Doctors at the University of Rochester, in New York, collected sleep information from 278 mothers when their children were 3 years old and again a year later. The researchers looked at the number of injuries requiring medical attention the children experienced during that period. The study, in the latest edition of public health nursing, found that nearly 30 percent sustained a total of 125 accidental injuries, mostly from falls or bumping into things.
Fifty-six percent of the children got adequate sleep, which is about 11 hours a night for children ages 3 to 6 years old. The other 44 percent got inadequate sleep, which was a significant predictor of injuries, even when researchers took into account factors which could affect the risk, such as the mother's age and education and the child's temperament.
