How snoozing helps your baby's development

Your newborn is learning even when they’re asleep  

From the moment they're born, your baby is learning new things. And incredibly, this could even be happening while they sleep. In one study from Columbia University in the US, sleeping babies heard a noise and then air was blown into their eyes. They quickly learned to scrunch up their eyelids when they heard the sound… even though they were fast asleep.

Professor Gregory says: “At different stages of life we know there is a link between sleep and learning. This study shows that babies might even be able to learn new information during their sleep; in this case learning to predict when air would be blown into their eyes."

Wondering why your newborn baby seems to recognise your voice? That’s because the part of their brain responsible for memory is already 40% developed.  And while they sleep, their memory gets another boost. One study found three-month-old babies had a better memory when they napped after learning something new.

Research has found babies grow longer while they sleep… up to 9mm in length in just one day!  Professor Gregory says, “We know the release of growth hormone peaks during deep sleep. So it makes sense that there is a link between sleep and growth.”

You can almost predict when you need some bigger baby grows by keeping an eye on your little one’s sleep patterns. In the day or so before a growth spurt, some babies sleep up to four-and-a-half hours more than usual.  According to the same study, every hour of extra sleep your baby has increases the chance of a growth spurt by 20%.

Ever seen your baby laugh or smile while they are sleeping? “One function of sleep is to regulate emotions”, says Professor Gregory. “This happens during REM sleep, when our brains process events that have happened in the day and our emotional responses to them.”  And even newborn babies experience these mid-sleep emotions. “Early on in life, babies may also grin during this stage of sleep”, adds Professor Gregory. “This is exciting because they may not have smiled yet when they are awake.”  And these smiles start much earlier than you might think. Using ultrasound, researchers at the University of Durham found that in the womb – when babies are in a state resembling ‘active sleep’ – they sometimes smile and laugh.

Your baby’s language is boosted by sleep 

Sleep can even help your baby’s language development. Experts at the University of Oxford say sleep could help babies learn the sounds and meanings of new words. And a 2015 study found 16-month-old babies who napped learned words more easily than babies who didn’t nap.

“This is just another reason why we should always give babies ample opportunities to get the sleep they need”, says Dr Gregory.  

Sleep really is important for so many aspects of their development.

If your baby has reached a milestone like standing up for the first time or learning to crawl, chances are this will impact on their sleep and they could be waking up in the night or not able to drop off. “Following key motor milestones such as learning to sit up or crawl – a baby’s sleep can be disrupted” says Professor Gregory.