Sep 10
24
Most new parents would tell you that their newborn only engages in four activities: eating, sleeping, crying and, excuse our language, pooping. Thankfully, the act of sleeping takes up the most time.
On average, human babies sleep about 16 hours per day. These are usually broken into there to four-hour periods of rest. This schedule gives new parents little time to find adequate uninterrupted sleep.
To help these parents feel a little better about their situation, we offer this bit of trivia.
Fact: Baby marine mammals, such as dolphins and killer whales, can go a month without sleep after being born. One month of endless eating, swimming and surfacing. Sounds exhausting.
Wide Awake
Keeping active and playful with their parents helps young marine mammals develop routines for breathing. It also helps the babies avoid predators, as they have no nest or shelter to retreat to.
The mother marine mammal does manage to receive a small amount of sleep in the first month, but nothing like their regular patterns of rest.
When the babies do finally sleep, they will instinctively sleep with one eye open. This allows the animals to rest half of their brain, while the other half focuses on breathing. Throughout their rest period, the mammals will alternate their open eye, unconsciously switching brain activity.
If they were to close both eyes they would drown.
So be thankful for those quiet moments when your precious little one is soundly sleeping. Tip-toe back to your bedroom and get a few hours of serenity on a new mattress.
Mattress Choice: providing a better sleep to those in need.
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