Every new parent experiences anxiety about the ability to care for a newborn. Soon, you will realize that your baby is teaching you the basics through on-the-job-training and the rest comes from learning to trust your instincts. Unfortunately, just when you are ready to proclaim to the world that your child sleeps soundly through the night, she doesn't. Kicking and arm flailing during sleep is now the norm, leaving you exhausted. Fortunately, like colic, this too shall pass.
Adult Sleep Cycles
Although it may seem like you spend the entire night slumbering in dreamland, you actually alternate between periods of light and deep sleep. In fact, according to William Sears, MD, the only time you're really out of it is during the first hour or two after your head has hit the pillow, in what is known as the non-rapid eye movement phase, or non-REM sleep. Dreaming is rare during this period. However, if you're prone to talking in your sleep, this is the time you're most likely to start chattering. Then, your brain begins to awaken, even though your body remains still. This is the REM stage, when your eyes dart back and forth behind closed lids in response to invading visual images, or dreams. This is also light sleep, and you may spend as much as two hours each night fidgeting with the covers or fluffing your pillow without fully waking up.
Infant Sleep Cycles
Your baby has a different sleep pattern. She has a need to be lulled into accepting sleep from rocking, swaddling or nursing. As Sears puts it, "babies need to be parented to sleep, not just put to sleep." Otherwise, putting baby down too soon is usually met with strong resistance. This is because infants need to enter a period of light sleep first, one that is longer than the one you typically experience on your way to REM sleep. In addition, your baby's sleep cycles are considerably shorter. In fact, she is liable to awake every 60 minutes or less. While you might turn over or tug on the covers during light sleep, your baby is more likely to extend her arms and legs, sometimes wildly. This behavior may be alarming to you but is perfectly normal for her.
Startle Reflex
As you undoubtedly know, young babies may wake up several times during the night. Sometimes, leg kicking and jerky arm movements precede awakening in what is known as the startle reflex, also called the Moro reflex. This primitive, built-in mechanism is activated when baby perceives the sensation of falling or in response to a sudden noise, like a ringing telephone. Usually, this reaction fades around the age of 6 months.
Bedtime Routines
Perhaps watching television or reading before retiring invites the sandman for you. Your baby needs a regular bedtime routine too, one that might include a warm bath, gentle rocking and swaddling. Although it will be several years before your child can tell time, she was born with a biological clock that controls her temperature, hunger and sleep-wake cycles. Regular nighttime rituals will help her to eventually establish a circadian rhythm to distinguish between day and night that is more in sync with your own.
Considerations
If you have concerns about your child's sleeping behaviors, don't hesitate to speak to your pediatrician. This is especially important if other symptoms appear, such as apnea. In addition, the persistence of the startle reflex beyond 6 months of age may indicate a neurological or muscular disorder, particularly in the absence of crying.
