" approaches have worked...

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So true! Everyone expects the sleepless nights of a newborn, but our eldest is 3 and still has nights when she wakes up several times. We also have a 10 month-old so aside from 6 nights I spent away from home, I haven't had 8 hours of consecutive sleep in over 3 years. It's definitely taking its toll on me.

This is a great point. Logical, but good to have the research to back it up. Thanks!

Monica,

you could try The Sleep Lady's book. It's a bit gentler than cry it out. It involves you sitting by the bed if/when they cry so they know you're there and then gradually moving your chair further away every few nights. She has some good ideas. No method is really without any tears but the tears are, in my opinion, because they're upset that you're changing the habit rather than them crying because they're in pain, etc...

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I was ultra prepared to use a variety of methods when my daughter was born. To my surprise, she slept 10 hours a night straight beginning at 2 months old. The only thing I can take credit for was that I always put in her bed awake and let her drift off alone. (she didn't cry during this process) I do think this played a part in her ability to getting herself back to sleep during the night. Also, she has always been allowed to sleep as much as she wants during naps...

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Monica,
I can totally relate to what you're going through. There have been a few studies looking at the "cry it out" method and have shown no detrimental effects on mother-child attachment. Here's a good link: http://weissbluthmethod.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/repost-i...
I know "cry it out" methods aren't for everyone but it's good to know the research anyway. I have found Dr. Weissbluth's writing very helpful (he wrote Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child)...

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I just read the Weissbluth article and was a bit confused. He was great at refuting Sears on certain points, but what he wrote doesn't acknowledge cortisol, the chemical the brain produces when a baby is stressed.Cortisol can impact how our children will deal with stressful moments later on in life ("The Science of Parenting" by Margo Sunderland), and while Sears citations may have been lab rats and non-human studies, I have nearly 19 years of hands-on observation to support my own conclusions...

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Wait a second. Are you saying that some experts were wrong about something relating to kids? And that the moms were right? Stop talking crazy. And hand over that PhD -- ya big turncoat.:)

www.partlysunnyblog.com
www.worldsworstmoms.com

FINALLY! Research has proven what we instinctually knew all along! Problem is, up until now, nobody said to new moms "trust your instincts and do what feels right for you and your child"!! Do NOT compare your child to other children a baby that "sleeps through the night" from day 1 in NOT necessarily "better" than the toddler who still wakes up 2 or 3 times per night! RELAX & YOUR BABY WILL BE RELAXED! What a "radical" idea!! Believe it or not, the time will come when you'll need to wake them up! :) Revenge is sweet! :)

This is great and so true. Usually my 2yr old son would be a bit cranky around bedtime indicating that he is tired. some times i get a little annoyed and other times i would be sympathetic. The time when i am sympathetic i would speak softly to him even though he may be screaming, while giving him a warm bath. by the end of the bath he is calm and ready for bed. from my experience this article speaks the truth. and yes flexibity is key!

There is a lot of sleep research out there. Here are some books that are excellent guides to sleep; "Healthy sleep habits, happy baby." by Mark Weisblut or any of Ferber's books. The U Penn study seems to me somewhat questionable. You can be very emotionally responsive to your child and flexible and they can still really want to stay up because they love to hang out with mom...

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Good article - anything that reinforces that parents actually know their babies best and should trust their instincts is a great thing! My three sons were all non-routine kids...

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Sleep problems can have other reasons than bedtime routine. It could be adenoids, ear problems, a sleep disorder and other things that can be treated. Ask your pediatrician if your child's sleep is not normal for their age. Also sleep terrors can happen in kids sometimes but if it is often, call the pediatrician for help. I hope this helps at least one parent and child.
:-)

Love this article! I found the more flexible I was with my son, my mood was better and my son slept better.

It took me awhile to get out of the mentality that baby/child should sleep at exactly this time because he has to be tired mode but the minute I did that my son was happier and more willing to sleep.

As my baby grew into a toddler I focused on his cues rather than a clock and put him down when he was tired rather than when I just wanted him to sleep because I was tired...

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Im reading this as I recover from a night of being up since 3:30AM (It's now 9:53 AM at work)-- We start putting her down at @ 8:30.. she (my almost 2 year old) doesn't go to sleep until around 10:30.. no drama or tears.. she just doesn't want to go to sleep!--then she was up at 3:30 AM-- no drama.. she was just up!... I already though we were being flexible.. I will take more notes from this article-- thank you

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