The Importance of Sleep For Infants and Parents

From a very early age, our children are taught the importance of a healthy, nutritious diet and of regular physical exercise. Alarmingly, another vital aspect of our physical and mental well-being is being virtually ignored by many new parents.

Sleep is so important for infants that it happens even when they are still in the womb, and newborns spend between 16 to 20 hours of the day asleep. Half of this time is spent in what is called active sleep, or REM sleep. Doctors speculate that newborns spend so much time in REM sleep to allow for the healthy development of important neural circuits. Although most parents can appreciate that their infant needs to sleep in order to grow and develop, many are unaware of the important sleep associations children acquire along the way. If a child is not given the opportunity to develop strategies to fall and stay asleep on their own, they may become dependent on outside stimuli to assist them.

Current research shows that between 20 and 30 percent of all infants and toddlers will have some difficulty sleeping. While many parents insist that their child will not fall asleep unless they rock or feed them, this is generally not accurate. The problem is usually not that the child canÕt fall asleep, but rather that the child has only learned how to fall asleep by being rocked or nursed.

Sleep experts attest that consolidated sleep, which means uninterrupted sleep, is the most restful and healthy kind of sleep for both infants and adults. Sleep that is broken up with several night wakings usually leads to daytime sleepiness, a decrease in mental flexibility and attention, as well as impairments of mood.

Even adults who have had as little as one night of fragmented sleep show a dramatic reduction in motivation and attention. They often feel overwhelmed by the tasks of the day and have difficulty making decisions. The effects on infants and children are even more harmful.

In order for children and adults to function at their peak performance, both must be getting adequate, consolidated sleep. Children who sleep 10 to 12 hours a night awaken well-rested, ready to cope, attentive, cheerful, and best able to learn from their environment. Parents too, will feel better equipped to perform the demanding tasks of work and family life.

Dr. William Dement, Founder and Director of Stanford University Sleep Research Center, explains: "Healthful sleep has been empirically proven to be the single most important factor in predicting longevity -- more influential that diet, exercise, or heredity. And yet we are a sleep-sick society, ignorant of the facts of sleep and the price of sleep deprivation."

Dana Obleman, creator of the Vancouver-based Sleep Sense program, agrees. She explains that many parents are unable to teach their children proper sleep habits because they have grown up with the wrong attitudes towards sleep themselves. "Sleep should never be treated as a punishment or a privilege," states Obleman. "It is a vital necessity for a happy and healthy life."