Co-Sleeping and Adult Sleep Cycles

[Soliloquy]

I've never ceased to be amazed at how rested I feel during the day in spite of my frequent night wakings. Especially during the newborn period--I was astounded that I never felt like a "zombie" the way everyone warned me I would. For that reason and many others, I think co-sleeping is fabulous.

One thing that I'm very curious about is how co-sleeping affects a mother's sleep cycles. I know that mom and baby's sleep cycles synchronize, which is why we don't feel exhausted during the day. We literally begin to sleep like a baby! But, I'm interested to know exactly what happens.

One thing I've noticed is that I begin dreaming almost immediately. I can fall alseep for 10 minutes, be woken up, and remember a very vivid dream. Every resource on sleep says that adults do not begin dreaming until they've been asleep for 60-90 minutes. So, this may be one thing that changes when you co-sleep. I also notice that periods of very deep sleep seem to be rare, yet I don't seem to be missing them. Maybe they're not as important as is commonly thought? :think

I wish James McKenna would write a book on his research!

Has anyone else noticed oddities in their sleep patterns while co-sleeping?

[Radosny Matka]

Yes, I have noticed the dream thing too - especially on Saturday morning. Sat. mornings I get some time alone in the bed to get some extra rest. That 1-1/2 to 2 hours is incredibly restful. I can also fall asleep much easier when I am co-sleeping with my baby. If I try to sleep alone, it takes me a good hour to get to sleep (lifelong isomnia issues). When I'm with baby, I can fall asleep in minutes. :D

[MidnightCafe]

Lisa, the reason you go directly into "dream sleep" or REM is probably actually because you *are* sleep-deprived. Your body needs REM sleep the most in order for you to feel rested. Sleep-deprivation studies show that people go into REM sleep more quickly when they are sleep-deprived in order to make up for the sleep loss. It's a defense mechanism...sort of like sleeping more efficiently since you're sleeping less time. :mrgreen

[Soliloquy]

Yeah, I read that, but I don't feel sleep-deprived. Maybe all the oxytocin prevents me from feeling it!

Well, I love efficiency, almost to a fault, so maybe that's why I love co-sleeping so much. :giggle

[Irene]

know that mom and baby's sleep cycles synchronize, which is why we don't feel exhausted during the day. well, I remember reading that from Dr Sears but I always believed it to be a bunch of hogwash to try to get us to cosleep! :lol I dont know, maybe Im defective, because I always felt just as exhausted co sleeping as I did with her in the other room :shrug I like co sleeping because I dont have to get out of my warm bed ;) but I still feel extremely tired when he wakes all night and never noticed any synchronization because I always feel like Im being woken out of a sound sleep :shrug :)