Better nights, fresh days – Field test - Ver1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of the impact of healthcare professionals advice on the development of good sleep habits in babies under 12 months of age
IRAS ID
211957
Contact name
Laura de Amorim
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Philips Research
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Optimal sleep is essential for normal growth and development, and maintenance of optimal physical and mental health. Understanding of normal sleep is necessary to recognise and successfully manage variations from normal sleep behavior. Newborns and infants sleep for the majority of time during a 24 hours cycle, once again highlighting the importance of sleep in normal body development and function. Reduction in total sleep time is accompanied by consolidation of nocturnal sleep through a reduction in daytime napping and increase in nighttime sleep. The maturation of infant sleep patterns can vary significantly between individuals, therefore careful consideration is needed before considering a sleep pattern variation abnormal. Age-specific studies evaluating these variables in a normal population in the first year of life are scarce and warrant further investigation.
Both first-time and experienced parents are concerned about their infants’ sleep. Indeed, sleep problems are amongst the most common issue reported by parents in the first year of life and can be associated with poorer parental mental health, maternal anxiety, post-natal depression, poor parenting self-efficacy and marital dissatisfaction. Few randomized controlled trials investigating infants sleep problems and parental mental health have suggested that educating parents about normal sleep and supporting them with developing a healthy sleep routine for their babies can improve sleep habits and decrease post-natal depression.
Philips Research has developed a prototype, the Baby Sleep Monitor, a contactless sensor that records the baby’s movements and classify sleep and awake stages. This study proposes to monitor infant sleep patterns during a 6 weeks period in a home setting to improve parents’ understanding of their baby’s sleep and support parents with developing a health sleep routine since the early stages of life.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0728
Date of REC Opinion
5 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion