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2mo ago

Fathers Wake to Infant Cries as Often as Mothers, Study Finds

Controlled sleep tests tracked waking responses to infant cries across volumes, revealing hearing differences too small to explain mothers’ heavier overnight caregiving

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Fathers are, by reputation, more likely to sleep through the sound of a crying child
A study has shown that men and women were similarly disturbed by the sound of a baby crying (Photo: Dobrila Vignjevic/Getty)

Overview

  • Home sleep experiments with 142 childless volunteers showed women were about 14% more likely to rouse at whisper-level sounds but matched men’s wake rates at typical baby-cry volumes
  • A week of smartphone-logged data from 117 first-time Danish parents found mothers handled roughly 75% of nighttime infant care
  • Mathematical modeling demonstrated that the minor gender gap in quiet sound sensitivity cannot produce the observed caregiving imbalance
  • The peer-reviewed findings in APA’s journal Emotion overturn unscientific surveys and cultural clichés about fathers sleeping through baby cries
  • Researchers point to social drivers—such as mothers’ longer paid leave and breastfeeding routines—as key factors behind the overnight care divide