We have seen how the baby's needs come together in a kind of dream which is best suited to satisfy them. And how is that dream compared to that of an adult?
Is unisequential and only has Two phases (REM and slow sleep). Therefore the baby wakes up very frequently, both to be fed and to receive stimuli. It is rare for you to take longer naps than the combination of the two phases per sequence, which add up to one hour or two.
Upon waking up frequently you can relate to your mother and thus learn and develop, in addition to breastfeeding (although some babies will suck almost asleep).
It doesn't have a circadian rhythm yet, waking up the same at night as in the day. That way the milk supply, production and avoidance of hypoglycemia are solved.
The baby, in these first months, has a much higher percentage of REM sleep than an adult. In this phase the brain is stimulated and the things learned are integrated. They usually enter REM directly, because more than the physical rest of the slow sleep, they need to mature mentally.
Breastfeeding and free sucking, in addition to school, help you fall asleep more easily and that the mother does not get tired more than necessary with walks to the bottle or changes to the crib. The baby will need to be less comforted if his alert is taken care of quickly, he will feel safe with physical contact, he can have breast milk (which he carries naturally l-tryptophan) and will suck to relax without anyone having to move or turn on the light.
I don't know if knowing this can help parents exhausted by sleepless nights. To me, I assure you, it helped me a lot to understand the reason for the awakenings, both to accept them as necessary and healthy, and to look for ways to adapt to them that best suited us. I could rest a little better and I could take it with more joy.
