Sleep

• Swaddling and Sleep
• Getting Enough Sleep: One Key to Happiness, Self-Esteem, and Success
• TV and Sleep!
• Sleep and Immunity
• Sleep Terrors, Sleepwalking and Bedwetting: The Effect of Naps
• SIDS and Sleeping Arrangements

Swaddling and Sleep

The practice of swaddling began centuries ago. Parents all around the world turn to swaddling their infants who wake up regularly through the night or need settling.

Researchers at the Pediatric Sleep Unit of the University Children's Hospital in Brussels, Belgium used a modern sleep lab to measure the effect of swaddling on sleep and the results were published in the May 2005 issue of Pediatrics.

At 9 pm, half of the infants, aged 6 weeks to 16 weeks were placed on their backs and allowed to fall asleep without swaddling. Then at 1:01 a.m., whether they were awake or asleep, they were swaddled in a small bed sheet to prevent them from moving their arms or legs, and returned to their backs for the rest of the night. The other half of the babies received the opposite treatment circumstances. The babies were closely monitored and the data was recorded.

On average, the babies slept significantly better when swaddled. The swaddled babies slept noticeably better and experienced fewer awakenings throughout the night. Moreover, when the swaddled babies did awaken, they were quickly back to sleep within seconds.

Paradoxically, the swaddled babies were more susceptible to awakening to the sound of outside noise (which is a good thing)! The swaddled babies awoke to a white noise sound similar to the volume of a moderately loud conversation. Their heart rates and blood pressures responded at even lower volumes. Perhaps the swaddled baby’s sensitivity to outside stimulation offers a reduced risk of SIDS.

Moreover, due to the small number of participants in the study, researchers were unable to make general recommendations about ongoing sleep habits. This high tech study provides insight into improving infant’s sleep as well as responsiveness.

One Key to Happiness, Self-Esteem, and Success is Getting Enough Sleep!

A study of 2,259 Illinois middle school students published in the January-February 2004 issue of Child Development has confirmed that the less sleep a child gets, the more likely they are to perform poorly in school, become depressed and have low self-esteem. Throughout middle school, if a child’s sleep time was reduced (which often happens), there was an increased likelihood that the child would suffer from depression, lower grades and low self esteem. Generally, middle school children function well on at least 9 hours of sleep, elementary school children 8 hours and those in high school 10 hours. Optimal sleep affects an individual’s health on all levels, at any age.

TV and Sleep!

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics (September 1999) found that the longer a child watched TV, the less likely they were to sleep well. Every weekday in the United States, children watch an average of 2 hours of television. Moreover, if children watch more than this, they are at an increased risk of eating poorly, becoming obese and being socially unsuccessful.

Sleep and Immunity

A study published in the September 25, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that a lack of sleep measurably adversely affects the body’s response to the flu vaccine. This study was done in healthy young adults and half of those included in the study slept only 4 hours per night for 6 nights. The comparison group, experienced a normal night’s sleep over the same period of time. Flu vaccines were administered on the 5th day. Blood test results showed the sleep-deprived group had less than half the antibodies the comparison group did. Once the sleep deprived group resumed normal sleep habits, there was no difference found in levels of immunity between the two groups.

The Effect of Naps on Sleep Terrors, Sleepwalking and Bedwetting

Partial-arousal parasomnias include sleep terrors, sleepwalking and bedwetting. Though there is a genetic predisposition to each of these conditions a study has found that some children with these conditions will improve if they increase their total sleep time each day (Annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies advocates, 2001). In some situations, a simple increase of 1/2 hour per day made a difference. Just adding a short daily nap, moving bedtime ahead, or delaying wake-up time in the morning made an immediate difference to the children who suffered from sleep terrors and sleepwalking. On average the children in the study received an extra 1 hour, 25 minutes of sleep each day. In light of the children’s sleep improvements, those on medications found they were able to sleep without disturbance while being free of the use of drugs. Anecdotal evidence from doctors and parents also supports this ‘sleep’ solution for bedwetting.

SIDS and Sleeping Arrangements

In the 1990's, we learned that putting babies to sleep on their backs could save the lives of infants by reducing the likelihood of SIDS. For more recent data on SIDS, researchers conducted studies in 20 regions of Europe, analyzing over 60 possible influences on SIDS in over 3,000 babies. The results were published in the January 17, 2004 Lancet. About 48 percent of current SIDS deaths were attributable to the baby being put on their tummy or side to sleep. About 36 percent of SIDS deaths were attributed to the baby's sleeping in a room other than the parent's room. About 16 percent of the deaths were attributed to bed sharing. In the instance of the ‘bed sharing’ risk, it is important to note that the actual risk came from infants who share a bed with parents who drink alcohol or smoke. As the number of drinks the parents consumed increased, so did the risk of SIDS. Sleeping with a mother who smoked (particularly during pregnancy) multiplied the risk of dying of SIDS by more than 13 times. Bed sharing posed little or no added risk of SIDS when the drinking or smoking factor was removed. Ultimately, sleep position and arrangement remains a vital factor in reducing and infant’s risk of SIDS.