Baby Sleep and Memory

During the REM phase of sleep, the baby's brain assimilates and stores all the information that babies receive during their wakeful and alert hours. REM or light sleep is where we dream and our metabolic and brain functions are active. REM sleep is much more dominant in newborns taking up fifty of their sleep time (80% in preemies). This sleep seems to play a role in development. Although newborn infants spend about half of their 16-18 hours of daily sleep time in REM sleep, adults spend only about an hour and a half in REM sleep.

This difference in REM between infants and adults indicates its importance in development. Several dream researchers have insinuated that REM sleep plays a key role in infant brain development by providing an internal source of powerful stimulation which would prepare the baby for the almost infinite "world of stimulation it will soon have to face" and also by facilitating the "maturation of the nervous system."

Babies are in an almost constant state of motor skill learning and coordination. They have a lot of new material to consolidate and, therefore demand more of sleep. Hence, sleep appears to play a key role in human development, and interferences to their REM sleep could undermine their learning. A new study, published online in Nature Neuroscience, from researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, argues that sleep deprivation also hampers the brain's ability to make new memories.

As parents, we should remember that REM sleep plays an essential role in remembering new information and memory consolidation.

Diana Gonzalez Blanco, B.B.A., M.B.A., is a Certified Youth, Parenting and Family Coach; a Baby and Toddler Sleep Expert; and founder of Smooth Parenting. Smooth Parenting is a baby & toddler sleep consultancy and parenting coaching firm, that helps families around the world get a good night sleep and a peaceful, smooth and happy family life.

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