When we sleep it happens as if we were descending steps of a staircase. The first one is the superficial sleep, then comes the deep sleep and, after an hour and a half of being asleep in this phase, the so-called REM sleep appears.
What exactly is the REM sleep phase and when does it occur?
REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. It is so called because the eyes move during this phase. If we observe a person in this stage of sleep, we can see that the eyelids are closed, but inside we can see how the eyeballs move.
This is very easy to observe in newborns because the REM phase in a baby appears just after falling asleep. However, this does not occur in the adult, who first falls asleep in a superficial sleep, then in deep sleep and finally in the REM phase. To see these eye movements in the adult, it will be necessary to wait an hour and a half and to be very concentrated, without making noise, so as not to wake up from this phase.
That the REM phase takes place right after falling asleep occurs until 2-3 months of age. From then on, children fall asleep like adults. This peculiarity is only seen in children.
Do we behave differently in the REM sleep phase? Why is it important?
During REM sleep we have irregular breathing, we move and even make some noises. In infants it is especially characteristic because they make sucking-like movements, move their chin as if they had small tremors, babble disjointed sounds and, if mothers do not know about the existence of this phase, they may think that the child is agitated and does not sleep well or has some sleep disorder, so they try to calm him/her down. However, they should do nothing, since the child is sleeping soundly.
Sleep Medicine specialists explain that the REM sleep phase is very important because it is the time when more brain connections take place, which makes the child have a certain IQ (Intelligence Quotient). It is also the time when the brain memorizes what it has learned during the day.
It is essential that, when we sleep, we have a deep sleep, to repair the physical part, but also a REM sleep to repair the intellectual part.