Infants sleep believed to trigger growth spurts
03/05/2011
Babies often sleep in their cots for considerable amounts of time because a growth spurt is in the pipeline, experts from Atlanta's Emory University have claimed.
They studied the sleep records kept by 23 parents for their infants to find that sleep often increased by around 4.5 hours a day over a period of two days.
This was then typically followed by a growth spurt within 48 hours of the erratic resting patterns being logged.
Dr Michelle Lampl, a professor in the department of anthropology, said: "The results demonstrate empirically that growth spurts not only occur during sleep but are significantly influenced by sleep."
Last month, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed new measures to improve the safety of children's beds, including the greater testing of spindles and slats on cots.
Furthermore, the upper edge of a guard rail must now be a minimum of five inches above the toddler's mattress.
Posted by Elizabeth Mewes
