Sleep engages the brain
It might not look like it, but while your child is sleeping, he is actually doing a lot of work. Sleep is when babies form the vital connections between the brain hemispheres which influence language, relationships and reasoning. As a newborn, his brain is storing memories, replenishing energy, forming synapses, and more. As baby get older, his brains continue to develop during sleep — directly affecting his cognitive functions. Despite the challenges around sleep with young babies, sleep remains crucial in the early months and years for brain development.
But parenting is full of surprises and your baby’s sleep schedule is no exception. It can take some time for parents to adjust a baby sleep routine and learn how to help ensure their baby is getting a healthy amount of sleep. Our babies didn’t come with a manual and as parents it’s up to us to figure out how this all works.
Sleep cycles
Sleep may seem like a steady state that carries us through the night, but our sleep actually consists of sleep cycles which repeat many times throughout the night. When we fall asleep for night sleep, we enter the first of multiple sleep cycles. Each sleep cycle is separated by a brief awakening. As adults, our sleep cycles are about 90-120 min long and, when we wake up after a sleep cycle, we are typically able to fall back asleep quickly without any memory of waking up.
Babies, however, have shorter sleep cycles and they can struggle with transitioning from one cycle to the next because they do not know how to fall asleep unassisted. They need to be learned how to settle and go to sleep. Infant sleep cycles typically last between 40-60 minutes. And eventually lengthen into 60-90 minute long cycles as they grow older.
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