

They might also jerk or twitch, and their breathing may become irregular (Leigh, 2016). You might notice their eyes moving behind their eyelids. REM sleep is when your baby is dreaming, it's also known as light sleep. The main difference is that they spend more time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep than adults (Barry, 2021).

Not only do they sleep for longer overall, and in shorter bursts (particularly newborns), their sleep patterns are also different (BASIS, 2018). How babies sleepĪs you’ve probably noticed, babies don’t sleep in the same way as children or adults. So it’s useful to know how babies actually sleep, why they sometimes seem to be disturbed during their shut-eye, and what can you do to help. It can be really upsetting to see your baby cry in their sleep, but often it’s entirely normal.
