Parents wring their hands over infant sleep patterns. And so when those patterns change, parents tend to ____1____. But if your baby is sleeping more or napping at weird times, maybe he or she is just growing. So says a study in the journal Sleep.

It’s known that levels of growth hormone rise during certain stages of sleep. So researchers wanted to know more about the link between sleep and growth. They recruited the parents of 23 infants. The parents took careful ____2____ on infant sleep patterns for between four and 17 months. They also noted whether the babies ____3____, and whether they had signs of illness such as rashes or diarrhea. And the babies’ body length and weight were measured regularly.

The researchers found that periods where infants slept more overall ____4____ growth spurts and also a gain in weight and body fat. Both genders experienced that correlation, though boys had more and shorter sleep ____5____ than girls. The scientists note that increases in sleep may lead to increases in waking, as growing bones produce growing pains. So if your baby’s sleeping a little funny, maybe she’s just growing up.
【視聽版科學(xué)小組榮譽出品】
panic real-time notes were breast- or bottle-fed corresponded with episodes
父母會對孩子的睡眠規(guī)律憂心忡忡。因此當(dāng)孩子的睡眠規(guī)律改變時，父母很容易陷入恐慌。但如果你的寶寶睡得更多，又或者是在奇怪的時刻打瞌睡，這也許只是說明了他（或她）在長身體——《睡眠》雜志如是說道。 我們知道生長激素會在特定的睡眠階段增加。因此研究人員想更深一步了解睡眠和成長的關(guān)系。他們招募了23名嬰兒的父母做志愿者，這些父母實時仔細(xì)地記錄4個月到17個月大寶寶的睡眠規(guī)律。他們也會寫下寶寶是母乳喂養(yǎng)的還是喝奶粉的，寶寶是否有得?。ɡ缙ふ詈土〖玻┑陌Y狀。寶寶的身高和體重都是定期測量的。 研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，總的來說，寶寶睡得更多的時候正是他們身體迅速發(fā)育還有體重和脂肪增加的時候，無論男女都是這樣，但男寶寶睡眠時間更短、睡眠次數(shù)更多。科學(xué)家提醒道，睡眠增加可能會導(dǎo)致清醒時間增加，因為生長的骨骼會有發(fā)育期痛。因此，如果你的寶寶睡眠變得有點奇怪，也許她只是在長大而已。