What Happens While We Sleep?

What happens while we sleep? Hi, I'm Tara. I'm glad you're here. Welcome to Healthy Kids Daily. I've been thinking about something. At bedtime, the lights go down. You get comfortable. Your eyes close. From the outside, it doesn't look like much is happening, does it? But inside? That's a different story. Your brain doesn't switch off when you fall asleep. It keeps working. And one of its jobs is helping you remember what you've learned. Let's start with you. Think of something you learned today. Maybe a new word. A way to build something. Or a move in a game. What comes to mind? You can say it out loud, or keep it in your head. Keep that idea with you. Whatever you picked, it started with learning something while you were awake. Sleep helps your brain work on those memories. I like that connection. Learning doesn't end the moment you put a book down or finish playing. Sleep is part of the picture, too. Now, does that mean you'll remember every single thing tomorrow? Nope. Your brain isn't a video camera recording every moment. But getting sleep helps with remembering and learning. Here's a little puzzle. If you're tucked into bed, are you doing nothing? You aren't running around. You aren't practicing a dance. But your brain is still busy. Resting and doing nothing aren't quite the same thing. And your brain isn't working alone. Your whole body needs sleep. Think about your skin and your muscles. They're parts of you that grow and need repair. Repair means fixing something. Sleep helps your body with those jobs, as well as with growing. I want to be clear about something, though. It isn't a magic trick where you wake up taller every morning. Growing and repair happen while you're awake, too. Sleep is an important part of how your body keeps going. Your heart keeps beating while you sleep. You keep breathing. Those jobs don't take the night off! So even when you're resting, there's a lot happening inside you. That's what I find so interesting. A quiet-looking body can be a very busy body. Now, here's another thing I've wondered about. Is sleep exactly the same from bedtime until morning? It isn't. You move through different kinds of sleep during the night. Some sleep is lighter. Some is deeper. Scientists call these different stages of sleep. There are two main kinds, called non-REM sleep and REM sleep. Non-REM sleep has stages that include lighter and deeper sleep. REM is short for rapid eye movement. Rapid means fast. During REM sleep, your eyes can move quickly under your closed eyelids, and your brain is especially active. Vivid dreams often happen during REM sleep. You don't need to memorize all those names today. Here's the idea to keep: sleep changes through the night. A pattern that happens again is called a cycle. Sleep moves through cycles. Can you say cycle? Cycle. A cycle is a pattern that comes around again. Think of the way morning, afternoon, evening and night come around again. That's an everyday example of a cycle. Sleep has its own cycles, moving through different stages. Your brain stays active in different ways as those stages change. And dreams? You might remember a dream, or you might not. Dreams can happen outside REM sleep, too. So REM doesn't mean it's the only time you can dream. I think we'll need a whole other episode for dreams. There are some very strange questions waiting for us there! For now, we've found something useful. Sleep isn't one long stretch of your brain being switched off. It has different parts, and they're all part of resting. So how do we help our bodies get ready for sleep? I've been looking at the whole day, not just the moment your head touches the pillow. Your brain and body need nutrients. Those are useful things in food that help your body do its jobs. One is a mineral called magnesium. Magnesium helps your muscles and nerves work. Nerves carry messages between your brain and the rest of your body. Foods like beans, oatmeal, and leafy greens provide magnesium. Then there's vitamin B6. It helps your body make some of the chemical messengers your brain uses. You can find B6 in foods like chickpeas, chicken, and bananas. That's why different foods matter. They bring different helpers for your brain and body, during the day and while you rest. Eating a banana doesn't work like a sleep switch! Food is one part of supporting your body. Here's a food-detective tip for later. With a grownup, see if you can spot one of those foods in a meal you already enjoy. You don't have to try a new food to join in. Movement during the day and a familiar, relaxing bedtime routine can help, too. A routine is something you do in a familiar order. Maybe you wash, brush your teeth, put on pajamas, and share a quiet story with a grownup. If you could choose one quiet thing before bed, what would you choose? A story? Soft music? Something else that's comfortable for you? Think of one. Keep that choice in mind. You and your grownup can work out what feels comfortable. Different people like different things. And if you aren't asleep the second you lie down, you haven't lost a race. You can't force yourself to sleep by trying harder. A routine helps you get ready; it isn't a magic sleep button. Here's something you can try with your family later. Pick one quiet part of your bedtime routine together. Give it a familiar place in your evening, and notice how it feels. Your grownup can help with the timing. All right. Let's see what you remember. You can answer out loud or think quietly. Here comes question one. True or false: your brain completely switches off when you're asleep. False. Your brain keeps working while you rest. That's the discovery we started with. Question two. Which is one job sleep helps with? A: remembering things you learned. Or B: making your shoes bigger. A: remembering things you learned. Your shoes don't grow with you. That would save a lot of trips to the shoe shop, though! Question three. We learned a sleep name that means rapid eye movement. Is it A: REM sleep? Or B: non-REM sleep? A: REM sleep. Rapid eye movement. Your brain is especially active during that part of sleep, and vivid dreams often happen then. Here's question four. What is one job magnesium helps with? A: keeping muscles and nerves working. Or B: making you fall asleep the instant you eat it. A: keeping muscles and nerves working. We found magnesium in foods like beans and oatmeal. It isn't a magic sleep switch. So, what did we find out? Your brain keeps working while you're asleep, including helping with learning and memories. Sleep also helps your body with growth and repair. And sleep changes through different stages during the night. We also found some food helpers: magnesium and vitamin B6. Different foods help give your body the nutrients it needs. Food, movement, and a comfortable routine are parts of the same picture. I started out wondering what happens when everything looks quiet. Now we know: quite a lot! Think back to that thing you learned today. Maybe it was a word, a game, or something completely different. Sleep is one of the ways you help your brain with that learning. Grownups, find our free activities and short parent sleep guide, with food ideas, nutrient information, and product resources, at healthykidsdaily.com. That's Healthy Kids Daily dot com. Thanks for exploring with me. I'll see you for another question soon. Healthier kids, happier tomorrows. A podcast from My Health Optimized.