Baby Nervous System Problems

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No matter how we test babies' sleeping habits

, we find that the distinctions between sleepers and nonsleepers disappear as half of the "good sleepers" become "bad sleepers" and vice versa before their first birthdays. Not only does the amount of sleep change as an infant matures, but the quality of his sleep changes as well. We've come a long way from the sleep fairy in our understanding of the nature of sleep. We now recognize two distinct phases:

One phase, active sleep, is called REM (rapid eye movement) and quiet sleep is imaginatively called non-REM. Roughly 20 percent of the total sleeping time of adults is spent in REM sleep. The rest of their sleep their is non-REM. In the infant, 45 to 50 percent is REM, 35 to 45 percent is non-REM, and 10 to 15 percent is too disorganized to be classified and is called indeterminate sleep. Most adult REM (active) sleep occurs during the last third of the sleep period. The infant's REM sleep happens throughout the night. (Some people believe that infants' extra REM sleep provides them with extra brain stimulation, which enhances their rapid brain growth.)

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The adult's non-REM sleep is classified into four stages. He begins his non-REM sleep cycle with stage 1 (quiet) and progresses into a deeper and deeper sleep until he reaches stage 4. The adult then returns to stage 2, followed by a period of REM sleep. This is his time to have a sweet dream. After the period of REM, the adult reenters non-REM and starts a new sleep cycle. A typical night's sleep encompasses four to six of these cycles, each one lasting 90 to 100 minutes. Newborns have entirely different sleep cycles. They enter sleep via REM instead of non-REM, and the cycles are completed every 45 to 50 minutes. So, as you can see, your infant's sleep differs a great deal from your own. Many of the differences between adult and infant sleep begin to disappear when babies are about three months old, the age when most of them begin to assume better sleeping habits.

At three months, infants enter sleep with prolonged non-REM, which has now, like adult sleep, become differentiated into four stages. Research may eventually show that infants need to be awake during the night, and only after this need is met will they sleep through. Did you notice that I never once mentioned the role of solid foods in helping the infant sleep? That's because solid foods have nothing to do with the brain's maturation, and the brain's maturation has everything to do with your baby's sleeping through the night

by: Rashid Javed

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