Since I wrote my last post, the topic of infant sleep has been on my mind and I have done some reading online. Believe me, there is an abundance of information, actually mostly advice and opinions out there. Plenty of people who have something to say about it from all over the spectrum. One thing I learned is that when babies sleep through the night is somewhat of a taboo topic that is often laden with guilt, especially for parents of older babies or toddlers who are waking at night, something that I did not realize before asking for your input. Thanks to those who responded anyway.
In my search for information, it is quite surprising how many experts claim to know what is “normal,” some even using phrases like “studies show,” and yet, the ONLY sight that I found with specific research regarding normal infant sleep (in terms of night waking or sleeping through the night) was this one: http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleepstudies.html
According to the information I was able to gather from these studies, my situation (of having a baby who is over one year old that still wakes at night and needs my help to go back to sleep) is probably not at all unusual. Here are some relevant quotes, most taken directly from the abstracts of the studies.
“However, even in the 12-month-old group, 50% of infants typically required parental intervention to get back to sleep after waking.” Goodlin-Jones BL, et al. Night waking, sleep-wake organization, and self-soothing in the first year of life. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2001 Aug;22(4):226-33
“The findings confirm that night waking at the end of the first year is a common developmental phenomenon.” Scher A. Attachment and sleep: a study of night waking in 12-month-old infants. Dev Psychobiol 2001 May;38(4):274-85.
“Sleeping through the night: 71.4% did this on at least one occasion by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent waking in the 4 to 12 month period. It is not until after 24 months that regular night waking (requiring attention) becomes much less common.” Armstrong KL, Quinn RA & Dadds MR. The sleep patterns of normal children. Medical Journal of Australia 1994 Aug 1;161(3):202-6.
According to another study, 55% of 12 month olds wake at night (58% of 9 months olds but interestingly only 39% of 6 month olds). (Scher A. A longitudinal study of night waking in the first year. Child Care Health Dev 1991 Sep-Oct;17(5):295-302.) And another study found that only 16% of 6 month olds slept through the night (Sadler S. Sleep: what is normal at six months? Prof Care Mother Child 1994 Aug-Sep;4(6):166-7).
Sorry to write this like a college research paper, but I want to show where this information came from. Anyway, the point is that this research is not in line with what “experts” say is normal or expected and certainly not what most parents seem to expect. I am left to wonder if what I have read in some places is true– that many of the sleep problems in infants and even small children are more related to unrealistic expectations than actual problems. I also wonder how much cumulative grief those unrealistic expectations cause for both parents and babies.
Part of the reason that I wrote my first post was to hopefully help other parents be aware that if they are getting up with an older baby or toddler every night, they’re not alone. And in my opinion, guilt and embarrassment should not be part of it (easier said than done in our society). There are probably more of us out there than we realize.
Interesting related article: http://roughdraft.typepad.com/dotmoms/2006/10/author_intervie_2.html
*Stay tuned. I’m planning to do a third post in a few days…
