Parenting effects on sleep duration

A recently published study showed some interesting statistics about how parenthood affects sleep.

The study, conducted in Wisconsin USA, focused on how working parents sleep at different stages in their children’s lives. It’s no surprise that parents of young children (under age 2) lost the most sleep. What may be a bit surprising is the amount of sleep these parents lost, only an average of 13 minutes per day for each child under the age 2! Parents lost on average 9 minutes of sleep per day for each child aged 2-5 years.  Keep in mind that this is an average! Parents may lose an hour of sleep one night and lose no sleep for the next 3 nights. Based on the results of this study, the researchers report that raising a child from birth through age 18 results in a loss of about 645 hours of sleep.

Other outcomes noted were daytime sleepiness and dozing off during daytime activities. Both of these were more common in parents of children over age 2.

While this study may not seem to describe the very real sleep deprivation you may be feeling as a new parent, it does show how research and reality can differ at times! The limitation in this particular study is that the sleep duration was self-reported by the parents. The authors admit that sleep is often over estimated in these cases, so the amount of sleep lost per child may be under estimated in this study.

What do you think about the results of this study?

 

Reference

Hagen EW, Mirer AG, Palta M, Peppard PE. The Sleep-Time Cost of Parenting: Sleep Duration and Sleepiness Among Employed Parents in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol 2013 Feb 1.

New Study: The effect of maternal napping mother-child interactions

The recommendation to “sleep when your baby sleeps” may have additional benefits than just helping parents feel more rested. A recent study examined the association between maternal napping postpartum and mother-child interactions. There were 2 goals of this study. The first was to describe postpartum mothers’ sleep patterns at about 5 months postpartum. The second was to see if maternal napping positively affected mother-child interactions. Even though the study itself was small, with 23 mothers of babies averaging about 5 months of age, the results are intriguing. Here are the findings:

Findings: Postpartum Sleep at 5 months 

• Mothers were awake an average of 49 minutes per night after they fell asleep for the night.  
• Among the 23 mothers, 57% napped, and of those who napped, they did so 2.3 times per week on average.
• Over 60% of this group reported clinically significant symptoms of fatigue during the day.
• Napping frequency was not different between mothers who stayed home vs. those that worked full- or part-time.

 Note: mothers on sleep aids or with more than one child were excluded from this study.

Mother-Child Interactions

Mother-Child Interactions were measured using the NCAST (Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training) Teaching Scale. Mother-infant pairs were observed for communication and interaction skills based on this teaching scale, which includes assessment of sensitivity to infant cues, responses to infant’s distress, and cognitive growth fostering.

Findings: Postpartum Napping and Mother-Child Interactions 

More frequent maternal naps were associated with “greater engagement in cognitive growth and fostering behaviors with their infant,” better scores on NCAST subscales “cognitive growth fostering” and higher overall scores on the NCAST tool compared to mothers who didn’t nap. What does this mean? Mothers who took more frequent naps had more quality interactions with their infants than those who did not take any naps.

So, what does this mean for new parents? Even a few naps per week when you are significantly fatigued can be help promote more positive interactions with your baby! The authors also suggest that scheduling weekend naps may be useful for mothers that cannot nap during the week.

Past blog posts on napping:

Benefits ofnapping, timing of naps, duration of naps (Part 1)

Part 2- Tips for getting the mostout of your naps

Reference:

Ronzio CR, Huntley E, Monaghan M. Postpartum Mothers' Napping and Improved Cognitive Growth Fostering of Infants: Results From a Pilot Study. Behav Sleep Med. 2012 Jan 18. [Epub ahead of print]

What New Moms Really Want to Know about the Postpartum Experience

There are a lot of new things to consider when preparing for pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.  Today, we will present an article that describes a review of 18 scientific papers and a list of the most important things that mothers want to learn after giving birth.  We have also done a little research of our own to find the answers to these common questions, just in case you were wondering about some of the same things! However, you’ll have to stay tuned for the answers in the next few posts!

Common Questions about the First 3 Days Postpartum

For mothers who have had c-sections, the first 3 days are generally spent in the hospital with access to nurses, lactation consultants (in some cases) and doctors to answer their most pressing questions.  Mothers delivering vaginally, however, may be discharged from the hospital 24 to 48 hours after an uncomplicated birth; it’s not surprising that mothers’ primary concerns centered around their babies’ feeding and care during their first 3 days of life. Mothers asked questions most often about learning how to recognize and treat infant illnesses and how often and how much to feed their infants.

Interestingly, there were only minor differences between questions asked by first-time mothers and mothers who had had children before.

For first-time moms, the most universal question on the 1^st day postpartum was how to care for surgical wounds like c-section incisions and episiotomies.  Other common postpartum care questions included combatting postpartum complications, illness, fatigue, and the purpose of uterine massage in the hospital. 

The concerns of mothers who have had a child before were only slightly different.  The most common questions these moms had were the same as the first time mothers’ questions with the additional concern of appropriate maternal physical activity and how to return to their ‘normal’ figures (or weight).

Common Questions beyond the First Days and Weeks Postpartum

By this time, most mothers are back at their own homes, and after having tackled the art of diaper changing and feeding, have a new slew of questions about caring for their baby, themselves, and their new family as a whole. 

In this review, the most important issues to address during the transition from hospital to bringing baby home for both first-time and veteran moms were returning to their prenatal figure, postpartum exercise, “mothering” in general, and meeting the demands of everyone at home.

Understanding Baby Behavior is a universal concern of parents all over the world.  This study found that during their babies’ first few weeks, mothers were concerned about their babies’ behavior, fussiness, need for stimulation, growth and development, and feeding – all things we hope you have learned from our previous posts!  (for a quick refresher on the basics of Baby Behavior, you can review the crying , sleep, states, and cues posts.)  Other, less frequent questions were about support bras, perineal care, and how to deal with older siblings and sibling reactions when the new baby came home.

We know from experience that being aware of common questions can be a relief, helping new parents know that they are not alone in their concerns!  If you haven’t ever stopped to consider any of these questions, don’t worry!  We will be providing the answers to these questions in the next couple of posts!

Reference: Bowman KG. Postpartum Learning Needs. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2005 Jul-Aug;34(4):438-43..

And Baby Makes Three - Part 4: The Realities of Becoming a Dad

In the first 3 installments of this series, we talked about the joys and challenges of couples’ transition to parenthood. We’ll finish this series with two posts about how this transition differs for men versus women. While most of the studies of early parenthood are focused on moms, recent studies have explored parenting from the dads' perspective. We realize that each father enters parenthood in his own way, but there do seem to be some generalities that come up again and again. In this post, we’ll share a few these findings with you.

Lost in the Shuffle

Many fathers reported feeling left out of the picture during their partners’ pregnancies. Visits to the doctor or midwife were centered on the mother’s condition and feelings and many dads felt there wasn’t time to get their own questions answered. Prenatal and childbirth classes weren’t much help either because very little time was spent on topics directly related to being a father. Support from friends and family tended to be focused on the mom's needs as if she would be the only one affected by the birth of the baby. While dads wanted to support their partners, they felt that little useful information or advice was offered to them.

Dealing with Reality

Just as many mothers anticipate what their babies will be like, fathers spend much of pregnancy imagining their new lives with a newborn. The babies in parents' dreams are often nothing like the real thing. Many men have little experience caring for babies and some new fathers know almost nothing about newborns or how to care for them. Fathers in the studies reported feeling frustrated because they wanted their babies and partners to be happy yet they didn't have the skills to be much help. Dads were overwhelmed by the work needed to take care of babies and the sudden radical changes in their relationships with their partners. They relied on trial and error, friends, and their partners to help them build their confidence as new dads. Over time, they learned how to recognize and address their babies' needs. Despite their new abilities, many of the dads found that their efforts weren't recognized by friends, family, or professionals. They were still seen as the "second string" when it came to parenting and the lack of recognition of their importance in their babies' lives was a big source of frustration.

Building a Bond

In the 1960s (of Mad Men fame), the stereotypical man went back to work the day after his baby was born and accordingly, he had very little to do with his child until he bought him/her a basketball as an 8th birthday present. Those days are long gone. Most of today’s fathers want to play an active role in their children’s lives. Dads in the studies enjoyed spending time with their newborns and feeling that they were providing the care their babies needed, especially when their babies were able to respond by calming down or smiling back at them. Dads sometimes thought that feeding was the only way to bond with babies and some fathers of breastfeeding babies reported being disappointed that they had to “wait” to bond with their babies until breastfeeding was over. Of course, Secrets readers know that feeding is only part of parents’ connections with babies. Dads who understand baby behavior can play a powerful role (no matter how their babies are fed) as the “translator” of their babies' “language” (especially for sleepy and sore new moms) while providing a consistent source of love and comfort to their babies.

Building baby care skills helped fathers in the studies feel more confident, connected, and in control. They learned how to support and protect their new families through trial and error, from other dads, and reading. We know we have dad-readers out there and we hope that you’ll share your questions with us. Let us know what’s confusing you; we’re here to help.

Next time: And Baby Makes Three - Part 5: The Rocky Road to Becoming a Mother

References
Goodman JH. Becoming an involved father of an infant. JOGNN 2005; 34: 190-200.
Deave T, et al. Transition to parenthood: the needs of parents in pregnancy and early childhood. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2008; 8:30.

Slight Detour - Does Nighttime Waking Make Babies Fat?

We interrupt our blog posts on multiples to give you this special post.... Ok, maybe I'm being a little silly but I have had several people send me links to press coverage on an article that was published recently in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Because the misinterpretation of the article could result in parents being confused or concerned, I thought we would provide our readers with our own take on this article.

The Article: Shortened Nighttime Sleep Duration in Early Life and Subsequent Childhood Obesity by Drs. Janice Bell (University of WA, Seattle) and Frederick Zimmerman (UCLA). Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2010; 164: 84-845.

Summary: The authors conducted a secondary analysis (meaning they used data already made public to look at something they were interested in) of a US government funded study that, in part, asked families in 1997 and again in 2002 to use time-diaries to record their children's sleep habits. Infants and children in the study were also measured (weight and height) at follow up. The final sample included 822 children who were between 0-59 months and 1108 between 60 to 154 months of age in 1997. They found that children in the younger group (0- 59 mo) with a short duration of nighttime sleep (in the bottom 25%) at baseline had a greater chance of becoming overweight or obese by 2002. This was not found in the older group. Daytime napping did not seem to make a difference.

The Media "Take": I've seen the press coverage from more than 2 dozen news agencies and blogs; most seem to give the impression that infants and children should be sleeping 13 to 14 hours at night in order to reduce the risk for obesity. They don't account for differences in sleep patterns in infancy vs. preschool children.

The Problem: The researchers grouped the children into the 2 groups for statistical and practical purposes (we don't know how many children in the study group were less than 1 year of age) but doing so was not clinically appropriate. I'm sure that the researchers would not say that parents should worry if their newborns sleep less than 10 hours at night. As all of our readers know, newborns and young infants need to wake for many reasons and that while they will sleep a total of 13 or 14 hours, it won't be all at once.

The Reality: The researchers put a whole bunch of kids (from newborns to 4-year-olds) in a big group and found that sleeping more than 10 hours at night was associated with a reduced odds of being overweight later on. Having this "association" does not mean that less sleep causes kids to become heavier. The authors were not able to control for a lot of things that might have made a difference in the children's weight status. More importantly, putting kids with such different expectations for sleep in one big group isn't useful, especially when it confuses parents and reporters. It would have been better to put the infants in a separate group. But of course, the researchers didn't ask me.

I hope this helps you understand this study a little better.

Next time: Back to Twins!