Mothers, but not fathers, with multiple children get fragmented sleep: Study

Mothers with multiple children report more fragmented sleep than mothers of a single child, but the number of children in a family doesn't seem to affect the quality of sleep for fathers, according to a study.

The study was led by researchers from McGill University.

A total of 111 parents (54 couples and 3 mothers of single-parent families) participated in the study published in the Journal of Sleep Research led by McGill doctoral student Samantha Kenny under the supervision of Marie-Helene Pennestri, Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.

Participants' sleep patterns were studied for two weeks.

Mothers with one baby reported having less interrupted and better-quality sleep than mothers with more than one child, although the total amount of sleep did not differ depending on the number of children.

No difference was noted in fathers.

According to the researchers, interventions developed by healthcare providers targeting an equal distribution of daytime and nighttimes childcare tasks could be helpful.

These interventions should be tailored to each family member, depending on their situation.