Ensuring complete sleep key to baby’s successful growth

Uninterrupted sleep is essential for a growing baby’s development.

“Sleep for babies isn’t just about resting,” said Dr. Apple Alfonso, a pediatrician. “It is about the overall development of their health. In the first three years of their lives, that’s when babies develop the fastest and this happens the most during sleep.”

While there are several stress factors—such as discomfort, environmental stimulation or temperature alteration—which may affect the baby’s sleep, Alfonso said that wetness is one of the two most common reasons for sleep interruption.

This is why she and diaper manufacturer Pampers has recently partnered to urge mothers to use diapers that can absorb wetness better and longer, in an event which coincided with the launch of the new line of Pampers Baby Dry diapers.

Babies who sleep better are happier and more sociable, according to studies. Alfonso said the amount of sleep will affect the baby’s mood and ability to concentrate and participate, adding that babies who have complete sleep are more friendly and alert than those who didn’t.

Sleep also strengthens the baby’s nervous and immune systems, Alfonso said, adding that the baby’s immune system during his first few months depends on the antibodies passed on from the mother’s placenta. As time goes by, these antibodies diminish and only the right nutrition and complete sleep can revitalize them.

Finally, sleep—that state of lowered consciousness and reduced physical activity—is when the time that the baby’s brain completes vital jobs that cannot be efficiently accomplished when awake. “During his/her waking hours, your baby has endless experiences, many of them new. His/her brain stores multiple different impressions of what he/she hears, feels, does, or sees; these are needed to be further organized during sleep,” Alfonso said.