Variation in infant sleep
Infants’ sleep patterns are highly variable and dependent upon a many factors including:
- Infant temperament (e.g. adaptability to change, intensity, rhythmicity).
- Sensory preferences and self-regulatory ability of the infant (e.g. ability to self-soothe, regulate physiological systems)
- Infant’s cognitive development (e.g. infant does not see initially recognise himself as being separate from the parent.. Around 6-7 months of age, the infant may suddenly experience sleep as a separation from the parent).
- Family background (including nature of parent-child relationship, composition and birth order)
- Parental goals and familial / cultural beliefs and practices around sleep.
- Daily routines.
For the infant in hospital, sleep cues and routines may be very different from home:
- the temperature is constant and different from outside
- light and sensory environment may not vary much during the day, making it difficult to tell night from day
- interruptions for observations and procedures and from other infants crying make maintaining a routine difficult.
Reflection Activity: Arousal and sleep cues
Think about your sleep routine. Doing certain activities or doing activities in a certain order helps signal the brain to begin dropping arousal in preparation for sleep. These are your sleep cues. Sleep cues are the things we do consistently to help us transition to sleep. Some examples may include:
- showering before bed
- having a warm drink after dinner
- reading in bed
- having a particular pillow
- sleeping position
- sounds or white noise (such as fan, soft music)
- weight of a blanket.
Some of these are sensory associations and others are routine cues that help your body to wind down in preparation for sleep
