“Parenthood” and “sleepless nights” - these two concepts stand side by side in almost every family where there is a small child. And no matter how normal frequent awakenings may seem, every mother is still worried about why the baby is not sleeping well, and whether this is connected with some “terrible” pathologies.
Indeed, a baby crying in the middle of the night is a natural phenomenon. However, most children wake up for certain reasons, and by identifying and eliminating them, parents will finally be able to get enough sleep. What should I do to make my little one sleep peacefully? Komarovsky advises.
Night awakenings in a child - reasons
In order for parents' targeted actions to eliminate problems associated with falling asleep and restless sleep to be effective, it is initially recommended to identify the cause of this behavior. Do not rush to contact medical specialists, incl. see a psychologist, but you can solve this issue yourself. To do this, you should be patient, since there are many reasons for anxious, restless sleep and with different specifics. It can be detected experimentally.
Age-related changes
If your child sleeps well until he is one year old, this does not mean that you will no longer encounter problems with falling asleep. Disturbances in nighttime rest can occur between the ages of 1.5 and 3 years. At this stage of growing up, fears appear that will interfere with rest and gain strength.
At this age, many children are afraid of the dark, fairy-tale, fantasy characters, and the prospect of being left alone with their experiences. All this provokes nightmares, feelings of anxiety and fear.
Specifics of temperament
The child may be too emotional. Komarovsky notes that in this case, the teenager and preschool child will be overly susceptible to everything that happens around him, as well as to the information he receives. Therefore, he is easily excitable, that is, he quickly “winds up” and calms down for a long time, returning to a normal emotional state. He is also demanding of environmental conditions, impressionable, takes everything to heart and reacts painfully to changes. Such children at any age cannot relax on their own; they sleep poorly due to nightmares and overexcitement.
Lifestyle
Problems with falling asleep often occur due to poor lifestyle choices, namely lack of activity throughout the day. A passive, sedentary lifestyle does not provide the opportunity to spend accumulated energy, so the child does not get tired during the day, does not waste his energy and does not experience the need for rest.
According to Komarovsky, the child does not sleep well at night, often wakes up due to lack of activity, mobility in the fresh air, or sitting at the computer or TV for too long.
The main mistake of parents is that they judge the degree of fatigue by themselves, believing that 1.5 hours of walking is enough to expend strength and energy.
Uncomfortable environment – bed and room
The quality of sleep and the process of falling asleep are directly influenced by the conditions in which the child spends the night. This applies to the quality, smell, freshness of bed linen and accessories:
- too big, small pillow;
- uncomfortable mattress;
- constantly sliding sheets;
- warm or thin blanket;
- uncomfortable, body-unpleasant pajamas.
The environment in the room itself affects the quality of rest:
- bright light;
- lack of fresh air;
- draft;
- dust;
- high or low humidity;
- extraneous noises.
All this negatively affects the process of falling asleep, distracting attention and irritating the child.
Physiological reasons
The reason that the child tosses and turns and often wakes up at night may be due to a lack of vitamin D, trace elements and calcium in the body. In addition, factors of poor health may include:
- headache;
- upset stomach and intestines;
- teething and much more.
Hunger, overeating, thirst and many other factors that affect a child’s well-being can interfere with comfortable sleep.
The reason why a child often wakes up, according to Dr. Komarovsky, may be the lack of proper sleep and daytime rest, an incorrectly chosen place to sleep, an excess of daytime rest, or an incorrectly chosen feeding regime.
How long should a newborn sleep?
As mentioned above, the total sleep of a newborn is 18–20 hours. The baby wakes up only to eat. He eats for 15–20 minutes, after which he sleeps again. A newborn's sleep lasts 3–4 hours during the day and up to 6 hours at night. Pediatricians recommend waking up your baby if he sleeps for more than 4 hours in a row during the day. You can simply take him out of the crib and offer him something to eat. Once satisfied, the baby can continue his sleep. Thus, the baby gains strength and gets stronger. He adapts to the new world, and in a dream, getting used to new living conditions is easier. For healthy sleep, the baby needs to create favorable conditions during this period. This is a feeling of security, love, enough food and the temperature of the room. When mom is calm, the baby feels it, and he is in a state of bliss. Then your appetite is good and your sleep is sound.
Regarding the temperature regime: the air temperature in the room should be 19–22 ̊C. This is the temperature that is considered comfortable for the baby. In this case, you only need to dress him in a thin “man” made of cotton fabric. The baby’s clothes should not pinch his body (arms, legs) and hinder his movements. Otherwise, he will protest against “civilization,” since everything that humanity has come up with is still alien to him and interferes.
Regarding whether to swaddle. Until two months from birth, you don’t have to think about it at all: let him sleep peacefully and freely. Nothing but hunger, heat and cold can stop him for now. As soon as the baby begins to more clearly perceive large objects, for example, his own arm, leg, which move chaotically and frighten him, he begins to wake himself up, wake up at night/day and cry, disturbing his restful sleep. In such a situation, you can swaddle him with a thin diaper, lightly, so that it just does not allow curious naughty little hands to wake up their owner.
Should I get motion sick? NO! A child falls asleep when rocked from loss of consciousness, and not from fatigue. A bad habit appears of falling asleep only when rocking.
Negative consequences of lack of sleep
Lack of sleep will negatively affect both the child and the parents. Poor, restless sleep in children will negatively affect the following:
- In the mood.
- Physical, emotional and mental development.
- Attentiveness, ability to perceive and remember new information.
He will be irritable, capricious, and react painfully to the slightest changes. Parents, in turn, due to lack of sleep and overwork, will also become irritated over little things and show inappropriate aggression towards the child and each other. Such relationships in the family, says doctor Komarovsky, will negatively affect the atmosphere in the house. And this is important for the full development of the child.
Why babies don't sleep - the main reasons
Conditions that are not comfortable and not conducive to sleep.
The older the child gets, the more difficult it is for him to fall asleep in a bright, noisy room. Waking up too late. If your baby goes to bed late at night and gets up at 9-10 am, then, of course, he is unlikely to be ready to sleep during the day. Sometimes it’s worth waking up your baby in the morning to set a routine for the whole next day.
The baby is overexcited or tired. A well-rested child usually easily goes to bed again, but if fatigue has accumulated in the baby’s body in the form of the stress hormone cortisol, then going to bed is accompanied by protests and screams, and dreams are short and fragmented
Symptoms that have dangerous consequences
You should contact a specialist to solve problems with falling asleep in cases where the situation has not been corrected for several months. The child still has trouble falling asleep and cannot do it on his own. The following symptoms are dangerous:
- Frequent night panic attacks, nightmares, horrors.
- Excessive daytime sleepiness.
- Sleep attacks, when falling asleep occurs unexpectedly at any time of the day.
- Walking during sleep, confusion.
- Disorders of rhythmic movements during falling asleep, sleep itself, or at the moment of awakening.
According to Komarovsky, a child may toss and turn at night and have difficulty sleeping due to a psychological disorder that has arisen for various reasons, or the presence of neurological diseases associated with the nervous system. If such symptoms appear, it is necessary to contact specialists who can identify the causes of the disorder, prescribe the necessary treatment, and give useful recommendations.
By neglecting the serious symptoms of sleep disorders in children, you risk having such negative consequences as: irritability, memory loss, hallucinations, developmental delay, convulsions, pain. The risk of developing obesity, diabetes, and disruption of the immune system increases.
How long do children sleep?
In each age period, the duration of sleep in children is different. And the smaller the baby, the more he needs sleep.
- Newborn babies sleep almost around the clock - 18–20 hours, taking a break to eat;
- babies from 2 to 4 months sleep 18–17 hours;
- babies aged 5-6 months - 16 hours;
- at 7–9 months - 15 hours;
- at 10–12 months - 14 hours;
- from a year to one and a half years - 13–15 hours;
- for preschool children, sleep totals 10–12 hours;
- for younger schoolchildren - 9.5–10 hours;
- for adults and teenagers - 8 hours.
But is it possible to bring all children under the same standard, without taking into account the individual characteristics of physiology, conditions and rhythm of family life? Of course not. The mother should know approximately how much sleep a baby should have at a particular age stage. But she should also take into account the above-mentioned features.
After two months, the baby begins to communicate with his mother and explore the world. The baby's sleep will be better if he receives enough attention, love, moves more, and therefore spends more energy.
At an older age, the baby's energy expenditure will increase. Thus, it is known that children who lead an active lifestyle sleep more and soundly. If the baby’s walks are intense: a trip to the zoo, a puppet theater, a park with feeding ducks and horseback riding, etc.; if the baby is active: runs, jumps, slides downhill, chases birds, rides a bike, roller skates; if the family lifestyle is healthy: playing sports; then the child’s body’s need for sleep is greater. The baby sleeps soundly and calmly.
Also, when children get sick or feel unwell, they sleep more than usual.
Normalization of sleep in adolescents - physical activity
Physical activity can restore the natural physiological process of falling asleep in adolescents. In this case, it is important to show balance and moderation so as not to cause overwork, stress from excess fatigue, which will only worsen the situation. Moderate physical activity will not only help you fall asleep quickly in the evening, but will serve as a preventive measure for the following chronic diseases:
- cardiovascular;
- diabetes;
- obesity;
- osteoporosis;
- hypertension.
Physical activity can mean not only playing different sports, but also active, outdoor games at home. It can also be outdoor activities and homework.
The main thing is that physical activity has a positive effect on the emotional and mental state of the child. At the same time, during the exercises, I experienced only positive emotions, and afterward I felt a little tired.
TOP 7 rules from Komarovsky for sound and healthy children's sleep
Russian pediatrician Komarovsky is convinced that a child’s healthy, sound sleep guarantees good sleep for all family members. Therefore, it is the key to a strong, emotionally stable, loving family. To ensure this, the doctor recommends adhering to the following rules:
- Set your priorities correctly. The child and his whims, that is, non-primary needs that affect his health and development should not be paramount. The main thing that matters most to him is healthy parents who love him and each other. Therefore, they must set their priorities correctly, get good sleep, and sleep at night so as not to be tired.
- Establish a clear daily routine. It should be convenient for the whole family and fit into their routine. To do this, you must immediately determine the specific time for getting ready and going to bed for the child and adhere to the established schedule.
- Determine the place to sleep. For a healthy, sound sleep, each family member should have their own individual sleeping place.
- Wake up from daytime rest. If a child sleeps for a long time, that is, more than the allotted time during the day, he will naturally sleep less at night. Therefore, parents should not be afraid to wake up their child during the day in order to have a good rest at night.
- Feeding regimen. Hunger and overeating can cause sleep disturbances. Therefore, parents should clearly set feeding times and stick to them.
- Fruitful, good time during the day. This includes active spending time in the fresh air with outdoor games, sleeping on the street, and various types of physical activity. You need to lead an active lifestyle in the first half of the day; in the late afternoon, offer children quieter games, reading books, and doing other calming things: drawing, sculpting, listening to music.
- Conducting the bedtime ceremony, preparing the bed and room. The room should be clean and cool. The air is within normal humidity limits. For a good sleep, the mattress is dense, smooth, of sufficient width; use bed linen only from natural fabric, washed in baby powder.
By following these simple tips from the doctor, you will ensure your child has a sound, healthy sleep; while falling asleep, he will not fuss or experience discomfort.
It is important not to violate the regime and adhere to the usual routine when changing the environment, changing circumstances under which the child may experience stress, additional emotional stress: going to kindergarten, school, moving.
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.
- 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.
Advice for mothers from Dr. Komarovsky
According to Dr. Komarovsky, parents often independently create problems associated with falling asleep and staying asleep. This is due to the presence of unacceptable things in behavior. So, the pediatrician advises against the following actions:
- Long-term motion sickness if the child is already one year old.
- Shared daytime and nighttime sleep with parents.
- Night feeding after 6 months.
- Outdoor games and manifestations of negative emotions in the evening.
- Irregular feeding schedule, baby falling asleep with nipple in mouth.
According to Komarovsky, these factors influence the fact that the child has difficulty falling asleep and sleeps restlessly at night. If mistakes have already been made, parents are advised to be patient as they implement changes in sleep patterns and habits.
It is also not recommended to allow screaming or irritation, because... With this approach it is difficult to achieve positive dynamics. Show patience, love, care, restraint in behavior and emotions. In this case, it is possible to normalize the child’s sleep without damaging the psyche.
