Compared to full term , premature infants exhibit significant differences in sleep structure , which mainly include differences in electroencephalographic spectral values , in total sleep time and in arousal threshold .
Furthermore , prematurity seems to be a risk factor of sleep breathing disorders in childhood and adolescence .
Conclusions The alterations in sleep patterns are an outcome of prematurity ( immaturity of nervous system ) as well as of postnatal factors and comorbidities .
Sleep problems in this population of infants seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle of impaired neurodevelopment .
Background Sleep undergoes changes from birth to adulthood , while sleep disorders are associated with various cognitive deficiencies in childhood .
In parallel , prematurity is known to predispose to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes .
Our aim is to provide literature data about factors influencing sleep in the premature infants and sleep outcomes in this population .
Cycled Light Exposure Reduces Fussing and Crying in Very Preterm Infants
OBJECTIVE : To examine whether cycled lighting ( CL ) conditions during neonatal care in very preterm infants ( < 32 weeks ’ gestational age [ GA ] ) decrease crying and fussing behavior , improve the consolidation of sleep , and influence activity behavior at 5 and 11 weeks ’ postterm corrected age ( CA ) compared with preterm infants cared for in dim lighting ( DL ) conditions . METHODS : Thirty-seven preterm infants were r and omly assigned to  CL  ( 7 am–7 pm lights on , 7 pm–7 am lights off [ n = 17 ; mean GA : 30.6 ± 0.95 weeks ; 9 girls ] ) or DL ( lights off whenever the child is asleep [ n = 20 ; GA : 29.5 ± 2.1 weeks ; 8 girls ] ) conditions . Sleeping , crying , and activity behavior was recorded by using parental diaries and actigraphy at 5 and 11 weeks ’ CA . RESULTS : A significant reduction of fussing ( 59.4 minutes/24 hours [ ±25.8 minutes ] ) and crying ( 31.2 minutes/24 hours [ ±14.4 minutes ] ) behavior and a trend to higher motor activity during daytime was found in CL-exposed infants at 5 and 11 weeks ’ CA compared with infants cared for in DL conditions . No significant difference between groups was observed for sleep behavior at 5 and 11 weeks ’ CA . Infants in CL conditions showed a trend to improved daily weight gain ( average : 3.6 g/d ) during neonatal care compared with DL conditions . CONCLUSIONS : CL conditions in neonatal care have beneficial effects on infant ’s fussing and crying behavior and growth in the first weeks of life . This study supports the introduction of CL care in clinical neonatal practice
Compared to full term , premature infants exhibit significant differences in sleep structure , which mainly include differences in electroencephalographic spectral values , in total sleep time and in arousal threshold .
Furthermore , prematurity seems to be a risk factor of sleep breathing disorders in childhood and adolescence .
Conclusions The alterations in sleep patterns are an outcome of prematurity ( immaturity of nervous system ) as well as of postnatal factors and comorbidities .
Sleep problems in this population of infants seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle of impaired neurodevelopment .
Background Sleep undergoes changes from birth to adulthood , while sleep disorders are associated with various cognitive deficiencies in childhood .
In parallel , prematurity is known to predispose to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes .
Our aim is to provide literature data about factors influencing sleep in the premature infants and sleep outcomes in this population .