I have often found quite amazing dreams in terms of content or information after setting my alarm to wake after about 2-3 hours of sleep (taking care not to disturb deep sleep). Haven’t got a chance to always see what’s in that first stage (my bioclock is too powerful to try too often).
Has anyone tried this? Is there a difference as opposed to the dreams later in the night?
Yes. The REM periods tend to be shorter, leaving you with shorter dreams.
If i understand what you guys are saying corectly, that soon after you fall asleep the dreams are usually longer then the ones that you have in the morning before you wake up. They are more detailed also. I noticed that after a few dreams I remembered last week. I had two dreams one night, and although I didn’t remember anything about the first one, I knew it was very long and the second one was very short, but i remembered it. I’ve started to put an alarm on every night to wake myself up after 3 or 4 hours of sleep, that way i can write down that dream, i listen to headfones for a half hour, then i go back to sleep and write down another dream in the morning when i wake up. I guess that would be considered the WBTB thing, but I just think of it as the thing that works for me.
I think that is the reason the WBTB method works, because you have a better chance to become lucid and have more intense dreams soon after you fall asleep.
REM stages get progressively longer as your sleep cycle lenthens… they’re all just about as detailed as the next, except that if your overly tired, or just plain exhausted… then your dreams will be less clear, or… just hard to remember.
Still it’s a good idea to wake yourself up after 2…3 mabey 4 REM periods, if your not too keen on waking up every couple of hours…, they will usually be short, but yet remember dream-time expands along a different dimension… it’s all in your head… so, they can seem to last hours!
But after waking up in the morning, and having a crystal clear dream… you’ll notice the difference between length.
so content wise no one has noticed anything unusual or different? guess it’s fresh territory for me to explore 
Dreams during the first REM periods are strange for me. They tend to chance scenes very often and they are even more strange than my usual dreams. And I also get my nightmares during the first 3 REM periods.
I dont remember anything special about ones you ask Pilot but i think i also give it a go and see.
Im not sure about their speciality though- actually i think it will prove otherwise.First REM in my opinion would have strong tendency to what Jarod said- thats because your brain will propably do most important thing first- make a clearing of thoughts from whole previous day and will prepare itself to store more informatins for another.
Then eventually (in our 2-4th REM) our subcounciousness will get the voice to let us know about all stuff we need to know- therefore dreams from last REMs in my opinion would have more “meanings”,more storylines, will be more clear and easier understood.
But as i said i dont know and thats going to be interesting thing to check out.
good luck
I didn’t notice that this was 1 year old when I aswered it 
I found it while searching for something else 
Lol Jarod…but anyways…still seems to be unexplored.
I like the dreams in the first REM stages too. I only remember them if I wake up straight afterward though. They’re by far the best dreams. The weird factor is usually way off the scale. And like you said they’re more detailed too.
I think they seem longer because the are more detailed and aren’t broken up as much.
I haven’t tried the alarm clock idea. I don’t want to wake myself up. And if it spoilt a good dream it’ld annoy me even if I was going to forget it otherwise.
REM periods are longer in the morning, but you can often wake up in the middle of REM, that’s why for some people morning dreams are shorter. Theoretically, evening dreams must be very short. It is strange. I usually forget them, but if I wake up at eleven or twelve, I can remember them and always wonder, how such a weird and subjectively long dream can fit tiny evening REM periods, ten minutes or something like that…
Ok, this whole sleep cycle thing has me kinda confuzzled…I do not have the luxury of being able to set my alarm clock to wake me up in the middle of the night, since I sleep so little and I’m forced to get up so early (why they have high school start at 7:15 even though that is totally against our bio clocks is beyond me…)
But anyway, the only dreams I usually remember are the ones from when I wake up, so I guess the last REM period. Sometimes I wake up and don’t even feel like I was dreaming. Other times, like this morning, I wake up and remember that I was dreaming, but don’t remember it.
I have a kind of related question so I won’t bother making a new topic for it: If I have to get up at 5:15, what time should I go to sleep so I have the best chance of remembering it? I am such an awful sleeper.
Me too and they often feel very long and vivid particularly when I’ve already had a nap during the day.
If i have a 2 hour nap at 6pm and then go to bed properly at 12.30am, Does that alter the REM cycle and kind of act like a WBTB?
Around 9.30pm would be good. I think dreams can get more clearer or easier to remember the longer you’ve been asleep. Must be tough getting up that early 
Rem starts every 90 minutes in theory.In practive theres few things that may go in way with that times,where main is sleep debt.The more you`re in it the earlier REM will start,therefore influencing another REMs.
Whispa- if you do it regurarly i doubt it interferes with your sleep cycle.You do your naps propably cuz you feel like not enough sleep at night- that means you have your REM right off when napping- increasing the chances for WILD to work.
good luck