Here's some information about partial awakenings. I copied it off the Teaching Newborns sleep thread:
Information on Newborn Falling Asleep/Partial Awakenings:
Okay, here's what you might see in the beginning:
Light sleep mode is about 10 mins., then there's a jolt and then another
10 mins. and another jolt into deep sleep. Listen to his breathing and
look at his body language, his breathing will deepen and become quieter
when he settles into deep sleep, his body will look as though it has
melted into the mattress, completely relaxed.
In the beginning of starting this process, you'll probably experience this:
Settling down, falling asleep, eyes closed, shallow breathing for 10 mins.
Then a jolt happens and he will sigh/move head, and his breath will
quicken and he'll grunt and wake up. My little guy was notorious at doing
this, and I grew to hate the sound of the grunt "oh no! he's waking up!"
BUT, after a few days of consistency, he did this less, and learned to
continue to fall asleep after the first 10 mins.
I put a clock in Brendan's room so I could keep an eye on the time. Once
he was quiet and in the beginning of the process, I would stay with him.
When he stirred, I put my hand on him and shielded his eyes. Once he
relaxed, I would time it again, and sure enough, there was another stir at
ten mins.
Sometimes an infant will let out a high pitch wail at the 10 min. mark,
which will wake him. By putting your hand on him, you help him learn how
to resettle when this wail happens.
for the first few days, you will need to be there for some time.. but
don't worry, you will be able to spend less time once you get the sense
that he can handle the jolts on his own.
_________________
Jane
matthewsmommy@thebabywhisperer.com Matthew July 27th, 2001
