Understanding the sleep patterns of your child

If your infant is not sleeping through the night, it may not be a reason to panic as sleep patterns of infants vary for at least the first three years of life, says a new study.

"Practitioners can help parents understand that 'sleeping through the night' is not entirely likely in young infants and that infants' sleep patterns change during the first few years of life," said Robin Yaure from the Pennsylvania State University in the US.

There are many reasons for this, including changes in infant health and mobility and the development of separation anxiety, the researchers said.

"Sharing this basic information with parents is one way of assuring parents that infants' waking does not necessarily mean that the parents are doing something wrong," they added.

For the study, the researchers reviewed current research on common areas of concern for both parents and health care practitioners.

The research suggests that the presence of parents at bed time, specifically during the transition to sleep, may not trigger night wakings as previously thought, they said.

The study appeared online in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.