It is not abnormal for a baby not to sleep at 6 months

The baby’s sleep is often a cause for concern for parents. Swinging him can help him fall asleep thanks to repetitive movements and vibrations that, with practice, lower the baby’s guard and lead him to sleep. But if after 6 months you still sleep badly, you shouldn’t worry too much. This is the opinion of Canadian researchers from McGill University who conducted a study on the sleep patterns of newborns. They presented their findings in the December edition of the scientific journal Sleep medicine.

Differences during the night for the same child

Young children’s sleep should be viewed as a process rather than a phase, the researchers suggest. By following 44 babies for two weeks, they found that sleep patterns vary greatly from baby to baby and even from night to night for the same baby. “Although previous research has shown that babies start sleeping through the night at different stages of development, little is known about individual sleep patterns night after night.“Said Marie-Hélène Pennestri, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at McGill University and lead author of the study.

To reach these conclusions, they asked mothers to keep a sleep diary of their six-month-old baby for two weeks. On average, mothers reported that their babies slept 6 consecutive hours for about 5 nights over a two-week period and 8 consecutive hours for about 3 nights over the same period. Half of the children never slept 8 consecutive hours.

Parents’ behavior affects their children’s sleep

The researchers also found that some parenting practices affect the variability of sleep patterns. For example, breastfeeding and co-sleeping alters sleep patterns from night to night: mothers who breastfeed and sleep with their babies are more likely to watch their babies wake up at night.

“Parents are often exposed to a lot of conflicting information about newborn sleep, continues Marie-Hélène Pennestri. They shouldn’t worry if their baby doesn’t sleep through the night at a certain age, as sleep patterns differ a lot during childhood.. “He also notes that both parents and doctors should be aware that occasional sleep during the night does not necessarily indicate a consolidation of this behavior.