Peer-reviewed article
713 Sleep of infants and toddlers during 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic
Gupta G, O’ Brien L, Dang L, Shellhaas R ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how infant and toddler sleep changed during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic by surveying parents in the Midwestern USA. Researchers found that total sleep time, sleep onset latency, and nap consistency did not change significantly across the four quarters of 2020. However, children with comorbidities, those sharing rooms, and those from lower-income households experienced more parental frustration related to sleep. The findings suggest that pandemic lockdowns did not substantially disrupt infant and toddler sleep patterns, but vulnerable subgroups faced greater challenges.
Key points
- Total sleep time and sleep onset latency remained stable across all four quarters of 2020, showing no significant pandemic effect
- Sleep onset latency decreased by 3 minutes for each income category increase, indicating economic disparities in sleep quality
- Parental frustration with sleep was significantly associated with child comorbidities, room sharing, and younger child age
- Nap consistency was more common in older children and those not sharing a room, but did not change over the pandemic year
- Special attention needed for infants and toddlers with comorbidities, those in room-sharing arrangements, and from lower-income households
Limitations
The study relied on parent self-report of sleep measures without objective sleep monitoring, which may introduce recall bias. The sample was primarily from the Midwestern USA, limiting generalizability to other regions and countries.
Abstract
Abstract Introduction SARS-CoV-2 changed the lives of children and their parents in 2020. To our knowledge, no studies have examined infant and toddler sleep during this pandemic. We sought to compare parent-reported sleep characteristics of infants and toddlers over successive quarters of the past year. Methods Parents of children aged 0–36 months were surveyed primarily in the Midwestern USA between 01/17/2020 and 12/07/2020. Each parent responded only once. Age was categorized as: <6 months, 6–12 months, 12–24 months, and 24–36 months. Income was categorized as: <$50,000, $50-100,000, $100-150,000, and >$150,000. The year was divided into quarters. Multivariable linear regression included Total Sleep Time (TST), Sleep Onset Latency (SOL) and parental frustration with sleep (any frustration, scale of 1–5) as dependent variables and year quarter, child’s age, prematurity, child’s comorbidities, maternal age (during their child’s birth), parenting experience, household income, and room sharing as independent variables. Logistic regression included nap consistency (napping at the same time daily) as the dependent variable, and year quarter, child’s age, prematurity, comorbidity, maternal age, parenting experience, household income, and room sharing as independent variables. Results Of 594 children, mean age was 18.5±9.7 months and 52% were female. Prematurity and comorbidities were reported for 8% and 15%, respectively. Mean maternal age was 31.8±4.5 years. Neither TST (β=-0.488; p= 0.16) nor SOL (β= 0.029; p=0.23) were associated with year quarter. SOL was 3 minutes less for each increase in income category (β =-0.051; p= 0.003). TST (β = -0.994; p<0.001) and SOL (β =0.092; p<0.0001) were most associated with child’s age. Parental frustration was associated with child’s age (β=0.12; p= 0.04), comorbidity (β=0.30; p=0.05) and room sharing (β= -0.38; p=0.006), but not year quarter. Nap consistency was associated with increased child age category (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.13, 1.94) and lack of room sharing (OR=2.09; 1.10, 3.97), but not year quarter. Conclusion Parent-estimated TST, nap consistency and sleep-related frustration did not differ significantly over the first 12 months of the pandemic. Yet, our results underscore that special attention should be given to the sleep of infants and toddlers with comorbidities, who share a room, and who have a lower household income. Support (if any) 2T32HL110952-06
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Observation of sleep patterns during successive quarters of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
- Population
- 594 children aged 0-36 months (mean age 18.5 months, 52% female) and their parents, primarily in Midwestern USA
Key finding
Total sleep time did not differ significantly by pandemic quarter (β=-0.488; p=0.16)