title: Metabolic rate of sleeping infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure the sleeping metabolic rate (SMR) of healthy infants in the first year of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  The SMR was measured on 73 infants aged 1 to 12 months in a special nursery using indirect calorimetry. One hundred satisfactory observations were made. The room air and radiative temperatures, humidity, and amount of insulation were measured. Parents chose the clothing and bedding that they judged their infant needed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean (SD) SMR was 2.4 (0.4) watts (W)/kg or 45 (10) W/m2. The mean SMR of infants aged 1-2 months was 38 compared with 44 W/m2 in infants of 8-12 months; the difference was not significant. There were no obvious differences in SMR between boys and girls. But there were wide differences in SMR between apparently similar infants, range 1.4 to 3.5 W/kg. Most parents selected insulation between 1 and 3 togs, and this was weakly negatively correlated with air temperature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These wide variations in SMR mean that it is impossible to give specific guidelines on the amount of clothing and bedding a particular infant will need for thermal comfort in a given room temperature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Health, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hull
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McArthur
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodall
mesh_terms: D001512:Bedding and Linens; D002153:Calorimetry, Indirect; D003020:Clothing; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature