Sleep Patterns in Infancy A Study of One Infant from Birth to Eight Months of Age

Abstract

SummaryA review and analysis of the sleep and wakefulness patterns of one boy from birth to 35 weeks of age has been presented. This boy's total sleeping time decreased gradually from 17.8 hours in the first week t o 14.3 hours a t 35 weeks. The most remarkable changes were in the increase in the duration of the sleep and waking periods. The average longest sleep period for the first week was 4.4 hours and for the 29th week 11.7 hours. The frequency of wakeful periods dropped from an average of 7.5 in the first week to 4.2 in the 35th week. A diurnal sleep pattern is apparent in the Behavior Day Charts from the sixth week on and very definite after the 12th week. The sleep pattern noted in this case are essentially the same as reported in the literature cited. Essentially, all have noted predominantly a lenghthening of single sleep and wakeful periods with maturation in the first year, rather than a marked reduction in the total amount of sleeping time.Possible neurophysiological explanations for the changes in sleep patterns are discussed.