What are the Stages of Sleep

[cwolff]

I can't figure out these stages of sleep.  My dd seems to sometimes fall into light sleep, then deep sleep, and sometimes she will fall into what I think is deep sleep and then wake back up when I put her down in the crib.  I am trying to find the right time to do the gentle paci removal, because sometimes when I do it she will wake back up 50 times, and other times she'll just remain asleep.  Also, I stay in her room at least a good 20 minutes after putting her down, and sometimes she STILL wakes up.  Argh!

[GG]

Sorry this wasn't answered sooner...  :oops:

I noticed in another post that your dd was sleeping better through the night.  Are these still issues?  What I would say regarding this particular post is (1) she shouldn't be falling asleep outside the crib and (2) don't use the paci when she's falling asleep - you should be using it before she's asleep.

Let us know if any of these are still issues and we can try to help.

By the way, with regards to sleep cycles, they are not always consistent, which is why we want the kiddies to sleep on their own and not need our help after a while.  ;-)  (sometimes it seems as if we are trying to dream the impossible dream, doesn't it?  *lol*)

[Aarismom]

I think for the most part it's
Lt-deep-REM-lt-deep after 3-4 months.  But yeah, babies have strange cycles during infantcy, you really don't see a strong sleep cycle I think until after 6-9 months when day sleep and night sleep are fully developed and appear more adult-like. They spend a large portion of their time in REM sleep, as opposed to adults who spend much much less in REM.

During night sleep, the first half of the night, bedtime to around midnight-1 is spent in deep sleep. The second half becomes mostly REM, hence quite a few of the night wakings happen in the second half of the night (for the most part). This is also part of why it is best to put your lo down for bed in the early evening after 8 or so weeks; they get more deep sleep (which is harder to wake from, but they obviously can, especially if they were overtired for bed to begin with), and are more rested to stay asleep through the second half of the night (unless they need fed, or are in pain, etc.).

*HUGS*
Sonya =P

[cwolff]

Very interesting.  Especially the part about early bedtimes.  I'm going to print out your post and give it to DH, who thinks we should keep her up later.

[GG]

cwolff, also keep in mind that a baby should be getting about 11-12 hours of sleep at night, 15-18 hours of sleep total a day.