How to put a child to sleep in 1 minute: 10 rules from Dr. Komarovsky

10/28/2016 Nadezhda Plotnikova 0 comments

As many parents testify, a sleeping baby is not only a nice picture, but also a little free time.

To wait for that joyful moment when the child finally closes his eyes, the mother rocks him in a stroller, walks on tiptoe, and sings songs, and he smiles sweetly or, even worse, cries loudly.

And yet, there are several interesting techniques that will help put your child to sleep in just a minute.

The habit of sleeping in your parents' bed: pros and cons

Opinions on this matter are divided. Leading psychologists and educators present their arguments. Some consider it unacceptable for a child to sleep with his parents.

To the point that it affects their intimate life and divorce statistics.

Others are not so categorical and do not see anything bad in the fact that the baby sleeps next to its parents. On the contrary, mother does not need to get up in the middle of the night, the baby will receive a portion of breast milk whenever she wants.

But the opposing sides agree on one thing. No matter how difficult it may be, sooner or later you will have to teach your child to fall asleep on his own in his crib. This is the first step towards independence and personal space.

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To put you to sleep in 5 minutes, preparation is important.

Children over 2 years old must be fed before bedtime. But this must be done at least 2 hours before going to bed. But just before this, you can give your baby a drink of kefir or another milk drink.

Shortly before bedtime, Komarovsky recommends giving your baby a bath. In this case, you can add some soothing herbs to the bath.

Before bedtime, you should not start active games with your child. Also, you should not show him bright and cheerful cartoons. This may dispel the dream. But reading your favorite fairy tales at night is useful in all respects.

The room in which the child sleeps must be ventilated before going to bed. This simple measure also helps you fall asleep quickly within 5 minutes and sleep soundly.

And more advice from Dr. Komarovsky. The child himself will not develop the habit of falling asleep quickly. Parents need to work on this. And this is not done so much for the baby. First of all, parents thereby take care of themselves. After all, even if a little person is capricious and does not want to go to bed, nature will still take its toll. Eventually he will settle down and have a great night's sleep. But mom and dad have little chance for this.

Teaching an infant

The younger the children, the easier it is to re-educate them and change something in their daily routine. Two to three months is the optimal age for this.

If the baby falls asleep immediately after feeding, no problems will arise. It is enough to put him in his crib and leave him to rest.
If he does not feel discomfort, he is warm and dry, then he will rest sweetly in his crib. By repeating this ritual every time, adults will not even notice how the baby learns to fall asleep in his sleeping place.
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If the baby is awake after feeding, you will have to use a trick. Play with him a little and try to speak more quietly than usual. Place him in the crib, but stay nearby.
This way he will feel protected and know that he was not abandoned. After tossing and turning a little, the baby will quickly fall asleep.

But what to do if the baby is used to falling asleep with the breast?

Dr. Komarovsky insists that parents should not sacrifice themselves to their children, but should be ready to act categorically.

A completely healthy, well-fed baby will definitely fall asleep, even after a short or long cry.

Of course, you won’t be able to teach yourself to fall asleep in one day.

Dr. Komarovsky advises to act for the benefit of the whole family, and not to succumb to children’s whims and manipulations.
Otherwise, you will have to solve the problem until kindergarten.

Napkin method

The ingenious trick demonstrated by Australian father Nathan Dylo has attracted the attention of many parents who want to quickly put their child to sleep.

In the video posted, a three-month-old baby falls asleep in just 42 seconds thanks to the “moving” of a napkin over his face.

Such a quick reaction occurs due to repeated movements and the peculiarities of the child’s psyche. The parent waves a paper napkin over the child's eyes, thereby forcing the baby to focus his gaze on the object.

Neuropsychologists say that such actions can tire anyone, even the most excited toddler. By the way, instead of a napkin, you can take a clean handkerchief.

However, this trick will only work for babies no older than two or three months. The older the child, the less time and effort he will need to focus his gaze on a specific object.

How to teach a 1 year old baby

He already knows where his crib is, but continues to sleep with his parents. Of course, here the son or daughter feels protected. It’s warm and cozy to be between two dearest and most loving people.

Although he already understands words, it is not easy to separate him from his parents' bed .

Let's figure out how to teach a one-year-old child to fall asleep on his own. You can use the Estiville method .

It consists of leaving the baby in the crib to fall asleep and not giving in to his tears and pleas.

So that he does not feel abandoned, you can enter the room from time to time - more often at first, but reducing the interval every day.

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Patting on the head

A video demonstrating how to quickly put a child to sleep has already been collected on the World Wide Web. The audience is captivated by the simplicity of the technique - the mother strokes the baby on the head, and in almost a minute makes him close his eyes.

A newborn baby, especially a premature one, vitally needs maternal touch, through which her warmth, care and tenderness are transmitted to him. It is only important to ensure that your hands are warm, dry, and your nails should be cut short first.

There are other interesting methods for quickly putting a newborn baby to sleep. For example, some will be put to sleep by thoroughly cleaning the ears with a piece of cotton wool or simulating a similar action. Another child will fall asleep if mommy carefully trims his toenails or simply touches his toes.

Rules for two year olds

At this age, the child is already accustomed to the daily routine and knows when it is time to rest. But he is full of strength and energy, and does not understand why he needs to go to bed. After all, sleep is associated with darkness, something scary and unknown.

A bedtime ritual will help ; it includes:

A place to sleep. The baby should know that he has his own wonderful crib, which takes him to magical lands, cartoons and fairy tales as soon as he falls asleep.
It is important that the child only sleeps in bed. If he eats, plays and sleeps in one place, everything will get mixed up in his head.
Preparation time. We collect toys together. The night light and, if there is one, a humidifier for the air in the nursery are turned on. Ventilate the room before going to bed. The baby is bathing. Dad or mom reads a fairy tale or sings a song.
Your favorite soft toy will help you fall asleep. You can choose a different one every day. This moment can easily be turned into an interesting game.
Leave the night light in the room. Check in from time to time to see how the little one is doing. You can come in, hug or kiss.

Tips for parents on how to put their baby to sleep

A child under one year old does not yet know how to consciously relax when he wants to sleep. And children want to sleep, just like adults, they just don’t know how to do it yet. Therefore, you need to teach your child to fall asleep on his own and without crying. It is important to understand that every child is different and everyone's bedtime will be different.

It is worth learning to see signs of fatigue and understand that the child wants to sleep.
When a child begins to rub his eyes, often becomes irritated or lethargic, this is a clear sign that urgently need to go to bed. It is at this moment that it will be easiest to go to sleep. Do not delay sleep when these signs appear to feed, walk, wash, or do any of your business. Immediately take your baby to bed or in a stroller if you are outside.

If you don't put him to bed on time, the child will become overtired, become either too active or too capricious. Hysterics or, conversely, jumping around may begin. In this state, it will be too difficult to lay him down without tears.

If you are breastfeeding, your baby will fall asleep at the breast while feeding. There will be no installation difficulties here. When you decide to wean, then you will need to change the placement method. You can feed before bed while lying on the bed, so the baby will not get used to being constantly held in your arms.

Before going to bed at night, you need to create a certain atmosphere - dim lights (you can turn on a night light), soothing music or a lullaby, a relaxing massage. It is best to bathe your baby in a large bath before bed so that he can swim. This way the child will be physically tired, which will promote sound sleep.
In order for the child to move during bathing, and not just lie, the water must be below body temperature. The water temperature decreases gradually. Start bathing at 36 degrees, after a couple of days turn the water a degree lower, etc. Thus, at two months you can bathe your baby at 25 degrees. The main thing is that he has the opportunity to move to warm up.

To bathe a baby, buy a special circle for the neck - it is very convenient. There is no need to stand and hold it, it will float on its own.

The baby can be rocked in your arms or in a crib with runners. Our ancestors always rocked children in cradles. When the child grows up, you will need to teach him to fall asleep without rocking.

In the evening, do not turn on cartoons for your child, and also do not create emotional outbursts. If your child gets overexcited, it will be difficult to put him to sleep peacefully. It’s better to physically exhaust your child in the evening by going for a walk. For a child in his first year of life, the mother should do exercises and massage. Also, feed your baby tightly before bed. You sleep better on a full stomach.

Don't forget to ventilate the room before going to bed. Also, dress your child adequately to sleep so that he is not too hot or cold. The optimal temperature for sleeping is 18-20 degrees.

For better sleep, you can buy a projector night light that will broadcast stars (or something else) onto the ceiling, and it also has pleasant music. Also, babies fall asleep easily when they look at the spinning crib mobile.

Duration of children's sleep up to one year

A newborn sleeps approximately 16-20 hours a day. He does not distinguish between day and night, often wakes up and falls asleep without difficulty. Moreover, sleep periods vary from 40 minutes to 120.

A one-month-old baby may suffer from colic, resulting in insomnia. The normal amount of sleep during the day is 7 hours, at night - 8-10.

In a child aged four months to six months, periods of wakefulness increase. The duration of the “quiet hour” is 3-5 hours, night dreams take 10-11.

A baby from 6 to 12 months sleeps about three hours during the daytime, and three times sleep turns into two times. And at night - 11-12 hours and wakes up once or twice in order to be fed.

Why wake up?

Parents try not to disturb the sleeping child. Long daytime sleep leads to active wakefulness and difficulty falling asleep in the evening. As a child ages, he sleeps less during the day. The needs of different children are individual. There are averages for the required amount of sleep:

Children under 3 months require 15-20 hours per day;
A six-month-old baby sleeps 15 hours;
A one-year-old child needs 14 hours.

If a 6-month-old baby sleeps more than eight hours during the day, he will not fall asleep for a long time in the evening, and his night's rest will be significantly reduced. It is better to limit daytime sleep. In the first month, a newborn needs much more time to recuperate; it is worth waking him up for feeding, bathing, and necessary procedures.

As many children age, their need for daytime sleep sharply decreases; this is due to individual characteristics. If the child is unwell and sleeps little, you should not force him. Sufficient activity, good health during the day and falling asleep quickly in the evening indicate that he can easily do without daytime sleep.

The importance of rituals

Evening rituals of getting ready and going to bed are good helpers in putting your baby to bed without motion sickness. The “motion sickness substitutes” proposed above should be only a small part of this ritual, which looks a little different in each family. Over time, you will come up with your own, but it is important to repeat it as accurately as possible every day. Then the baby’s body will react to what is happening as a signal to relax and fall asleep.

The nightly ritual may include the following elements:

collecting toys;
curtaining windows;
change in lighting;
warm bath;
spreading out the crib;
"nest" device;
"intimate talk".

All actions should be carried out calmly, without unnecessary fuss, preferably together with the child, so that he feels like the main character of what is happening - this teaches him to be independent.

When the baby is overexcited by the events of the past day, let him talk it out before the evening ritual begins, and in the crib it is better to calmly discuss plans for tomorrow. If he is too tired physically, do everything yourself, but at the same time voice all stages of the process: “we close the curtains, the bear is going to sleep,” etc.

Repeated actions day after day give the child a feeling of stability and security. He understands that tomorrow will be the same. A new day will come, he will be surrounded by care and love, and in the evening he will receive a pleasant bonus for falling asleep quickly.

Such rituals help to quickly put the baby to sleep without motion sickness, even in a new environment.

Set an early bedtime

Many parents (I was one of them initially) mistakenly believe that if you put your child to bed later, he will be properly tired and fall asleep quickly. In fact, as a rule, the exact opposite picture is observed: an overly tired child becomes overexcited and then cannot fall asleep at all. This is especially noticeable in infants under one year old.

Until Elizabeth Pantley and her book “How to Put Your Baby to Sleep Without Crying” inspired me to go to bed early, I was sure that Taisia needed a good walk before bedtime, and therefore I started bathing her at about 10:30 p.m. go to bed at 23.00. For the next 3 hours, trying in vain to put my daughter to bed, I wondered, “Will this really happen every day?” When the decision was made to introduce a ritual and early bedtime (getting ready from 20.00, falling asleep at 21.00), on the very first day my daughter fell asleep at exactly 21.00! To say that I was shocked is to say nothing. It was something out of fantasy! Of course, in the following days, not everything was so smooth, and it took some more time to get used to the new regime. But after two weeks, the daughter finally got used to the new routine and began to fall asleep at 21.00 without any problems (at that time the daughter was 6 months old). At the same time, it should be noted that because Tasya went to bed earlier, she did not get up earlier in the morning.

Why can't my baby sleep?

If the baby is having difficulty falling asleep, the first thing parents should do is determine the cause of the problem. Most often this may be the case.

The baby’s illness is colic, teething, nasal congestion of allergic or infectious origin, fever, skin problems (heat rash, dermatitis, rashes), headache with high intracranial pressure.
Nervous overexcitation - an overabundance of emotions, information, too active games before bed, fatigue.
The mother’s bad mood or well-being, which the child, strongly attached to her, feels very subtly.
Exposure to external irritants: uncomfortable room temperature, stuffiness, wet diapers, annoying insects, loud noise, uncomfortable clothes or crib.
Hunger or thirst.
A banal reluctance to sleep.

Therefore, before convincing your baby of the need for sleep, first of all, eliminate the cause of the problem. And, most likely, the process of falling asleep will quickly improve.