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Australian researchers have found that babies classified as severely unsettled are almost 10 times more likely to have mental health issues by the age of 11 than their settled peers.

Dr Fallon Cook, who led the team of researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, said it was the first evidence that for some children, mental health problems could start developing as early as infancy, reports SMH.

“It’s quite compelling … because previously they thought that mental health problems might begin emerging in childhood or adolescence,” Dr Cook said.

“It really excites us, because it means we have a really powerful opportunity to develop new interventions.

“If we can deliver those early enough it may be that we are able to bump those children onto a more-positive trajectory.”

While many babies have problems sleeping or crying jags, only a small percentage (an estimated 3.4 per cent in this study) are considered severely unsettled, presenting with multiple and more extreme sleeping, crying, temper tantrums, feeding and temperament problems.

Staggeringly, almost half of this group had reported mental health concerns in the borderline or clinical range by 11 years old.

Dr Cook said one of the reassuring things about the research was that although a quarter of parents with 12-month-old babies reported sleeping problems, “those infants were no more likely to have mental health problems”.

The longitudinal study followed more than 1000 babies in Melbourne from birth to the age of 11.

The research, presented at the annual conference of the Australasian Sleep Association, also found that mothers with severely or moderately unsettled babies were much more likely to report “clinically significant psychological distress” themselves – with 27 per cent reporting distress in the severe group versus 5 per cent in the settled group.

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  • Great comment Blossom ..something to think about.

    Reply

  • Not much joy for a child who had chronic digestion problems as a baby before the introduction of lactose free and other special dietary formulas

    Reply

  • My neighbor’s daughter was an unsettled baby by the time she’s was 12 she had mental issues so she is on medication now

    Reply

  • My son was extremely restless for the 12 months of his life. He has no mental issues. My grandson was a shocking sleeper, is that unsettled?, for nearly the first 2 years of his life. I’ll be keeping an eye on him

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  • Great, just more things to worry about with your baby!

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  • I found my bub slept much deeper and longer if we let him self settle. Anytime I soothed him he would just wake constantly thoughout the night and be miserable all day and night. I don’t regret our choice for a second. He’s turning out to be a very happy kid.

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  • I learnt this in a parenting course. It very interesting when all the facts are put together. It actually starts before birth.

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  • This doesn’t amaze me. A child that cries and is unsettled a lot, will be unhappy at these time, what will definitely impact the brain development. To blossom, a baby needs to feel safe, loved and attached.

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  • Interesting read. I will always settle my child no matter what

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