Sleep matters to those who care for young children. The duration and timing of sleep can have a profound effect on a young child’s everyday behaviour, learning and health and also has a significant impact on the routines and wellbeing of the adults who provide his or her care. Yet there is surprisingly little evidence regarding the developmental function of early sleep patterns. Current understanding of the processes underpinning normative transition in sleep patterns, the prevalence of specific sleep phenotypes and persistence in sleep patterns across time is limited. This study will utilise genetic and environmental data, alongside longitudinal sleep data to examine the prevalence, persistence and developmental significance of childhood sleep phenotypes.

This knowledge will inform clinical, public health and educational policy and practice where management of sleep is an issue of controversy and also inform parenting practice where early child sleep behaviours can have a major impact on family functioning, parent well-being and child development.