The sleep thresholds of infants scrutinized

The sleep of newborns is a source of concern for parents. This essential phase, especially during the first two years, allows the child to develop. A study by researchers from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the University of Turku (Finland) has set the threshold for targeted intervention to improve sleep quality in newborns. The results of their study were published in the journal sleep medicine.

The researchers’ goal was to examine infant sleep to see how it develops during the first two years. To define these thresholds, the team relied on the results of two cohorts (FinnBrain and Child-Sleep) which analyzed the sleep of 8,500 children aged between 3 and 24 months. The results obtained should be used to reassure parents about their children’s sleep and better identify infants who really suffer from nocturnal disorders.

They found that sleep quality is highly variable with age, especially during the first two years of life. Indeed, nocturnal sleep is really consolidated from the age of two, in particular because it takes time for the infant to adapt to integrate the circadian cycle (the famous day-night cycle).

Fall asleep in less than 40 minutes

According to the researchers, if it takes more than 40 minutes for an 8-month-old child to fall asleep, it is best to discuss this with a doctor. Similarly, if a 6-month-old wakes up more than three times at night, or stays awake at night for particularly long periods (more than an hour for an 8-month-old, more than 45 minutes for a child of 12 months, or more than half an hour for a child of 18 months), it is better to worry about it.

During the study, the researchers observed big changes in the infants’ sleep patterns. During their first two years, they found that the time needed to fall asleep is reduced to an average of 20 minutes at the age of 6 months, and that by the age of two young children, waking is reduced to once per night, while the total number of hours of sleep is also reduced to around 12 hours per day. It has also been noted that sleep patterns become more stable and regular by age two.

For Juulia Paavonen, head of research at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, although sleep problems are common in newborns, not all cases require intervention; sleep patterns normally improve when the child reaches two years of age.

Each child adapts to sleep at their own pace

“Until now, we didn’t have benchmarks to describe ‘good sleep’ in infants that were based on large datasets. Now we know that individual differences are very important and that patterns of falling asleep, waking up, nocturnal waking and sleeping patterns often develop at different rates,” says Juulia Paavonen.

“Children whose sleep quality is clearly different from average would likely benefit from an assessment of the situation. There are many tools to reduce sleep problems in children,” says Juulia Paavonen.

While researchers say it’s difficult to make general recommendations on the amount of sleep needed because it depends on many factors, Juulia Paavonen points out that “if parents are very concerned about their child or their own ability to to cope, you have to seek help even before these levels are reached.”