Long and short sleeps- what’s the difference?

 Some of you may have heard about  your baby having a long sleep or having a short sleep.  What is the difference?  What makes a short sleep and what makes a long sleep and what is the significance?  Well ,  here are the basics.

We all have sleep cycles.  Very broadly we go to sleep, have a very short deep sleep and come to a light sleep. Of course sleep is much more complex than this.  I have just simplified it here to the main points to make it easier to illustrate.

 The first sleep cycle is usually the shortest.  You can see the end of a cycle when your little one stirs or wakes up after a certain amount of time that you can usually predict.  For example, people will say “ He only sleeps for 30 minutes, never longer”. This would lead me to think that this particular child’s sleep cycle is 30 minutes.

 Newborns often have only short sleep cycles.  They are often only about 20 minutes long.  Newborns may or may not get past the first sleep cycle.  It is normal for newborns to wake frequently.  As your baby grows and matures, sleep will mature too.

When your baby only sleeps for one cycle we would term that a short sleep.  When  your baby sleeps longer and gets into the second cycle, that would be termed a long sleep.  In the second cycle is when your baby gets the deep restorative sleep.

A short sleep may be all that your baby needs for this particular sleep time.  Babies under about 12 months often have a number of sleeps a day and some of them may be short sleeps.   

The key is to watch your baby’s behaviour,  know the signs and be able to take action in a timely fashion so that your baby doesn’t become over tired.