Korean babies were found to sleep less than those in the United States and Australia. Sungshin Women's University announced on the 14th that Professor Seo Su-yeon and her research team from the Department of Psychology conducted this study in collaboration with Monash University in Australia.
The research team surveyed 2,005 mothers of children aged 6, 12, and 24 months in Korea, the United States, and Australia. The results showed that by 12 months, Korean infants sleep 1 hour and 14 minutes less per day than infants in the United States and Australia. They lacked more than 7 hours of sleep each week. Korean infants went to sleep later than U.S. infants at all points, and compared to Australian infants, they took longer to fall asleep at 12 and 24 months.
Due to shorter sleep times for infants, insomnia among Korean mothers was higher than that of mothers in the United States and Australia. This is especially true as many Korean mothers co-sleep with their babies. The tendency for 12-month-olds to prefer sleeping in the same bed as their parents was highest in Korea at 85%, compared to 31% in Australia and 6% in the United States. In Western countries, when infants are 6 to 8 months old, parents are encouraged to avoid co-sleeping to help infants practice sleeping alone.
The research team suggested that sleep training policies are necessary to improve the sleep quality of mothers and infants. In Australia, the government provides sleep schools to help resolve sleep issues for children and parents.
Professor Seo Su-yeon noted, "Korean infants sleep less than those in developed countries from birth," adding, "I hope services like sleep schools will spread and change the sleep culture related to nighttime childcare." This research was published in the international journal "Behavioral Sleep Medicine" on the 9th.
References
Behavioral Sleep Medicine(2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2025.2529869