Why a good night's sleep helps your baby learn to speak: A nap gives the brain time to give meanings to words

  • In tests, babies performed better at learning new words after a nap
  • They were able to link meanings to words while those who didn't nap couldn't
  • The study found this development in infants aged 6-8 months - earlier than usual
  • A particular phase of sleep was crucial and babies needed 50 minutes' sleep 

By CLAUDIA TANNER FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

Your baby's first words are a critical milestone in their development - and parents focus on encouraging them with 'baby talk'.

But now researchers have shown the importance of sleep when it comes to an infant learning to talk.

In particular, sleep helps the important process of associating meanings to words - and not just perceive them as random noise.

That's according to scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany.

They found that babies as young as six to eight months old were capable of the association - which until now was thought to happen later on.

And this occurred as a direct result of them being put down for a midday nap, the researchers say. 

A study has shown the importance of sleep for a baby's speech development (file photo)

A study has shown the importance of sleep for a baby's speech development (file photo)

'Our results demonstrate that children hold real word meanings in their long-term memory much earlier than assumed, ' said senior author Angela Friederici.

'Although the brain structures relevant for this type of memory are not fully matured, they can already be used to a distinguishable extent.'

How the research was carried out 

Scientists introduced six- to eight-month-old infants to 'fantasy objects' which they gave fantasy names such as 'Bofel' or 'Zuser.'

This was to make sure that the babies could not access any existing knowledge.

Objects that were the same type but differed only in form or colour were called the same names. 

From the infants' reaction it was clear that they could not connect new objects of the same type with the corresponding name.

That means they did not recognise a new Bofel as a 'Bofel' although it was quite similar to the previously seen 'Bofel' versions. 

ESTABLISHING A BABY BEDTIME ROUTINE 

You may feel ready to introduce a bedtime routine when your baby is around three months old. 

Getting them into a simple, soothing bedtime routine can be helpful for everyone and help prevent sleeping problems later on. 

It's also a great opportunity to have one-to-one time with your baby.

The routine could consist of:

  • Having a bath
  • Changing into night clothes and a fresh nappy
  • Brushing their teeth (if they have any)
  • Putting them to bed
  • Reading a bedtime story
  • Dimming the lights in the room to create a calm atmosphere
  • Giving a goodnight kiss and cuddle
  • Singing a lullaby or having a wind-up musical mobile you can turn on when you've put your baby to bed

As your child gets older, it can be helpful to keep to a similar bedtime routine. 

Too much excitement and stimulation just before bedtime can wake your child up again. 

Spend some time winding down and doing some calmer activities, like reading.

Leave a little time between your baby's feed and bedtime. If you feed your baby to sleep, feeding and going to sleep will become linked in your baby's mind. 

When they wake in the night, they'll want a feed to help them go back to sleep.

Source: NHS Choices

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Essentially, every new object-word pair was unknown and unique, the babies were unable to build a general relation between them.

However, their performance improved after a midday nap. In babies who fell asleep after the learning activity, the brain could differentiate between the right and wrong term for a new object. 

The team say this shows they had consolidated their knowledge while they were sleep.

Babies that stayed awake could not manage to do so.

The duration of sleep had an influence too. A half-hour nap was not enough to see results, but those who slept for 50 minutes showed an improved reaction. 

Key findings 

The researchers say memory is processed during sleep that also happen in typical lexical development of protowords.

These are words that are similar to - but not quite - actual words, such as 'gaga' for Grandma or 'baba' for bottle.  This is said to usually happen between 10-12 months of age.

The team believe the duration of one stage of sleep could be of particular importance to 'lexical memory': the second of the four distinct phases.  

'In our study, the babies received such a lot of information which they normally pick up within a longer time period,' says study leader Manuela Friedrich.

'But only during sleep, when the child's brain is disconnected from the outer world, can it filter and save essential relations. 

'Only during the interaction between awake exploration and ordering processes while sleeping can early cognitive and linguistic capabilities develop properly.' 

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