Sleep and Brain Development 6-12 months
By 6-12 months, you would have noticed that
your baby is more alert and is able to stay up
longer between sleeps during the day. He/she is
able to sleep for longer periods of time and can
go longer between feedings. He/she is
establishing a new schedule for eating and
sleeping. In other words, the circadian rhythm
(those natural signals that tell us when to eat
and sleep), is now well established.
and smile in REM sleep. When your baby
learns to stand he may pull himself up at the cot
side but may not know how to sit down again.
Non-REM deeper sleep is restorative and
during Non-REM sleep, which becomes
dominant over time, the consolidation of new
skills and brain circuitry occurs.
What can parents do?
Babies have shorter sleep cycles than adults
and spend more time in light REM (rapid eye
movement) sleep. At 6-12 months, their sleep
cycle ranges from 40-60 mins as compared to
90 mins in adults.

Tune in to baby’s tired signs as by 612 months, they are very busy and
prefer to be doing things instead of
sleeping.
REM sleep is associated with the processing
and storing of information and is linked
to memory and learning. It is believed that
babies need to spend more time in REM
sleep than adults because they are practicing
what they have learnt and are wiring the
pathways in their brains.

Their memory is also getting
consolidated by repetition and will
memorise the sequence of events that
you repeat everyday .Try and be
consistent as this will promote a sense
of security with the familiar things that
you do.
They may wake when they are
practicing skills during REM sleep,
help them to resettle back to sleep if
needed.
Watch your sleeping baby to learn about their
normal activities whilst asleep. Babies who are
learning to crawl may often be seen crawling
around. Babies who are learning to put things in
the mouth may be munching on their fingers
while in REM sleep. Babies learning language
may be making sounds, saying words or
babbling. Babies may even grizzle, grimace
PRG No.83
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Reference
Hayne, H. (2007). Infant memory development: New questions, new answers. In L. Oakes & P.
Bauer (Eds.), Short- and long-term memory in infancy and early childhood: Taking the first
steps toward remembering (pp. 209-239). New York: Oxford University Press
Hayne, H., & Richmond, J. (2008). Memory. In M.M. Haith & J.B. Benson (Eds.), Encyclopedia
of infant and early childhood development (Vol. 2, pp. 290-301). Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.
Herbert, H., Gross, J., & Hayne, H. (2007). Crawling is associated with more flexible memory
retrieval by 9-month-old infants. Developmental Science, 10, 183-189
Morgan, K., & Hayne, H. (2006). The effect of encoding time on retention by infants and young
children. Infant Behavior & Development, 29, 599-602.
Herbert, H., Gross, J., & Hayne, H. (2006). Age-related changes in deferred imitation between
6- and 9-months of age. Infant Behavior and Development, 29, 136-139