Specifically my 3 month old son who can fall asleep to a lullaby but as soon as I try to walk away and the floorboard creaks he shoots up like I just rudely awoke him
In: 1
Just because you’re asleep doesn’t mean your brain isn’t processing the inputs. Most of your assessments for sensory inputs really happen at the subconscious level. Think of it like you are in a group setting with a lot of people talking, and you hear your name said by someone across the room. You weren’t consciously listening to and thinking about every word and sound you can hear in that moment, but your brain knows to make you consciously think about it when you hear that one pattern of sound, your name. Your brain is doing similar things while you are asleep, especially during REM sleep when you have a lot of brain activity going on.
Infants tend to plunge directly in to REM sleep, and don’t spend a lot of time in slow-wave “deep” sleep, so there brain is still processing a lot of information. It’s usually in the 3-4 month range that they develop deep slow-wave brain activity when they sleep, so you’re in the home stretch here!
I can remember frustrated crying next to their crib during that phase because they’d only sleep while held, and wake up screaming/crying as soon as my hand was removed after putting them down. It gets better!
Good luck to you!
The creaking is a new sound, the tv noise is an old sound. Your brain becomes used to old sounds and tunes them out, they are usually not a threat. But new sounds require attention as they might pose a threat.
Our brains evolved this way to deal with predators sneaking up on us. The sound of crickets to a caveman can be tuned out, but the sound of a leopard sneaking up on you will wake you up.
Latest Answers