What is Active Sleep for a Newborn?

When you hear the words, “sleep like a baby”, it seems like newborn are peaceful, deep sleepers. But once you welcome your newborn, you’ll soon realize that newborn sleep is far from peaceful. When newborns sleep, they squirm, grunt, moan, and cry. This particular sleep phase is known as active sleep. In this guide, we’ll explore what active sleep is, 

what it looks like, how long newborn active sleep lasts, and how you can tell if your baby is awake or in active sleep.

Is it normal for a newborn to move a lot during sleep?

Newborn babies move around a ton during active sleep. As you watch your baby sleep, you’ll notice their eyes darting back and forth under their eyelids. You’ll also notice them jerking their arms and legs, twitching, slight stretching, aActive sleep, also known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is when your baby is in a light sleep. Active sleep is essential for your baby’s brain development, nervous system development, and memory consolidation. During active sleep, some things you’ll notice are:

• Rapid Eye Movements: Your baby’s eyes may be moving back and forth under their eyelids. Sometimes, you’ll even see their eyes open. 
• Body Movements: Your baby may twitch or squirm. 
• Sounds: Your baby may grunt, cry, or make loud noises. 
• Irregular Breathing: Your baby’s breathing may be irregular and pause for 5 to 10 seconds. This is referred to as normal periodic breathing of infancy. After a pause, they'll breath rapidly for 50 to 60 breaths and then return to regular breathing. 

Newborn babies move from active sleep to quiet sleep (Non-REM sleep) where they sleep more deeply. As your baby grows older and their brain develops, they’ll stay in quiet sleep for longer periods.

Do babies cry out in active sleep?

While your baby is in active sleep, it is normal to hear your baby make a lot of noises. These include them making grunting, moaning, whimpering, and even crying in their sleep. This can often confuse new parents into thinking their babies are awake when they’re actually fast asleep. 

nd maybe even smiling. 

You’ll often hear the term “fighting the swaddle.” This often happens when your baby is in active sleep and breaks free from their swaddle. If your baby is fighting and breaking free from their swaddle sleep bag, you’ll want to first check that they’re safely and correctly swaddled. Swaddling a baby can sometimes feel like an art. Our swaddle sleep bags and startle stop swaddle sleep bags make swaddling a baby a breeze. Check out our blog post on “How to Swaddle a Baby” for some tips.

As babies get older, they’ll spend less time in active sleep where the sounds your baby makes will be quieter. A newborn sleep cycle, which includes active and quiet sleep, can last for 20 to 50 minutes. Here’s what active sleep may look like for your baby:

• Newborn: they’ll spend about 50 percent of their time in each sleep cycle. 
• 3 to 5 months: While active sleep doesn’t stop, your baby will start to spend 40 percent of their time in active sleep.
• 12 months: They’ll spend 25 to 30 percent of their time in active sleep.

Keep in mind, every baby is different and the transition to more quiet sleep depends on your baby and where they’re at developmentally. 

When does newborn grunting stop?

Your newborn's grunting will stop by 6 to 12 weeks. The grunting typically stops when your baby's lungs, vocal cords, and digestive muscles strengthen. Babies are loud sleepers and this can disrupt your sleep. While your baby outgrows this phase, we recommend using a sound machine or white noise to block out the grunting noises. If your baby is sleeping in a different room, consider turning the volume of your baby monitor down enough so you don’t hear their grunting noises but can still hear them crying. 

Active sleep can seem like your baby is awake. Recognizing the differences between active sleep and your baby being awake, can help you respond to them, develop healthy sleep habits, and support their development and growth. 

Awake periods are for socializing and bonding with parents and caregivers, exploring, and learning. While your newborn baby is awake, they’ll be more alert, observe their environment, and may communicate by cooing or babbling. Your baby’s eyes will be wide open to observe their environment and make eye contact with you. Instead of their hands and legs twitching, your newborn baby will move to interact with you or to reach for an object like a toy or book. During their awake period, your baby’s breathing will be steady, unlike in active sleep. To tell whether or not to pick your baby up because they’ve woken up, some researchers suggest looking at your baby’s eyes. If they’re open for more than 20 to 30 seconds, your baby may be awake.

In active sleep, your baby’s breathing may be irregular. This is completely normal but can be alarming. During active sleep, your baby's breathing may pause, then they may breath faster for 50 to 60 breaths before returning to a regular, steady breath. If you’re ever considered, please call your family doctor or pediatrician.

Because active sleep is a period of REM sleep where your baby's breathing is irregular and they're less responsive, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) can happen during active sleep. While the cause of SIDS is unknown, parents and caregivers should practice safe sleep to reduce your baby's risk. These practices include having your baby sleep only on their back, a firm mattress, and a bare sleep surface without any blankets, pillows, or stuffed toys. 

The “le pause” is a method used by French parents where they wait a minute or two before responding to their baby. The idea is to understand whether your baby is in active sleep or if they're actually awake. While you may want to rush in when you hear them cry, you could be disrupting their sleep cycle if your baby is in active sleep. By giving your baby and yourself a moment and pausing, you are giving your baby a chance to go from active to quiet sleep and developing healthy sleep habits.

Active sleep is an important part of your baby’s development. In the first few months of their lives, they’ll be loud sleepers and they shift from active to quiet sleep. Learning to recognize when they’re in active sleep can help you respond and promote healthy sleep habits. Every baby’s development is different - including their sleep and when they’ll transition into deeper, quiet sleep. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy those newborn snuggles while learning about your baby’s sleep habits. At Nest Designs, we make your baby’s safety a priority so you can enjoy all the snuggles. Shop Nest Designs’ safe baby essentials and nursery essentials today.