Prenatal Stress and Children’s Sleeping Behavior

Sleep is a necessary function of life and plays a key role in development. This chapter will discuss the association between prenatal stress and children’s sleeping behaviors. First, a description of the development of sleep-wake patterns in infancy will be provided. Second, an overview of the literature on the link between prenatal stress and sleep-wake behaviors will be presented from a developmental perspective. Then, key confounding variables that influence the association between prenatal stress and children’s sleep will be discussed. A few of the proposed mechanisms that could explain the relationship between prenatal stress and child sleep outcomes will also be reviewed. Lastly, clinical interventions targeting maternal stress and infant sleep will be discussed.