Linking sleep cycles

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
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No parent wants to miss out on the opportunity to teach their child a valuable skill.

But you can’t teach a child something that doesn’t exist, and teaching them to link sleep cycles is one of those things.

Every single person – baby, child or adult – wakes between sleep cycles. That is the way sleep is biologically designed. Sleep is the most vulnerable state and so we wake between sleep cycles to ensure that our environment is still safe. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Generally speaking, as adults we don’t remember when we briefly rouse between sleep cycles. If we wake and we are thirsty, hungry, cold/hot, need to use the washroom etc. – we will remember these wakes because there is a biological need to be met. As adults, we are capable of tending to these needs, and we are capable of putting ourselves back to sleep.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Babies have these same wakes between sleep cycles. They wake up, and either they have a need, or they don’t. If they don’t, they will self settle back to sleep (notice how I said self 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, and not self 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚). And if they do have a need – they will make it known by calling for help. They are not capable of tending to these needs on their own. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Whether your baby has the “skill” of transitioning between or linking sleep cycles has nothing to do with something they have been taught – it has to do with their immediate needs upon waking. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So if you’ve heard this myth – or an analogy explaining why this is a thing – block out this ridiculous noise and know that this is one less thing you have to stress about teaching your child 💛