If you have not already done so, please read Blog Posts 1 through 5 that describe how sleep is important and beneficial. I will post specific information for parents and children based on my book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.” Please do not be put off by my book’s length. This is a reference book. Read only the topic of interest to you.
The exact same 60 infants that I examined at 4 months of age were restudied at 3 years. Again, at age 3 years, temperamentally easy children had longer total sleep durations compared with children with more difficult temperaments (12.5 versus 11.2 hours). However, there was no individual stability of temperament traits (except for adaptability) and no individual stability of sleep durations between the ages of 4 months and 3 years. Thus, except for adaptability, temperament ratings and associated sleep patterns at age 4 months do not predict temperament or sleep patterns at 3 years.
At 4 months of age, infants with an Easy temperament had a total sleep duration of 15.6 hours.
At 4 months of age, infants with a Difficult temperament had a total sleep duration of 12.3 hours.
Between 4 months of age and 3 years of age, some parents put forth a great effort to help their child sleep well and other parents put forth less effort to help their child sleep well. Some children developed easier temperaments and some children developed more difficult temperaments.
Temperament Temperament Total Sleep Duration
At 4 months At 3 years at 3 years (hours)
Easy Remained Easy 12.4
Difficult Became Easy 12.0
Easy Became Difficult 11.8
Difficult Remained Difficult 11.4
Comparing my data between 4 months and 3 years, individual infants who were ranked as having brief sleep periods (12.3 hours) and difficult temperaments at 4-5 months and who were ranked as sleeping longer at 3 years (12.0 hours) had easier temperaments. But for 4-5-month-olds with brief sleep durations (12.3 hours) and difficult temperaments who also had brief sleep durations at age 3 years (11.4 hours), the difficult temperament persisted.
Similarly, individual infants who were ranked as having long sleep periods (15.6 hours) and easy temperaments at 4 months and later, at 3 years, were ranked as sleeping for shorter durations (11.8 hours) had more difficult temperaments, but for those 4-month-olds with long sleep durations (15.6 hours) and easy temperaments who also had long sleep durations at age 3 years (12.4 hours), the easy temperament persisted.
So, from 4 months to 3 years, longer sleep durations by age 3 years are associated with a trend towards easier temperaments, independent of sleep durations at 4 months. The opposite also occurs. Sleep modulates temperament! Remember, small increases in sleep durations can produce big benefits (Blog Post 6)!
Dr. John Bates agrees with my hypothesis that sleep modulates temperament and told me that “parenting responses to [sleep] issues would be involved in the continuity/discontinuity of temperament. If parents make the effort to manage their kids’ sleep schedules consistently, I would think that over the years they are going to see less difficult and unmanageable behavior.”.
A 2021 study described the benefits of giving parents a mobile app offering tailored sleep strategies to improve sleep. Over 7-14 days, ratings of difficult temperament decreased from 51% to 36%. “At follow up, care givers reported fewer moderate/severe sleep problems, improved child sleep patterns, better temperament and improved care giver mental health. Again, the percentage of care givers rating their child as ‘more difficult than average’ decreased from 51 to 36%.”
It appears that both nature and nurture contribute to sleep, temperament, and fussing/crying. I believe that how babies sleep does influence the development of temperament at 4-5 months of age. And how babies sleep during the first few months is a combination of factors within the child and the parents’ ability and skill at soothing and sleeping the infant. I also believe that at 4-5 months of age, the difficult temperament represents a post-colic or an overtired baby and the easy temperament represents a well-rested baby. However, temperament at 4-5 months of age is not like a fingerprint; it is not a permanent marker of your baby’s personality. Going forward, practicing healthy sleep habits will tend to make your child temperamentally easier:
You can ask yourself, what is the magical power of a nap that turns a raving, ranting, manic, and out-of-control toddler into a sweet Prince Charming?
Hello Dr W.
My son is 12 months old and at his age he sleeps about 13.5 hours total per day with 11-11.5 of that at night. He is on 2 naps a day. I am curious as to his temperament because the amount of sleep he gets seems to match with your data on “easier” babies. While I do think he is not very “difficult” and has a decent mood, I still feel he is “difficult” sometimes. He is high activity (kicks and rolls on changing pad), very active during his sleep (rolls around, does headstands, etc.) Also, for example of adaptability, he likes his bottle only in his rocking chair and being held. He is hard to get to eat sometimes, currently on pediasure and solid food now (2nd percentile in length to weight ratio).
Overall I feel he is high activity, sort of regular, withdrawal at first then approaches new things, not very adaptable, medium intensity, decent mood most of the time, moderately persistent, pretty distractible, medium sensitivity. Its hard to describe all these well sorry.
What are the variations in “easy” babies? I feel my son gets good sleep and a lot of it, but still think he is slightly difficult. This is my first baby so I have no comparison.
The ‘difficult’ temperament definition used in my book is:
High intensity
Negative mood
Slow adaptability
Low Rhythmicity
Withdrawal
Activity is not part of this diagnostic cluster.
Separate from the dimension of ‘easy’ versus ‘difficult’ temperament is the ‘slow to warm up’ cluster (“withdrawal at first then approaches new things”).
Your baby most likely has an easy temperament with high levels of activity. Do you or your husband have a lot of physical energy and like robust activities?
Most importantly, by focusing on healthy sleep, his temperament in the future will remain and become easier.
Does this help?
We do have good energy levels but are not very active. We do like activities and being outdoors but the most we are able to do is walks in our neighborhood. We put his sleep first because we know how important it is for learning and being happy. We are nap trapped and always make sure we can get home for naps, but it is best for him.
Since temperament can change, how quickly can it change? I am curious if one day of poor sleep can instantly lead from easy temperament to difficult or vice versa. Or maybe its a gradual shift either way? My thoughts are going from easy to difficult can happen pretty fast if sleep declines. But then difficult to easy would take more time. Thanks
Think of temperament as ‘behavioral style’ or pre-personality. Measurements of temperament around age 2 show some stability over time, but not at younger ages. Healthy sleep may enhance the likelihood of an easier temperament.
Occasionally missing a nap or getting short on sleep because of a holiday will temporarily shift your child negatively regarding mood and behavior and your attempt is to repay the sleep debt. But this has nothing to do with the long-term development of temperament.
Does this help?
Yes thank you for explaining