PA
Parents who are coping with their newborns' sleepless nights by thinking it will, eventually, be a thing of the past, might want to avert their eyes, for new research suggest that babies do not grow out of sleep problems...
A study undertaken in the US and just published in the journal Pediatrics discovered babies with sleep issues were several times more likely to grow into toddlers with them too.
Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio found one in 10 tots under the age of three experiences sleep problems such as nightmares, wakings, trouble falling asleep or the inability to sleep their own bed.
The study's lead author pediatric psychologist Kelly Byars said that parents were often told: "'Don't worry about Susie, this is typical and it will get better,'" - but her team found to the contrary.
The researchers quizzed 250 mothers about their youngsters' sleeping habits when the children were six, 12, 24 and 36 months old.
They found that if the children started out with no sleep problems, the chances were that none would develop, but 21 to 35 out of every 100 children who had a sleep problem as a baby, continued to have issues later on.
The researchers also found the type of sleep problem changed as the children got older - toddlers under two experienced the most trouble falling and staying asleep, whilst three-year- olds had the most nightmares and restlessness.
Kelly Byars told Reuters that while formal sleep disorders are considered more medically serious, sleep problems can have an impact on children's mood, attention, learning and development - not to mention the effect it has on weary mums and dads.
What do you think? Did you have a restless newborn who grew in to a sleep deprived youngster?