CIRCADIAN RHYTHM TO FIND DEEP SLEEP

The circadian rhythm is what makes us all feel sleepy when the night comes and be awake and alert during the day.

The circadian rhythm start to settle around 4 to 12 months in the outside-of-the-womb life. It is from that moment that tiny human can finally start settling a sleep pattern that will feel less and less chaotic, more and more predictable.

But also, coming with this anchored sleep pattern, they can finally have access to that deep sleep, making it easier to bridge sleep cycles. The more anchored their circadian rhythm will be the closer they are gonna get to their biological wake-ups ceiling.

(See what's considered normal wake-ups compared to excessive wakes ups : here )

4 TIME GIVERS TO MAKE SLEEP EASIER

Consistency is the key to anchor that circadian rhythm.

For long we though everything had to be consistent to make sleep easier: the time for bed, the naps schedule, the bedtime routine, etc..

But now we know, only 4 things in our days really matter, and has to be consistant. These 4 are responsible for coordinating your child (any human being) circadian rhythm.

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the time we get up in the morning

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the time we are exposed to the outside light for the first time of the day

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the time we eat

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the time we are socially and sensory engaged

WHEN NAP SCHEDULE IS WHAT KEEP THEM UP AT NIGHT

There are  2 master-chiefs to all these the chemical and hormonal circadian system: Adenosine & Melatonin. The former makes us feel  sleepy and the later makes us fall asleep, and both keep being interrupt by our obsession of long naps in dark and quiet room.

Melatonin the the hormone that makes us fall asleep. It is triggered by darkness or chased by the light, and she is organically biphasic.

This means when she is triggers (by the darkness of the night or the black out curtain) she will plan to stay in the body the second phase of the day, not just the time of a nap.

In other words, long naps in the dark and quiet, makes your child body believe night starts at 2pm, interrupting and messing up the whole course of your anchored circadian rhythm (the one that invite deep sleep in). 

Because melatonin is the one responsible to trigger the whole sleep hormonal cascade, she takes all the other sleep hormones with her:  the temperature drop, the adenosine peak, and then the cortisol release becomes misaligned and no longer supporting the falling asleep at bedtime and staying asleep at 3 am 

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Adenosine, is the hormone of sleep pressure. It is created with likelihood : being active, complexe sensory experiences, tensions both from excitement or stress, etc). A high level of adenosine is what makes us feel the tiredness in our body. Adenosine is relieved from our body only when we sleep.

The highest the "stock"of adenosine is, in your child body for the night, the longest the stretch of sleep at night will be.
 

As our kids sensory and curiosity needs are so high from all this learning what-is-life-about, their adenosine is raising quicker than us (adult), making them likely to need naps during the day.

But these naps are not meant to be as long as we though. According to your childs need for sleep on 24h (as little as 9h to 18h per 24h), their needs for naps can be as little as 2 little naps of 20 minutes during the day (for the yet-still-normal-little-sleeper). Short and not-more-than-needed naps, is how that solid block of sleep at night and his circadian rhythm is protected

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In other words, the longest the naps will be the, less opportunity your child will have to build up that high stock of adenosine, that enough sleep pressure to fall asleep easily and stay asleep for the night.