A complaint frequently heard from parents of fussy or colicky babies is that they sleep a lot less than non-fussy babies. The crying of the fussy babies makes going to sleep difficult and they don't sleep as soundly.
Doctors in Finland monitored the amount and quality of sleep for 24 babies whose parents classified them as fussy. This was measured with 24-hour sleep polygraphy studies. In addition, all the parents were asked to keep a 24-hour sleep diary. For comparison, the same was done with 23 non-fussy infants.
Comparing the sleep polygraph recordings, the doctors found no difference in the duration of sleep, but there were differences in the structure of their sleep (amount of rapid eye movement sleep, sleep patterns, etc.). However, the parental diaries show significant differences in the amount of sleep recorded. Although parents in both groups overestimated the time their babies' slept, parents of fussy children overestimated by an average of 27 minutes while the parents of the non-fussy children overestimated by 70 minutes.
The differences in sleep structure may explain some of the behavioral differences between fussy and non-fussy infants or there may be some other underlying cause of the fussiness, and this causes the sleep disturbances. This study does call into question the reliability of parent estimations of their children's sleep.
Pediatrics, 9/04.
May not be reproduced in any format without written permission.
