A story about sleep cycles
I was away in the Czech Republic last weekend visiting my 5-week-old grandson. Who is adorable, by the way. I was watching as he went through his sleep cycles, led on our bed at the Airbnb, whilst we were looking after him. He slept 45 minutes, came too and led quietly looking around for 15 minutes then fell asleep again for 40/45 minutes, then woke again for 10 minutes then asleep another 40 minutes.
Previous days we had jumped in too quick (wanting any excuse for a cuddle too!) thinking he was awake after the first cycle. But getting a chance to really sit and observe him perfectly showed the period between his sleep cycles.
Babies and young children usually take 45 minutes between each sleep cycle, they may wake slightly and murmur, cry out then settle off to sleep again. Parents often mistake this for waking up and go in to see to their little one too early and they then learn that a parent will come and help settle them back off. It is important for them to develop their self-soothing skills so they can go between their cycles without fussing or stressing. Obviously if they are crying or distressed then you settle them or pick up. You will learn to gauge the different sounds they make.
Please don’t shout, I can hear a few of you out there! I’m not advocating not picking your little ones up, just occasionally take some time, sit back, observe and wait a little while to see what your little one does. I was able to pass my observations on to my son and daughter-in-law to help with my grandson’s sleep.
Think about how you sleep. We all go through cycles every night, around 90 minutes average but sometimes between 60-110 minutes. You may turn over, plump the pillow, get up for toilet, pull your partner’s quilt cover, stick your feet out of bed etc, you get the picture. We all wake through the night. Babies and children’s do exactly the same but we often jump in too quickly.
Have a lovely day and if you need any advice on your little sleepy bunnies, please contact me for a chat.
#sleep #parents
