Is your baby sleeping enough? Experts reveal side-effects of bad sleeping habits

The long-term study has shown that babies and young children who do not regularly get enough sleep are more likely to have more emotional and behavioural problems when they reach the age of five.

And, while researchers had expected to see a link between sleep and emotional / behavioural problems, they were left stunned that “the risks were so strong and consistent”.

The results came after an ongoing study of 32,662 pairs of mothers and children in Norway, supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health.

The mothers filled out questionnaires when they were 17 weeks pregnant, when the child was 18 months old and again when the child was five years old.

Researchers, after examining the feedback, have found that children who slept less than ten hours per night and those who woke three or more times per night at 18 months were more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems at age five.

Speaking with Reuters Health, Borge Sivertsen of Uni Research Health and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Bergen explained his findings.

He said: “While only an experimental study can determine causality, our study does suggest that there is an increased risk of developing such problems, also after accounting for a range of other possible factors.”

Meanwhile Michelle M. Garrison, who works at Seattle Children’s Research Institute in Washington, also insisted that inadequate sleep in early childhood does lead to problems later on.

She said it can cause children to find it difficult to handle their emotions, impulse control, and reading the emotions and intents of other.

Despite this, however, researchers have urged parents not to sit at their child’s bedside whilst trying to get them to sleep.

This could lead to them becoming overly dependent.

“It is a developmental milestone for children to be able to fall asleep on their own,” Borge Sivertsen said.

Are you surprised to hear that bad sleeping habits can have such an effect on your child’s behaviour? Let us know via the comments box below.