Sleep and Neuropsychological Development among Infants and Toddlers

Sleep quantity and quality have been verified to influence cognitive function in adult and children, while little is known about such relation among young children. This study aims to explore the concurrent association between sleep and neuropsychological development in infants and toddlers. 1102 children aged 2-30 months old from 16 hospitals in 8 provinces of China were involved in the survey. Main caregivers were asked to fill out the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development I (BSID-I) was conducted to evaluate children’s neuropsychological development. Results showed that in average infants slept 12.40 (12.30-12.51) hours over 24 hours, woke up 1.77 (1.69-1.84) times per night and woke 0.50 (0.45-0.54) hour through the night. Prolonged night waking duration was negatively associated with the Mental Development Index (MDI) only among toddlers aged 1-2.5 years old (β=-0.10, p=0.045). No association between sleep and psychomotor development was found. This study underscores the high prevalent fragmental sleep in Chinese infants and toddlers that indicates for concurrent slow cognitive development.