💤 Understanding Baby Sleep Cycles: Why Your Little One Wakes So Often

Ever wonder why your baby wakes up just as you sit down with a cup of coffee? It might not be hunger or habit — it could be their natural sleep cycle at work.

What Is a Sleep Cycle?

Babies go through sleep cycles just like adults, but theirs are shorter — anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on their age. (Newborns are closer to 30 minutes, adults around 90.)

Each sleep cycle moves through a few stages:

• Stage 1: Drowsy — eyes may open and close

• Stage 2: Light sleep

• Stage 3: Deep sleep

• Stage 4: REM sleep (this is when dreaming happens)

Then it starts all over again.

Here’s the important part: every time your baby moves back into Stage 1, it might look like they’re waking up — they might move around, make noise, or even open their eyes — but they’re often still asleep! If we rush in too quickly, we might accidentally wake them up fully when they would have just drifted back into deeper sleep.

Tip: To avoid unintentionally waking your baby, wait until they are fully awake and crying before intervening or offering a feed. Picking them up while they’re still in Stage 1 light sleep can actually disrupt their cycle and make it harder for them to settle back down.

Babies who rely on sleep props (like being rocked, fed, or using a pacifier) are more likely to wake fully at the end of each cycle because they’re looking for that same thing to help them fall back asleep.

Also, unlike adults, babies’ muscles aren’t paralyzed during REM sleep, so they tend to move around a lot in their sleep — wiggling, grunting, stretching — it’s all totally normal!

Why Sleep Cycles Matter

Understanding sleep cycles can take so much pressure off. Your baby isn’t a “bad sleeper” — their brain is simply following its natural rhythm. The key is helping them link those sleep cycles without needing as much help from you each time.

How to Help Your Baby Connect Sleep Cycles

• Keep bedtime routines consistent so your baby knows sleep is coming.

• Watch wake windows to avoid overtiredness (which makes transitions harder).

• Practice independent sleep skills — allowing your baby to fall asleep on their own.

• Create a consistent sleep environment — dark room, white noise, cool temperature.

The Bottom Line

Every baby wakes briefly between sleep cycles — that’s normal! When they learn to drift from one cycle to the next on their own, those longer stretches of sleep start happening naturally.

The more we understand sleep cycles, the less mysterious (and frustrating) those middle-of-the-night wake-ups feel — and the closer your whole family gets to restful nights.