A Little Bit About Sleep

We, of course, know everything that there is to know about sleep, since we are official sleep technologists. We could, of course, regale you with stories of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and hypnagogic hallucinations, but that would just be showing off. Parents of our patients in the sleep lab, and sometimes the patients themselves, often ask us about sleep: when does deep sleep happen? When does dreaming sleep happen? Are deep sleep and dreaming sleep the same? So, for all of us who relied on Cliff Notes, this is what you need to know about sleep:

• We all need sleep, especially parents, who may need it just to get away from the kids for awhile
• Chemicals in our bodies keep us awake and put us to sleep, sort of like naturally occurring coffee in the morning and wine at night
• Once we fall asleep, we go through a repeating pattern of light sleep-deep sleep-dream sleep
• This pattern is very easy to see in kids. Just ask anyone who has ever taken a toddler who has been asleep for more than 30 minutes, changed the toddler's diaper and forced his body into footie jammies while he remained asleep.

That, friends, is pretty much all you need to know about sleep.