Neuroscience and Sleep: Understanding Infant and Child Sleep Through Brain Development

Natalie Graham
Sep 18
4 min read

Over the past few months, I’ve been diving deep into the world of early brain development through my Introduction to Neuroscience in Early Years Award. It’s been fascinating, and it’s given me an even stronger foundation for the work I do with families around infant and child sleep.

Sleep isn’t just about routines and bedtimes—it’s about the developing brain, emotional regulation, and how children learn to feel safe enough to rest. Here are some of the key things I’ve learned, and how they relate to your child’s sleep journey.

The Developing Brain and Sleep

In the first two years of life, a child’s brain grows at an incredible pace - by age two, it’s already around 80% of its adult size.
How we support and guide our little one's to good sleep has a plays a vital role in this growth, supporting memory, emotional regulation, and learning.
Babies and toddlers don’t yet have the brain maturity to self-regulate on their own. This is why it's our job to help them with appropriate support and reassurance.

The mirror-neuron system

The mirror-neuron system is a network of neurons that allows us to understand and respond to others' actions, intentions, and emotions by “mirroring” what we see.

In early infancy, interaction with a baby, especially face-to-face, responsive communication, stimulates the mirror neuron system and lays the foundation for empathy and social learning.
By 9–12 months, babies can interpret not just what someone is doing, but begin to sense why.
A well-developed mirror neuron system is linked to strong social-emotional intelligence.

What this means for sleep:

Take for example when parent yawns, slows their speech, or relaxes their body during a bedtime routine - the baby’s mirror neurons can mirror that state of calm and match their parent’s energy, helping to regulate themselves and transition to sleep more easily.

When a parent uses responsive methods like shushing, patting, or gentle eye contact and pauses to observe the baby’s cues, mirror neurons support this social-emotional exchange and it builds connection.

Stress and Sleep

The brain’s stress response system plays a big part in sleep. If a child feels anxious, overwhelmed, or overstimulated, levels of the stress hormone cortisol may rise - and this makes it harder to fall and stay asleep. However, not all stress is bad!

What this means for sleep:

Stress which is short and mild, is a normal part of healthy development and is actually quite positive when we support our child through it.

An example is trying something a bit difficult such as settling to sleep in a different way. This helps build resilience and problem-solving skills and when supported by a caring adult, it strengthens that child's adaptive responses and promotes a healthy response to small stress levels that will equip them with fantastic skills as they grow.

The Importance of Co-Regulation

One of the most powerful concepts in neuroscience is co-regulation. This is when a parent or caregiver helps a child calm down by being present, calm, and responsive.

When you comfort your baby, you’re teaching their nervous system what it feels like to settle
Over time, this support helps children learn self-regulation, a key skill for both sleep and life
Co-regulation fosters a secure attachment, as children learn to trust that their needs will be met, which paradoxically helps them become more independent and confident in the long run.

What this means for sleep:

Consistent co-regulation during bedtime routines and throughout the night helps to establish and maintain healthy sleep patterns and habits.

The key is in the consistency and the specific co-regulation strategy of emotion coaching. This is where we hold boundaries with empathy, and using moments of emotional intensity, as opportunities to teach and connect.

Sleep and the 5 Domains of Child Development

Whilst this is something that is fairly obvious, I learnt at a much deeper brain level just how and why temperament, sensory preferences, and neurodiversity shape how a child experiences sleep based on the 5 domains (biological, emotional, cognitive, social and prosocial).

For example:

Some children need more movement, others more closeness, and others more quiet
Some will respond fantastic to visual cards, others to a story to communicate sleep expectations
Some infants will calm with particular smells and sounds, others will find these too strong or distracting
By respecting these differences, and knowing what to look for in a child's behaviour that indicates these personal preferences , I can create bespoke sleep plans that support children as unique individuals.

What This Means for Families I Support

Sleep is more than just “getting through the night.” It’s about supporting a child’s growing brain, building emotional security, and helping families thrive. My training in neuroscience has deepened my understanding of this and I’m so excited to share this knowledge with the families I work with.

I help parents understand what’s normal for their child’s age and stage
I offer strategies rooted in brain science—approaches that are gentle, responsive, and realistic
Most importantly, I support parents to feel confident that they’re not just improving sleep, but also nurturing their child’s emotional and brain development.