Late recall, or daydream?

Yesterday, I woke up, because my alarm woke me up, and I got out of bed to turn my alarm on snooze, and went back into bed. I tried to remember my dreams, but I couldnt remember any, and I fell back to sleep. When the alarm woke me up nine minutes later, there was a very obvious, vivid dream that I had. When I woke up, I was almost positive that I had that dream within the nine minutes that I had been sleeping, because I didn't recall the dream when I initially woke up. But I know it takes way more that nine minutes to get into REM, so what happened here? Is is possible that I just recalled a dream that I had during the night, or was I just so tired that I went into REM extremely quickly?

I don't know much about the physiology of sleep, but I frequently have additional dreams in the few minutes that I go back to sleep after the alarm goes off.

yeah, that happens to me too
as a matter of fact over the last two weeks the only decent dream that i ever remembered happened in between snoozes.

i've seen a discussion on this topic before (and maybe even said something there) but you'll have to let one of experts or dreamguides to jump in here to actually tell you what's going on.

ya, isn't that weird, when i woke up this morning, i couldn't even think of one dream, not even a hint that i had one, but by about an hour later, i had remembered three dreams. strange how the mind works.

It happened again just this morning. I woke up, no dream. Hit the snooze went back to sleep, then it woke me up again, and i remembered one, and then hit the snooze, and it happened 5 times before I woke up, although I thought of them more as daydreams, so I didnt write them down.

I do this all the time. On occasion, I will wake back up, look at the clock, and can't believe that I was only dreaming for 5 minutes - it seems alot longer- I expected to see that I had over slept my at least 30 minutes. Other times I dream I wake up, get up, and start my day--Then the alarm goes off. Last week this happened 3 times, it was like Groundhog Day (the movie)

Wow, I made this board a while ago, but I'm still interested why this happens.
Anybody have any ideas?

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Originally Posted by Explode

Wow, I made this board a while ago, but I'm still interested why this happens.
Anybody have any ideas?
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Well, as the night goes on it takes shorter and shorter amounts of time to get into REM. So, by the time you're hitting snooze, it doesn't take very long at all. Happens to me all the time too (I am a big fan of the snooze button! Hit it three or four times before I get up - not for the dreams, just laziness. :wink:)

It doesn't take more than 9 minutes to get into REM sleep.
Given the right conditions you can get into a dream right upon closing your eyes and "turning off" when thoroughly exhausted.
This wouldn't be the case at say...11 PM but is easily achievable in the morning hours.

It makes one wonder about dream periods and how they might start from nothing at about midnight or say, late evening and continue through the next 24 hours only lengthening.

I believe that when you break your REM cycle with an alarm clock and then go back to sleep you fall back in the same REM.
If you focus on the last dream image you saw before going back to sleep you will reenter the dream you had before waking up. I've done so many times, it's very cool, the only thing that sucks is that you are lucid in this short dream and you know that you are gonna wake up in a few minutes.

But then you can just press snooze again and go straight back in the same dream :D