Children may have poorer sleep if their mothers experience symptoms of insomnia, a new study has found.

UK and Swiss researchers analysed data from almost 200 healthy children aged between seven and 12, and their parents.

They found that children whose mothers have insomnia, fall asleep later, get less sleep overall and spend less time in deep sleep.

The same link was not found in fathers.

The researchers said that there may be a number of reasons for these findings. For example, children may learn sleep habits from their parents and the reason why their sleep is more closely linked to their mothers' sleep is because, on average, mothers spend more time with their children than fathers, and this leads to a stronger mutual influence.

The study emphasised the importance of getting good sleep. Short sleep or poor quality sleep can have a negative impact on a child's overall wellbeing and lead to issues such as memory problems and problems learning in school.

"These findings are important because sleep in childhood is essential for wellbeing and development. The findings show that children's sleep has to be considered in the family context. In particular, the mother's sleep appears to be important for how well school-aged children sleep," commented lead researcher, Dr Sakari Lemola, of the University of Warwick in the UK.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Sleep Medicine.