Newborn Sleep Explained: Active Sleep vs. Quiet Sleep

One of the questions I hear from new parents all of the time is "why does my baby make so much noise at night?"

Photography by Sydney Muchow, SM Photography

As a NICU nurse, newborn educator and mom, I can absolutely vouch for newborns being the loudest little sleepers. But the truth is, newborn sleep is meant to be different from adult sleep. Once you understand why, newborn sleep makes so much sense. Understanding the difference between active & quiet sleep can help you feel more confident, avoid unnecessary wake-ups, and better understand what your baby actually needs.

Active Sleep vs. Quiet Sleep

Let's take a closer look at what's happening while your little one sleeps.

Newborns are born with two sleep cycles that they transition through. For reference, adults transition between four sleep cycles. Newborns eventually transition to adult sleep cycles (hello 4-month sleep regression), but we will get into that in another post. For now let's focus on newborn sleep cycles!

Newborn sleep is actually very simple. They have quiet sleep cycles and they have active sleep cycles. They spend about 50% of their time in each.

Quiet sleep tends to be the sleep that parents think their baby should be in 100% of the time. They look peaceful, they are still, their breathing is steady and sometimes you feel like you have to put your hand on their chest to make sure they are still breathing. This is a normal newborn quiet sleep cycle. Quiet sleep is a time for deep restoration for your baby. It is critical for physical development, tissue repair and the release of growth hormones (yes sleeping helps your baby grow)!

Active sleep is exactly the opposite! You may notice grunting, twitching, leg kicks, head movement, eyes fluttering open and closed and maybe even a small little cry here and there. This is exactly what we expect an active sleep cycle to look like. Active sleep is when your newborn's brain processes information, consolidates memories, and builds neural connections.

How Should You Respond?

Now that you understand newborn sleep cycles, let's talk about how to support them.

Active sleep cycles can sometimes seem like your baby is awake, or maybe even uncomfortable. Of course as a parent your first instinct is going to be to pick your baby up and soothe them. Did you know that doing this can actually disrupt their sleep even further and cause them to wake from their sleep cycle? I'm abolsutely not telling you "don't tend to your baby if they are crying". If your baby needs you, you will know and you will respond. With active sleep, the best way to support their sleep is to give your baby 30-60 seconds before responding. Ask yourself "is this quiet sleep or is my baby truly awake?". Most newborns in active sleep will quiet down on their own and drift back into quiet sleep.

Guess what they just practiced by doing that? How to transition sleep cycles on their own! This is part of laying down a foundation for healthy sleep habits. We want to support newborns and meet them exactly where they are developmentally.

The more we understand newborn sleep, the less we feel like we need to fix it- and the more confident we can become in responding to our babies needs.