What Nanit Teaches You About Your Baby

The world’s top sleep and development experts rely on Nanit as a trustworthy research tool. At Nanit’s Sleep Symposium, they shared the important tips and breakthroughs they’ve learned with Nanit’s help.

Expert Tips for Helping Your Baby Sleep Independently Reading What Nanit Teaches You About Your Baby 3 minutes Next These Expert Tips Will Help You Become a More Confident Parent

By Holly Hays

Babies on the Move

Who: Prof. Sarah Berger, City University of New York, USA

Topic: Move More, Sleep Less: The Impact of the Onset of New Motor Milestones on Infants’ Sleep

Gist: Prof. Berger’s study looked at how motor skill milestones (such as first crawling, walking, pulling up to stand) influenced infants’ sleep quality during their first year and why. The study used parental diaries and video footage from Nanit monitors. A total of 107 families participated with infants who weren’t yet crawling, as well as 124 families with babies who weren’t yet walking independently.

Top 3 Takeaways:

Babies don’t sleep as well when they are about to learn or are learning a new motor skill.
Learning a new motor skill may make babies more active at night as they process the new information or are just excited in general.
Babies may also be more active during these periods because they are “practicing” their new skills.

New Daily Mantra: Restless nights may predict exciting milestones! And sleep gets better again once babies master their new skill.

Heads Up

Who: Ms. Michele Goncalves-Maia, City University of New York, USA

Topic: Head position during sleep: validation of the Nanit head position algorithm for infants with typical development and with torticollis

Gist: Dr. Maia’s study used Nanit video and sleep data about babies’ head positions during sleep to help validate Nanit head position algorithms and detect muscle abnormalities.

Top 3 Takeaways:

Head movements are an important first step in babies developing key motor skills (like sitting and feeding themselves) and being able to interact with caregivers.
It’s important to offer babies multiple ways to strengthen their neck muscles (like tummy time, face time, and encouraging babies to turn heads both ways) so muscles develop in a balanced way and babies can hold their head centered.
Babies’ head position during sleep may make it possible to detect muscle abnormalities early and get help from pediatricians if needed. .

New Daily Mantra: To help muscles develop evenly, balance is best—some tummy time, some on-the-back time.

Overall, both studies showed how Nanit monitors provided valuable information and research both to scientists learning about sleep and infant development, and to families who want to get the best rest possible. Learn more about the work we do and the experts we collaborate with at Nanit Lab.

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CONTRIBUTORS

Natalie Barnett, PhD serves as VP of Clinical Research at Nanit. Natalie initiated sleep research collaborations at Nanit and in her current role, Natalie oversees collaborations with researchers at hospitals and universities around the world who use the Nanit camera to better understand pediatric sleep and leads the internal sleep and development research programs at Nanit. Natalie holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of New England in Australia and a Postgraduate Certificate in Pediatric Sleep Science from the University of Western Australia. Natalie was an Assistant Professor in the Neurogenetics Unit at NYU School of Medicine prior to joining Nanit. Natalie is also the voice of Nanit's science-backed, personalized sleep tips delivered to users throughout their baby's first few years.

Kristy Ojala is Nanit’s Digital Content Director. She spends way too much time looking at maps and weather forecasts and pictures of Devon Rex cats and no-cook dinners. A former sleep champion, she strives to share trustworthy somnabulism tips with other parents—praying for that one fine day when no tiny humans wake her up while it’s still dark out. Her kids highly recommend 3 books, approximately 600 stuffies, Chopin’s “Nocturnes,” and the Nanit Sound + Light for bedtime success.

Mackenzie Sangster is on the Brand and Community team at Nanit. She supports content development and editing for Nanit’s Parent Confidently blog as well as other marketing initiatives. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her friends, cooking, being active, and using the Pro + Flex Duo to keep an eye on her fur-baby, Poppy!

Holly Hays is a contributor and writer for Nanit, channeling her years as a mama and former magazine editor to create fun, useful content for fellow busy, trying-to-do-their-best parents and caregivers. Holly has written for a wide range of brands and media outlets (Ergobaby, HGTV, Manhattan Toy Company, OXO), loves to cook and read mystery novels, and leans heavily on her two daughters to keep her up to date on all the latest slang.