2024-03-07 18:22:16
From 0 to 3 years old, the organization of sleep begins to be composed, around 3 years old, of the same stages as those of adults. What are all the stages of baby’s sleep development?
Is a young child’s sleep similar to that of an adult?
Often agitated, sometimes very deep and always fragmented, the infant sleep has little to do with ours.
Infants, especially during their first year of life, have a very specific sleep pattern which is very different from that of adults, describes Dr. Madiha Ellaffi, pulmonologist specializing in sleep and co-founder of the Inter Disciplinarité Enfant Adolescent Sommeil association. .
But after the first year and gradually, the child’s sleep, its cycles and its rhythm, will follow that of the adult. ” It is from the age of 3 the child acquires a sleep similar to ourswith at least 6 to 7 cycles of approximately 90 minutes which follow one another: light sleep, deep sleep and finally paradoxical sleep,” recalls Dr. Ellaffi.
How long does a baby’s sleep cycle last?
The infant has periods of sleep of approximately 3 to 4 hours interspersed with periods of wakefulness. His cycles are quite shortsince they last from 40 to 50 minutes and are divided into only two stages: the stages of restless sleep, and the stages of calm sleep. With each new cycle, the baby has micro alarm clocks, during which he gets restless but remains sleepy: it is then advisable not to take him in your arms straight away in order to see if he goes back to sleep on his own.
Why is the baby often restless when sleeping?
In addition to micro-awakening periods during which the baby is no longer really sleeping and may become agitated, his sleep is divided into two stages: stages of calm sleep and those of restless sleep.
A restless sleep phase quite present in babies
As the sleep specialist explains:
It is estimated that the phases of restless sleep constitute 60% of the baby’s sleep time, compared to only 40% for the phases of calm sleep at the beginning.
Hence the impression that the baby is often half asleep, or even waking up, when he is actually sleeping. Restless sleep in babies is the precursor to REM sleep in adultsor the phase of sleep during which he’s dreaming. Phases of restless sleep are therefore the majority in toddlers, and it is important to let them sleep without disturbing them and without believing that they are waking up.
Ultradian and circadian cycles: what is the difference?
Another fundamental difference between a baby’s sleep and that of an adult lies in its rhythm. When the adults ont a circadian sleep rhythmwith 24-hour sleep-wake cycles largely influenced by light and through numerous biological and physiological mechanisms, Babies have a rhythm ultradiene.
The baby is not stuck to day and night, and he continues at the rhythm he had in the mother’s womb. It sleeps in cycles of 3 to 4 hours, interrupted by periods of wakefulness, which allow it to feed regularly to ensure its good growth and development. Dr. Madiha Ellaffi
“Little by little, we help the baby move from the ultradian rhythm to circadian rhythm around 2 to 3 months on average », Indicates the sleep specialist.
How long does a newborn, a 1 year old, a 3 year old sleep?
Young children have very high sleep needs, because it is while they are in the arms of Morpheus that they secrete a maximum ofhormones necessary for their growth. However, as with adults, disparities exist and while some babies need a lot of sleep, others thrive with less, without this having an impact on their proper development.
On average, here are the sleep needs of babies based on their age:
Between 0 and 3 months : infants can sleep from 11 hours a day to 19 hours, with an average of 2 to 5 p.m.;Around 1 an : the duration of sleep decreases, the baby sleeps on average 11 to 14 hours per day;Between 3 and 5 years old : young children sleep daily between 10 and 1 p.m.
When does baby start to have a sleep pattern?
The baby’s sleep rhythm evolves between birth and 3 years of age, approaching that of adults around 4 to 5 years of age.
The first three months of life : the baby has not yet acquired the circadian cycle, and sleeps undifferentiated day and night, following its sleep cycles;Between approximately 4 and 12 months : the baby begins to take a regular rhythm, with 3 naps in addition to his night. “The baby takes a nap in the morning, a second in the afternoon and a last one at the end of the day” explains Dr. Elaffi;From about a year : babies move on to 2 naps and eliminate the end-of-day nap;Between two and three years : the baby no longer takes a nap in the morning, and only keepsjust one nap in the afternoon, which is also the only one offered at school entry; Then, around 4 to 5 years old on average, the child no longer needs a nap at all and is completely adapted to the rhythm of the adult, with higher sleep time requirements of course.
How to sequence the baby’s sleep cycles, and when does he sleep through the night?
This is the big question that exhausted parents ask about not being able to get more than 3 to 4 hours of sleep in a row at night to recover. However, it must be kept in mind that the nocturnal awakenings in infantsduring his first months of life, are essential because they allow him to Eat in order to provide your body with the nutrients and calories it needs to grow well.
It’s onlyfrom 4 months that the baby is ready to sleep through the night : namely 5 to 6 hours of sleep between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. Around 4 months, around 3 out of 4 children “sleep” through the night, and from 10 months onwards, this is the case for 90% of them. The difficulty is often for the mother to help her child get back to sleep quickly after nighttime feedings. ” It is important that he learns to go back to sleep alone, This is how it will gradually no longer wake the mother during her micro-awakenings,” insists the sleep specialist.
What is the “sleep train”?
The sleep train is a metaphor representing the cyclical aspect of sleep using a wagon and its locomotives.
The locomotive symbolizes the phase of falling asleep, then each wagon represents a stage of sleep. Dr. Madiha Ellaffi
One wagon for the deep or agitated stage in babies, and one for the light, deep and paradoxical stage in adults. The set of two or three wagons corresponding to a sleep cycle symbolized by the train. Each train is separated by micro-alarm clocks during which either the child wakes up completely or starts a new sleep pattern.
« Et when the child misses the departure of the train, he must wait for the next one to fall asleep “, explains Dr. Ellaffi. This is often what happens when the baby seems exhausted and upset but can’t fall asleep. “It is therefore important topay attention to signs of sleep for children, so as not to miss their train: as soon as they rub their eyes and yawn, we begin the bedtime ritual,” she continues.
Sleep disorders in infants: when to worry?
A baby who has trouble falling asleep or who wakes up often is classic. But at what point can we talk about sleep disorders and worry about them?
Sleep disorders such as insomnia are very rare in infants; they tend to occur around 2 to 3 years of age. with school and the arrival of anxiety. Dre Ellaffi
However, there are other factors that can disrupt the baby’s sleep, and it is important to identify them and not trivialize them. “We can start to ask ourselves questions when there are numerous awakenings during the night and when the baby keeps waking up at nightafter 9 months », Indicates the sleep specialist.
The possible causes are then varied:
“Sleep apnea affects at least 2 to 5% of children : it is therefore not as rare as one might think,” insists the specialist. If in doubt, look for the symptoms: the child drools at night, sleeps with his mouth open, moves a lot, sweats, has night terrors, grinds his teeth, has nightmares, etc. These are all possible symptoms of ‘Sleep Apnea.
1709856267
#Sleep #cycles #babies