Infant sleep & the role it plays in mothers

By Michelle Anekeya

It is a scientifically proven fact that human beings cannot survive without sleep, and more so the development of infants lies in ensuring they get a restful night. However, what happens when both mother and baby are deprived of sleep?          

 The National sleep research project of 2000 in Australia found that the arrival of a new born baby will result in a total of 400- 750 hours of lost sleep for parents within the first year of the child’s birth. With sleep hours drastically reduced due to the various responsibilities the mother is tasked with in ensuring the baby’s proper development, mothers become increasingly susceptible to both emotional and mental health complications.

 The complications resulting in mother’s inability to sleep further affect the manner in which she interacts with her child.  Engaging the child in play and displaying affection to the child increasingly become a challenge for the mother as her mood and behavior hinders her from becoming astute to the needs of her child.

Notably, children mirror the behavior of their parents and those around them, a grumpy, irate mother will see the same behavior displayed by her child. This behavior is heightened further by keeping baby in an uncomfortable, wet diaper. 

The novelty of the modern day diaper is one that has come to be appreciated in society by both mother and baby. Half a century ago the cloth nappy was in use all around the world, with it came great challenges most especially in ensuring baby’s skin remained healthy and without infection. The nappies due to their poor absorbency rate, kept the baby damp and wet in turn increasing the number of times the baby had to wake in the middle of the night to be changed. 

 However, with the innovation of the diaper, the objective was to achieve a drastic reduction in the number of times a child had to wake in the night, thus reducing the number of disruption the child endured. 

In order to provide mother and baby with a good night’s rest it is therefore imperative to give baby the ultimate comfort at night so as to reduce the number of times the baby’s sleep is disrupted. By understanding the correlation between infant sleep patterns and mother-infant interactions, Procter & Gamble through the pampers brand, have gone ahead and developed a diaper that is highly absorbent and ensures that the baby remains dry throughout the night.

The use of the diaper therefore over cloth nappies saw that children who used the diapers awoke happier and more active. The children were also much calmer in their demeanor and interacted with their mother’s in a more jovial and positive manner. The combination of a happy baby and a mother who has had a full nights rest, then results in fulfilling and thriving relationship between mother and child.  

“The emotional connection between mother and child is key to ensuring your child grows happy, healthy and strong. By ensuring both mother and baby get uninterrupted sleep we guarantee that not only the child’s health is catered to but that of the mother.  A distressed, exhausted mother will only frustrate her child further due to her unstable emotional state. It is therefore imperative that both mother and baby sleep and sleep well.” Inem Nsimah.