What are sleep cycles?
Sleeping is a cyclical process: during the hours our little ones sleep, they go through around 6 sleep cycles, each consisting of 5 phases that total one hour.
It's important to pay attention to these sleep cycles, as through them, we'll know if our baby is resting well. Do you want to know more about the light sleep and deep sleep phases? We'll tell you everything!
Characteristics and phases of baby sleep cycles
Children's sleep cycles last between 45-60 minutes, and once they finish, they go through a micro-awakening where, unconsciously, they make sure everything is okay before falling back asleep and starting a new cycle. It's important that our little ones learn to connect these cycles to be able to sleep and rest well all night.
Our little ones go through cycles of light and deep sleep in the same night, and as we can see, there are several stages within a single cycle. If we want them to become a habit, it's important to respect these intervals without interrupting them!
In this first phase, babies begin a drowsiness phase, from a waking period until they fall asleep. Then, from ten to twenty minutes, they go through a light sleep phase and make the transition to deeper sleep: time to count sheep!
In the third phase, once they have reached deep sleep, they enter a state of maximum relaxation. This is one of the determining phases of the cycle, as it is at this moment that the peaks of growth hormone secretion occur and the quality of rest is determined.
After the first thirty minutes, the cycle begins to close: the light sleep phase returns, it's time to wake up!
As we already know, sleep is one of the main factors that ensure our baby maintains adequate intellectual development: when they reach deep sleep, what they learned during the day is stored in their memory: night is when they solidify their knowledge! Therefore, it is very important for our baby to learn to connect cycles so that they have good sleep habits.
How to teach your baby to sleep
If your little marmot has trouble connecting sleep cycles, it's likely their naps are short and they wake up frequently during the night, but don't worry: sleep can also be taught and trained. And it's not necessary to let the baby cry to teach them to sleep alone; it's a process that requires consistency and a lot of patience.
Some basic guidelines that can help you in this process of teaching your baby to sleep is, for example, separating eating from sleeping. It's important that they don't associate breastfeeding or the bottle with sleeping because otherwise, they will ask for it every time they wake up.
Want more information? You can check out our post on 👉🏻 Sleep rituals according to age.
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