Study: Babies Sleep for Longer Stretches of Time in Own Room

A new study found that babies who shared a room with their parents slept less, on average, than those babies who spent the night in their own rooms.

From vibrating bassinets to swaddle blankets, the infant sleep industry is estimated to be worth more than $325 million dollars a year. It’s no wonder. Exhausted parents will try just about anything to get their little ones to sleep!

Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine aimed to examine the effects that sleeping arrangements have on children. Analyzing data from 249 moms and first-born infants as part of the INSIGHT study, researchers found that infants who were sleeping independently in their own room by four months of age averaged longer stretches of continuous sleep than those who slept in the same room as a parent. However, the overall total amount of time that they slept per night was approximately the same.

Related: Are Your Kids Getting Enough Sleep? 

By the time these independent sleepers reached nine months of age, they were averaging 40 more minutes of nightly sleep than those babies who had room-shared and 26 more minutes of sleep than those who began sleeping alone after 4 months of age.  More importantly, those babies who slept alone by 4 months of age averaged 100 more minutes of continuous shut-eye than those babies who still shared a room with their parents.

The study followed the children until they reached 2.5 years of age. Although the total amount of daily sleep was approximately the same, those who were still sleeping with mom or dad at 9 months of age slept 45 minutes less each night.  The results of the study were published in the journal Pediatrics.

According to NPR, the study findings contradict recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which recommends that parents share a room with their infants for at least 6 months, but ideally a year.

The study adds to the already complex debate of where babies should sleep.   Lead author, Ian Paul, suggests that the recommendations from the AAP regarding infant sleep location are not evidence-based and that they may not be ideal for all families.

Related:  How Co-Sleeping Builds a Connected Family

In 2016, the AAP updated their recommendations for safe sleep, which included a big no-no for bed sharing. The study excluded parents who bed-share with their newborns. Therefore, for the many parents who choose to co-sleep, this study does not shed light on that topic.

The conflicting information surrounding infant sleep can leave already sleepless parents even more confused.  Ultimately, parents need to decide what works best for their families.

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