Sleep characteristics and changes in sleep patterns among infants in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Ram K Chandyo; Suman Ranjitkar; Jaya S Silpakar; Manjeswori Ulak; Ingrid Kvestad; Merina Shrestha; Catherine Schwinger; Mari Hysing

doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2024.02.004

Sleep characteristics and changes in sleep patterns among infants in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Sleep Health. 2024 Mar 21:S2352-7218(24)00029-9. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2024.02.004. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ram K Chandyo¹, Suman Ranjitkar², Jaya S Silpakar², Manjeswori Ulak³, Ingrid Kvestad⁴, Merina Shrestha², Catherine Schwinger⁵, Mari Hysing⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmandu, Nepal.
² Department of Pediatrics, Child Health Research Project, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Child Health Research Project, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal; Center for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health, Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁴ Innlandet Hospital Trust, Department of Research, Lillehammer, Norway; Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen, Norway.
⁵ Center for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health, Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁶ Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: Mari.hysing@uib.no.

PMID: 38519363
DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2024.02.004

Abstract

Objective: Sleep undergoes major changes during the first year of life, but the characteristics of sleep among infants in low and middle-income countries are not well documented. This study describes sleep characteristics and changes in sleep patterns in infants at 6 and 12months of age from Bhaktapur, Nepal.

Methods: This was a community-based longitudinal study comprising 735 infants. Sleep characteristics were obtained by interview with the mother using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaires. The stability of sleep duration and night awakenings were estimated by logistic regression analysis.

Results: Cosleeping in the parent's bed at 6 and 12months of age was almost universal (>97%). At 6months of age, 254 (35%) and at 12months of age, 341 (46%) infants had a total 24-hour sleep duration <12 hours. Night awakenings >3 times per night were common (65%) both at 6 and 12months of age. Infants with frequent nightly awakenings at 6months had increased odds of frequent nightly awakenings at 12months (OR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.6, 2.9). Very few (<3%) mothers reported sleep problems in their infants at 6 and 12months of age.

Conclusions: Cosleeping was almost universal among Nepalese infants, and very few of the mothers reported sleep problems in their infants. Infants at 6 and 12months had similar patterns for both sleep duration and nocturnal awakenings. For infants, there were increased odds of having similar sleep duration and nocturnal awakening at 6 and 12months.

Keywords: BISQ; Infant; Nepal sleep; Trajectories.