Children & Sleeping
Sleep Waking Cycle:
Newborns sleep 16 to 17 hours a day. Infant’s sleep during the day does not always follow a rhythmic patters. By about one month of age, infants sleep longer at night, and by four months they are close to adult sleep patterns. This meaning that infants spend the longest time sleeping at night and the longest time being awake is during the day. Children decrease in naps by around the age of five and pre-school children require anywhere between 8-12 hours of sleep.
REM Sleep:
REM stands for rapid eye movement sleep. About ½ of infant’s sleep is REM. They begin their sleep with REM sleep. By about 3 months, infants no longer begin their sleeping pattern in REM. It is believed that REM sleep can help an infant’s brain develop. Shared Sleeping:
Shared sleeping is when a mother sleeps with the infant, and many believe there are benefits to this. Some of the benefits may be instant response to a baby’s cry and can detect breathing irregularities. Those who believe shared sleeping is not beneficial think so because it could result in the mother rolling over onto the baby cutting off its air supply.
SIDS:
Stands for sudden infant death syndrome. This is when an infant stops breathing during the night and dies for no apparent cause. It is recommended that infants sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS. This is thought because more infants die from sleeping on their stomachs rather than their backs. SIDS is the highest cause of infant deaths in the United States.
Sleep Problems:
It has been found that there is a correlation between children who have problems sleeping and who have behavior problems. It is common for children to have transitional objects which are objects they repeatedly take to bed such as a teddy bear; these help children feel secure and gain independence. This is typical for developing children. Children also may experience nightmares which are frightening dreams that awaken them more towards the morning. Or children may have night terrors, which are a sudden arousal from sleep accompanied by rapid heart rate and breathing, loud screams and perspiration. Lastly, children may experience sleep walking or sleep talking. Both are normal
Related Sites Of Interest
Sleep Patterns in Children
UTMB Health Care
APA Journal
DrGreen.com
Newborn Sleep Patterns
American SIDS Institution
REM Sleep Journal
Sleeping Problems Journal
