Parents often work to ensure their children receive the best care possible at an early age, as this time period can often be significant for development.

A new study published in the journal Child Development suggests that infants who get the most sleep at night have better functioning abilities than those who don't get as much rest. More sleep was found to have positive effects on executive functioning, which includes ability to control impulses, remembering items and a mental flexibility.

Researchers suggest that although they have not been able to pinpoint why certain children acquire these skills more quickly than others, executive functioning typically increases rapidly between the ages of 1 and 6.

"We found that infants' sleep is associated with cognitive functions that depend on brain structures that develop rapidly in the first two years of life," explains Annie Bernier, professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, who led the study. "This may imply that good nighttime sleep in infancy sets in motion a cascade of neural effects that has implications for later executive skills."

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