Consistent bedtime routines in infancy improve children's sleep habits through age 2

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Consistent bedtime routines and activities such as reading books and cuddling with caregivers beginning when infants are 3 months old promote better sleep habits through age 2, a recent study suggests.

Researchers in the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that greater numbers of bedtime-related activities at age 3 months predicted longer sleep duration at 12 months. Likewise, when caregivers engaged in more bedtime-related activities with their infants at 12 months, the children slept longer and had fewer sleep problems at ages 18 months and 24 months. Read more from Illinois News Bureau.