Longitudinal sleep patterns of problematic and non-problematic infant sleepers

Abstract

This study describes and compares the sleep patterns of parentally-perceived problematic and non-problematic infant sleepers aged 3 to 13 months. Parents of 63 infants completed brief infant sleep questionnaires (BISQ) and 7-day sleep diaries each month for up to 3 months. Problematic sleepers showed poorer sleep quality and quantity than their non-problematic counterparts over the 3-month period. For problematic sleepers, diaries indicated 1.3 ± 0.4 (mean ± SE) more night wakes per night (p=0.002), 0.92 ± 0.3 hours less total sleep over 24 hours (p=0.008), shorter sleep periods by 2.0 ± 0.7 hours (p=0.009), 0.54 ± 0.3 hours less night-time sleep (p=0.046) and more time awake between 2200 – 0600 by 0.27 ± 0.09 hours (p=0.05) and by 0.41 ± 0.1 hours (p=0.009) from BISQ. Expected developmental changes were observed in both groups, with day naps decreasing from 3.0 ± 0.1 to 2.5 ± 0.1 (p<0.001), night wakes decreasing from 2.1 ± 0.2 to 1.6 ± 0.2 per night (p=0.008), and sleep periods lengthening on average from 8.8 ± 0.4 to 9.8 ± 0.4 hours per night (p=0.007) over 3 months. Problematic sleepers were more likely to have experienced a birth with intervention (forceps, ventouse or caesarean) than non-problematic sleepers (75% versus 58%; p=0.03). This study indicates that problematic sleepers have increased sleep fragmentation and sleep deficit when compared to non-problematic sleepers, leading to poorer sleep quality and quantity. Perinatal factors may also contribute to problematic sleep patterns in infants.