The importance of the REM phase in baby’s sleep
Babies sleep many hours a day, especially in their first weeks and months of life, and this is because sleep is going to be crucial for their brain development.
Babies need long hours of sleep, but when they sleep it is much more than just resting. Babies when they sleep, grow and assimilate everything they have experienced moments before, in addition and of course, to rest and replenish energy. Your body is growing and working hard to get there, so it needs a lot of renewed energy. A newborn sleeps about 16 hours for 24 hours (between day and night). Even when the little one is 3 months old , he will need at least 15 hours of sleep between day and night.
During the night and day, newborn babies wake up because they are hungry, because they need affection, or simply because they want warmth from their parents. The baby’s sleep has cycles and will depend on each baby. They usually sleep for two to three hours at a time during the day and four to six at night. Although there are also babies who in a matter of a few weeks are able to sleep through the night … But there are also babies who take so many hours of continuous sleep at night until they reach a year or more. Each baby is different and it is important not to compare them, but to respect their natural rhythms.
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REM PHASE IN BABY’S SLEEP
It is important to understand how important the REM phase is to your baby’s sleep. There are parents who wake up their babies every time to feed them or change their diapers … It is best to let babies sleep as long as they need since it is what they really need. When they are hungry they will wake up for sure. Trust them, they know when they are hungry and they will let you know.
As happens in adults, babies also go through different stages of sleep: from drowsiness to light sleep, then to deep sleep and then to REM (phase of deepest sleep, where dreams occur and where the rapid eye movements). After the REM phase, they return again through deep sleep, to return also through light sleep and they reach the surface: awakening.
Between light and deep sleep there is a stage known as ‘quiet sleep’, where there are no rapid eye movements as occurs in the REM phase, but where dreams and some rapid eye movement can also occur. In children, these stages have shorter spans than in adults.
A newborn baby will go through this floor cycle at least five times each night as it usually lasts only 50 minutes to an hour. As he grows, the time of the sleep cycle will increase, reaching an hour and a half when he is three months old and increasing as the little one grows.
EACH BABY’S CYCLES
Most babies may be able to sleep through the night by the time they reach six months, but even if some do, it doesn’t mean they all do too. Each baby has its own rhythm and therefore, parents have to respect this rhythm. The daily rhythm of feeding, body temperature and the release of hormones affect your baby’s natural biological cycle (the circadian rhythm). The baby falls asleep when his level of adrenal hormones is adequate and there is a drop in body temperature. The baby will wake up as the temperature rises again … Exactly how it handles in adults.
Babies need sleep to grow, and their sleep should be respected by the adults who care for and protect them. Sleep in adults is very important, but in babies, it is even more so.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.