Question about REM/sleep cycle

I have a question about the sleep cycle and the REM phase.

The WBTB methode assures that you fall into this phase right away.
Some dreamers stay up for an hour and the method still works, they pick up their cycle and dream on.

What if you sleep only four hours in the night, stay up for, let's say, eight hours, and go to bed early? Are you going to be REM-ing right away because your cycle isn't finished yet? (Probably not; you'd be awake for way to long but I'm just trying to explain what my question is)

So I am wondering: for how long can you stay up before the sleep cycle "resets" itselve and you start from the beginning again, and is this being influenced by the amount of sleep you had?

I dont think anyone will know the answer to that, maybe.. would requrie a lot of testing of many different hours by the same person, and having a shit sleep most nights. I think staying up for any longer than 3-4 hours or something resets your sleep cycle, your body assumes it wont sleep until the next night, though you could still take a nap and more than likely hit rem. I'm not so sure, but staying up for eight hours is a bad idea.

If you sleep like that, as in sleep 4 hours, stay awake for long and sleep for another stint, your cycles are going to change from normal monophasic. I know this from owning a Zeo and having experimented with polyphasic sleep a lot.

When I was on Everyman and slept 3½ for core, I could stay up for 4 hours and then when I went to sleep for my first nap, it was all REM. But that's an extreme situation obviously, but I think that some people can stretch it a lot. It's also so individual that's it hard to give a satisfactory answer. My advice for you is test it out. My guess is that it would be uncertain at best.

Good point i forgot all about polyphasic sleeping.

If you havn't got strict work hours/school, then polyphasic sleeping could be what you're looking for. Though its not for the faint hearted, from what I hear anyway.

Yeah and while some people improve their lucid dreaming ability on it, for me it was completely opposite. I'd have hardly any dreams in most schedules. In everyman I had at first that "REM-nap" after the core, but after 20 days or so even it disappeared.

LaBerge advises to get up 2 or 3 hours earlier and return to bed after 2 or 3 hours for a perfect WBTB in EWOLD. So the reset time should be longer than 3 hours. This is a very interesting issue to test.

Thanks for all our answers!!

I think Jakro has quite a point with the sleep cycle change. You will need enoug REM sleep so your body will just put you in REM every time you ....decide to rest.

I am not going to test this out... I still think it's interesting though.

that what scientists said U have one day REM other U have less and another "even none" and its starts again so destroying one of night like for example don't sleep one night on second U suppose to get twice dose of REM so very nice vivid LD, but I don't believe them I have dreams every night not counting days when I'm drunk cause no LD then and they after drink I don't get double dose of REM... still working on Reality Checks even if I see Giant Fish Monster I Believe it could be true... My Father always repeat "U are a F****** philosopher U are just with head in clouds all your live" truly I cant see anything bad in it :)