After birth, the toddler spends a significant part of his time sleeping, waking up only to eat. Therefore, during the first two months, his only problem is poor sleep. Why do mothers worry when a newborn baby twitches in his sleep, grunts and cries. In fact, these problems are not signs of illness, so there is no need to worry. But you can make your baby’s sleep easier with special actions so that your little one’s dreams are pleasant.
Now let's look at this in more detail.
Why does a child sleep poorly: causes of discomfort during sleep
The life of newborn children consists mainly of sleep and food. Their full sleep can last from 14 to 22 hours a day and is a necessary source of health and energy. Sleep standards for children aged 2 months and older can be found here.
To avoid issues that affect the quality of sleep, parents need to follow certain rules if the child does not sleep well:
Sleeping in your parents' arms is always better - all worries go away, but you shouldn't abuse it, it's difficult to wean yourself off your arms
- Children should sleep on their back or side. This prevents them from developing choking syndrome. The mattress for a newborn should be smooth and firm. In this case, the newborn's spine will be in the correct position.
- The air temperature in the room should not exceed 20 °C . It is better if the room is cool than hot. Every day before going to bed, you need to do wet cleaning and ventilate the room. A good solution is to buy a humidifier for a children's room . We tell you how to choose the right humidifier here.
- Do not use toys, bathing or emotional games before bedtime. Children's bodies should calm down and not become overexcited.
- Clothes should be made from natural materials and comfortable.
- Follow the feeding schedule if possible. Infants sleep a lot, and it is difficult to establish a strict feeding schedule according to the clock. But if it becomes possible to set a certain schedule, this will only be a plus.
- Regular walks in the fresh air. Walking with newborns during daylight hours and sleeping in the fresh air will have a positive effect on the quality of sleep itself.
Failure to follow proper sleep recommendations often leads to discomfort and explains why a newborn grunts and strains in his sleep. It also leads to poor health in children and has a negative impact on the central nervous system.
Makushina E.D., pediatrician, Alpha Health Center, Moscow
If children are active while awake and sleep at night, this is natural for them. If sleep is accompanied by grunting, then this is probably a bowel movement, or he is sweating, or he has difficulty breathing.
You need to look and, if possible, help the baby: remove dried lumps from the nose or change the diaper. There is no need to worry about this. This is normal for babies under 3 months of age.
The importance of sleep
The benefits of sleep can hardly be overestimated, as well as the harm from constant lack of sleep. This is especially true for children under 3 years of age. It is enough to observe a five-month-old child who sleeps poorly at night and is completely awake during the day - he looks irritable, is constantly capricious, and becomes whiny.
Rest during sleep is directly related to the mental, physical and psychological development of the baby, therefore, in order for the child to be active, cheerful and cheerful, develop, eat with appetite and grow healthy to the delight of his parents, he needs complete and healthy rest.
Key indicators of the importance of sleep:
- during rest, strength is restored;
- not only the body, but also the brain rests;
- During sleep, the baby's body produces growth hormone more actively.
Reasons not to worry
Mom must definitely learn to understand all the requirements of the baby . The behavior of children at this age is determined by their reaction to the environment or to their own well-being. A baby may grunt and strain in his sleep for the simplest reasons, after which everything will return to normal.
The main reasons why a newborn baby grunts and strains in his sleep may be:
1 High room temperature.
The room where children sleep should always be fresh. If the baby becomes hot, he begins to sweat, which causes him a feeling of discomfort, and the baby begins to groan.
Sleeping on your stomach prevents colic
2 Overstimulating children before bed.
You should not actively play with your baby if he needs to be put to bed in the near future. You need to calm him down and create a calm atmosphere for the baby. 3 Colic in the abdomen .
During adaptation to a new world for children, their body becomes accustomed to the environment and nutrition. When a baby is bothered by colic, he knocks his legs, bends and cries. In such cases, you can give dill water. It contains fennel oil, which helps cope with colic.
The medicine Espumisan, recommended by many doctors, can be given to infants along with food. Add 25 drops (this is 1 ml) to a bottle of food. The bottle of medicine must be shaken first. Overdose is not allowed.
To alleviate the condition, the baby’s tummy should be stroked or something warm and warming should be applied to it . You can heat the diaper with an iron and place it on your tummy. If these methods do not help, use a gas vent tube.
A nursing mother is not recommended to consume foods that cause bloating.
4 Baby wants to go to the toilet.
If you notice that the baby is straining, then you can assume that he is getting ready to defecate. There is no cause for concern here. You need to try to help him, stroke his tummy and calm him down.
Pichurina L.G., pediatrician, Nearmedic Clinic on Polezhaevskaya, Moscow
If you pay attention, you will notice that the child is straining and grunting during bowel movements. This is due to the fact that their abdominal muscles are not yet strong, like adults.
This behavior is quite natural and they do not need help in this case.
If while awake the baby is active, cheerful, and nothing bothers him, parents should not worry.
He may have already had a bowel movement and has a wet diaper that is causing him discomfort. Which diapers are best for newborns, read this article.
Concerns about why the baby groans are largely unfounded. You should carefully study the baby's behavior.
5 The baby has difficulty breathing . Perhaps his nose is clogged with crusts or snot. In this case, after cleaning the nose with saline solution, the baby will calm down and fall asleep soundly.
Sleep of a child and an adult
A newborn's sleep is different from an adult's sleep. The deep phase of sleep in humans makes up most of the time, and the superficial phase is only 20%, so it is more difficult to wake up an adult. The superficial phase of sleep in a child, on the contrary, occupies the main part - 80%, which is why babies often wake up. At the same time, a newborn is able to sleep 18-19 hours a day, which more than compensates for his sensitive shallow sleep.
To make your child sleep more soundly, do not put toys and pillows in the crib; children prefer “Spartan” conditions.
What do newborns dream about?
For a long time, scientists could not find an answer to the question whether newborn children have dreams, because it is impossible to ask the child directly. It has now been proven that dreams come to us precisely during the phase of superficial sleep. At this moment, the brain develops intensively, assimilating the information accumulated during the day. It turns out that children should have much more dreams than adults.
But then what do babies dream about? After all, when children enter a new world, they see and hear everything for the first time and understand nothing. But here you need to realize that in order to dream about something, it is not at all necessary to understand the events that happened. Therefore, kids dream about everything that happened or could happen during the day. Of course, most dreams are associated with the mother’s body, breasts, milk, its smell and taste.
At a later time, the mother’s voice, the faces of other relatives, and pets are added to dreams. There is an assumption that babies may also dream about objects and sounds not associated with their parents. For example, today there was a trip to the hospital and the baby dreamed of the “scary and alien” hands of a doctor.
Reasons for worry and concern, problem solving
With muscle hypertonicity, the baby does not relax even in sleep, his body is tense, so the child seems to be pushing
1 Violation of muscle tone . More often, these violations occur in the direction of increasing tone, i.e. hypertonicity.
Children behave restlessly and react sharply to light and sounds. Their chin may tremble when crying. They often burp after feeding.
They can help:
- warm relaxing baths;
- limb massage;
- aromatherapy.
If the problem becomes more serious, you should consult a doctor. 2 Diaper rash . In children they can occur even with the most careful and thorough care. They appear more often in places where the skin comes into contact with urine and feces. Severe diaper rash in the form of redness on the skin is called diaper dermatitis.
Treatment in such cases should be as follows:
- herbal baths. Read about bathing your baby in a line here;
- children's cosmetic creams, powders.
To prevent such dermatitis, it is necessary to monitor the correct temperature in the room, wipe the baby’s folds with a damp cloth, wash it after each bowel movement, and periodically leave it naked to take air baths.
If the newborn has other ailments, for example, vomiting or diarrhea, incessant crying, whims, you should definitely consult a doctor.
3 Constipation . This is a common occurrence in infants. Constipation can occur due to poor nutrition and insufficient fluid intake.
You can get rid of constipation with:
- proper diet;
- medicinal laxatives.
If a mother is breastfeeding her newborn, she should pay attention to her diet during breastfeeding; perhaps something needs to be changed.
Lobzin Yu.V., Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor, chief freelance specialist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation on infectious diseases in children
Many parents are concerned about why their baby is constantly pushing. Most often he wants to perform an act of defecation. Perhaps he will cry and blush.
If your baby cries during or before pooping, he may be constipated or upset. To find out the cause and treatment, you need to see a doctor.
4 Diarrhea . The main cause of diarrhea is an infection or allergy. The disorder can also occur due to taking antibiotics.
Treatment methods:
- pay attention to whether loose stools are accompanied by vomiting; if it is present, you should urgently consult a doctor to avoid dehydration;
- a nursing mother needs to reconsider her diet;
- if the disorder began due to the transition to artificial nutrition, you need to be more careful in choosing the formula.
5 Night pain in children - nyctalgia. These are headaches that can occur as a result of increased intracranial pressure during sleep. Such causes of sleep disturbance can be diagnosed using clinical analysis and EEG. If such a diagnosis is suspected, treatment should only be prescribed by a doctor with a thorough examination of the baby.
If your baby grunts, has no appetite, constantly regurgitates, does not gain weight, and is constantly vomiting, you should definitely consult a doctor. Self-medication in such situations is contraindicated.
When should I contact a doctor if my child arches, cries and wakes up frequently?
If a newborn baby breathes frequently in his sleep, groans, and jerks his legs and arms, it means he is healthy. He just has difficulty bowel movements or uncomfortable diapers. You need to worry if you have serious symptoms of the disease:
- with prolonged constipation, bloating;
- with regular problems described above, when the child grunts more than once, but grunts constantly and every night;
- temperature above 37oC;
- stopped gaining weight or lost it;
- refuses to eat;
- cries constantly;
- twitching during sleep is of a constant rhythmic nature;
- rashes appeared on the skin;
- gas formation and colic occur for a long time and do not go away on their own;
- too frequent, excessive regurgitation.
When is it time to start the first walks with a newborn baby, how to dress your baby in warm and cold weather - read our article. Instructions for treating a newborn's navel are here. Be sure to watch the video on this topic.
Reviews from parents
Elena, 23 years old, Moscow
I worried for a very long time that my son was acting restless, the child was pushing and crying constantly.
At first I thought that he couldn’t poop or that he was worried about colic. But I tried to increase the portion of food, began to give more mixture, and everything became normal. It turns out he was just hungry.
Natalia, 28 years old, St. Petersburg
The child has been constantly pushing and crying since the third week, after colic began. Plantex came to the rescue. We did regular tummy massages and the situation returned to normal.
And I also changed my diet - completely revised it. And now my son practically doesn’t cry and his stomach bothers him less.
Irina, 29 years old, Pskov
I have a month-old baby, he constantly pushes and groans, and every time it starts when he sleeps. I noticed that I calm down after emptying my intestines of gas or pooping.
After this, he sleeps peacefully and soundly. I’m not worried about this at all, it will pass after 3 months.
conclusions
If a baby is constantly pushing and groaning, this is not necessarily a cause for concern. More often, the mother needs to reconsider her diet and help the baby alleviate the condition with the help of anti-colic medications.
It is imperative to monitor the temperature in the room. For more serious illnesses and concerns, it is better to consult a doctor immediately. Don't procrastinate and solve problems on your own.
Neonatologist G. Usmanova will tell you why the baby grunts and strains during sleep in the video below:
