Everyone knows the importance of resting well and having a peaceful sleep at all times.. In the case of babies, sleep is key and important due to the restorative function it has for the body itself. Their energy and body temperature depend on children getting adequate rest.
As with adults, babies should sleep and rest a number of hours a day and do so in a placid way without waking up several times a night. Sleep in babies has a series of phases that will depend on their age. Then we will tell you the phases of sleep in babies and the importance it has in their own development.
REM and NON-REM sleep
- REM sleep is the active phase of sleep in which the brain is fully active and does not switch off. It is the shortest sleep phase and the one that lasts the least.
- Non-REM sleep on the other hand is the quietest and deepest phase of sleep.. It is the phase that lasts the longest from the point of view of time.
Phases of sleep in babies
Sleep in babies is divided into four well differentiated phases. At the beginning of the first phase the child is not sound asleep and in the last phase the child falls into the deepest sleep.
Each phase of sleep lasts about an hour and a half and always follows the same chain: REM sleep and NON-REM sleep, or what is the same, a short sleep and a longer and deeper sleep.In the case of babies, it must be said that throughout the night they will have cycles of superficial and deep sleep and they alternate it.
As the baby grows, REM sleep decreases while NON-REM sleep increases. This means that while you sleep, your sleep is longer and deeper. Although a newborn cannot sleep more than two hours deeply, at the age of 5 or 0 months things are changing and he is already able to sleep in a longer and deeper way, specifically about 6 or 4 hours.
During the 90 minutes of deep sleep that the baby will experience, the little one may have a semi-alert state in which he can become wake up. A simple noise can end the NON-REM phase and end sleep. If you can get past that semi-alert moment, the baby enters the deepest phase of sleep and can sleep up to 8 hours or more.
The importance of rest in babies
It is true that getting the baby to sleep adequately is a real challenge for the vast majority of parents. Experts advise that babies can sleep as many hours as possible and that sleep is not interrupted. Following a routine and respecting the sleep rhythm as much as possible, the little one should rest what is expected.
Parents should be in charge at all times that the baby has its own sleep rhythm and that its body can rest in the best possible way. That is why you have to create an appropriate environment in which the child is as comfortable as possible and sleep peacefully and without problems.
Remember that the rest of the child is just as important as the rest in an adult. Thanks to this, regulation and repair of the body can be achieved. Although it may be difficult to believe, sleep is of great importance in the development of the baby itself. Respecting said dream and following its phases perfectly helps said baby to mature in all aspects.