“Sleep like a baby.” The person who thought of this saying obviously never had children!

Babies are active sleepers. Their eyes move; they squint; they moan; they gurgle; they smile; they mumble and grumble. This is normal and expected. You’ll understand why by reading on!

Instead of using non-REM and REM for children, doctors and scientists categorize the two as quiet and active sleep. Scientists believe that active sleep patterns develop in children even before they are born in the 6 th or 7 th month of pregnancy and quiet sleep patterns develop in the 7 th and 8 th months of pregnancy. (This is interesting to note for premature children and their sleep problems). They also note that in the uterus, during an active cycle, babies practice breathing, whereas in quiet sleep, they do not. The older the infant gets the less active sleep she needs. It appears, then, that active sleep is vital, so perhaps that’s why so much importance is placed on active sleep in the uterus and, as you’ll see, the first few months of life.

Infants’ sleep patterns and cycles differ greatly from those of adults. Infants spent about 50% of their time in active sleep while premature infants spend 80% of their time in active sleep (as opposed to 20-25% in adults). The other 50% are spent in quiet sleep, but it’s not as deep as an adult’s. Infants don’t reach stages III and IV of quiet sleep like adults do. Also, when infants are in their quiet sleep, their brain waves aren’t a steady flow of waves but short bursts.

Infants’ sleep cycles usually last 50 minutes (unlike the 90 minutes of an adult). In their first few months of life, infants will often slip directly into active sleep – something that adults never do. Another difference between infants’ sleep patterns and adults is that infants have sleep patterns that last throughout the 24-hour period. These are called polyphasic sleep periods. Can you imagine a functioning adult drifting off to sleep every 50 to 100 minutes? Adults have one sleep period that lasts about 8 hours.

By the time an infant is three months old, she will have developed all four stages of quiet sleep, and by the time she is six months old, she will spend most of her time (70%) in quiet sleep, coming closer to an adult’s bio-rhythms. It won’t be until your child is a toddler, though, that she will almost match an adult’s sleep habits. Interestingly, people of advanced age go back down to three sleeping stages, not experiencing Stage IV or sleep.

Have you noticed that your child, after just an hour of sleep, often stirs and is restless? This is because she has probably just completed one cycle and is coming out of quiet sleep. Adults do it every night. We wake up, pull up the covers, turn around, and adjust the pillow .. whatever. But if somebody came to our side and said, “Hey, do you need something?” we might totally wake up and have trouble getting back to sleep.

Because we’re so in tuned to our children (especially new parents), we sometimes rush to their bed, wondering why they’re waking. Most children will grumble, move around and get back to sleep – if left to return to sleep. At this stage in sleep, sleep terrors and sleep walking may happen as well (covered in Chapters 8 and 9). In that case, your child might need your aid. Again, though, a child arousing after about an hour is natural. By understanding this, you can understand that your child can be left to fall back to sleep. Especially when you know for the first few years of life, this will be happening a lot!

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“New Book Reveals Breakthrough Baby Sleep Secrets Frustrated Parents Must Know To Practically Guarantee Your Child Sleeps Peacefully Almost Every Single Night!”

About the Author:
Heidi Ayarbe is the author of the award-winning book “Sweet Dreams”. To check out her website that’s jam packed with baby sleep secrets, visit http://www.sleepbabysecrets.com/baby-sleep.htm

Wall decor: Murals are a luxurious choice but not always a viable one. If a mural is possible, consider one created on canvas that can be hung like wall paper to avoid having your home disrupted for any length of time. In many instances a canvas mural can be removed when hung professionally with little or no damage to the walls. You can even have a canvas mural hung on a thin piece of finished wood which can be removed and relocated if desired.

Wall Hangings are an inexpensive option that can adorn your child’s wall in many themes, colors and sizes, shapes and styles. They go up easily, inexpensively and can be taken down and saved or relocated, just as quickly.

Wall Borders are usually associated with a theme room and are available in numerous colors, styles and designs. Quite often they can be hung as a DIY project, with install directions sometimes included from the manufacturer or available at your local hardware store.

Stick-n-peel. Removable Wall art seems to be one of the newest trends. Be sure to look for the ones that say “removable”. They are available in many sizes, designs and colors but are not quite as easily found. The removable ones absolutely leave no damage to the wall and depending on the manufacturer the quality provides a great, convenient look that can be altered, rearranged or removed and saved on the original backing sheet for relocation!

We offer all of the above ideas and can help to create that perfect nursery or room for your child. Come visit our website and get some new ideas rolling.

About the Author:
I am Lisa Kennedy, co-author of this article and with the help of my sister/muralist, I came up with the most perfect nursery – even better than I imagined for my daughter. Think long and hard about the above steps and you can do the same. Visit their site at www.makingascenemural.com or email at lisa@makingascenemural.com.