After about 60 minutes of sleep in a preschool child there is a sudden termination of stage 4.
The result of the sudden termination of sleep is often a partial arousal which may be manifested as the child beginning to stir, rubbing his face and making chewing movements. The child usually turns over in bed without waking fully. The child may even open his eyes briefly and even sit up, but without making a fuss so that the parents are often unaware that sleep has been interrupted. These forms of behaviour are all normal and are not indicative of any problems.
The parasomnias (eg sleep-talking, sleep-walking) are in behavioural terms exaggerations and distortions of these periods of brief arousal after stage 4. They have an EEG pattern that is a mixture of sleeping and waking patterns.
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