Hello, dear parents. Exactly a month ago your wonderful little one was born. You are already familiar with nights without sleep and children's tears. I hope that you have already started trying to organize some kind of routine into your little one’s day. In this article we will talk about how you can plan a day in the life of a toddler when he is already one month old.
I would like to remind you that in the last article we looked at the child’s daily routine in the first days of life, that is, in fact, in his first month.
How long should a baby sleep and stay awake?
Sleep plays a special role in the life of a newborn child. While the baby sleeps, growth hormone is produced. It is he who is responsible for the development of tissues, organs and the entire organism, including the formation of the brain.
A newborn baby's sleep is divided into small segments and does not depend on the time of day. Night and day rest are approximately equal in duration - the baby does not yet distinguish between day and night and has no idea about the regime.
In the first weeks of life (or during the newborn period), a child sleeps about 20 hours a day (normal variations from different sources are 16–23 hours). The duration of sleep is determined by feedings - most often a newly born toddler wakes up just for this. By the end of the newborn period (that is, by the end of the first month of life), sleep duration is reduced to 16–19 hours. Individual differences can be significant, because among adults there are those who like to sleep and those who need less time to recover.
According to the World Health Organization, the neonatal period is 28 days. Caring for and feeding your baby during this time is critical to laying the foundation for a healthy life. A baby in the second month of life (that is, one month after birth) is called a one-month-old baby.
A child's peaceful sleep is a young mother's dream
The optimal sleeping position for a baby in the first month of life is on its side. Moreover, the right and left sides need to be alternated for uniform development of the skeleton. Putting the baby on his back is dangerous due to regurgitation, so to make sure that the baby will not accept this position, you can put a cushion of a towel or blanket. Doctors also do not recommend putting your baby to sleep on his stomach due to the fact that he does not yet know how to control his neck muscles and may bury his nose in the mattress or pillow and suffocate.
The prone position is very beneficial for a newborn baby - it strengthens the muscles of the neck and arms. But you need to place the baby on your tummy during the day under the supervision of your parents.
Waking hours and walks
Gradually, the breaks between dreams increase. In the literature they are called waking hours. If a newborn baby can stay awake for only 15–40 minutes, then an older one-month-old baby is awake for 1 hour. In addition to sleeping and eating, routine moments include bathing, massage, gymnastics, and tummy time. By the end of the first month of life, the baby will enjoy looking at the toys hanging above the crib or lying on a developmental mat.
Massage, gymnastics and bathing are best done at the same time. But it must be determined taking into account the reaction of the child himself. If the procedure relaxes and calms the baby, you should organize it before bedtime. And if, on the contrary, it invigorates and excites, then in the first half of the day.
Walking in the fresh air is important for toddlers, as they harden the baby and help them receive a portion of vitamin D, which is so necessary for the prevention of rickets.
Until approximately 5–6 months, the baby will sleep outside, so it is optimal to adjust the walking regime to his dreams.
Depending on the time of year and weather, doctors and health visitors will be able to advise the optimal age to start walking. In this case, you must adhere to the following recommendations:
- in summer, if there is no wind, you can start walking within a few days after discharge from the maternity hospital, and in winter - after about a week and a half;
- at first, the duration of stay on the street (especially in the cold season) is 10–15 minutes and gradually increases to 30 minutes, 2 times a day;
- by the end of the first month of life, in good weather you can walk for several hours, and in cold weather you should reduce the time spent in the fresh air to 90 minutes, dividing it into 2 parts;
- It’s better to go outside for the first time around 10 a.m., the second time around 2–3 p.m.
The period of wakefulness between sleep at different ages - table
| Age | Waking period |
| 0–2 weeks | 15–40 minutes |
| 2–4 weeks | 50–60 minutes |
| 1 month | 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes |
| 2 months | 1 hour 15 minutes – 1 hour 20 minutes |
Is it necessary to teach a child the first month of life to sleep?
Parents need a sleep schedule first and foremost. In addition to doing household chores, it is very important for a young mother to rest. Therefore, you can begin to gently accustom your one-month-old baby to a sleep-wake routine - this will not be too stressful for the child. In addition, the regime will allow adults to better understand the reasons for crying. Often children are capricious due to overexcitation, and this is exactly the moment when they need to be cuddled and helped to fall asleep. A baby who goes to bed at different times falls asleep worse and takes longer. To help him get used to a certain schedule, you can gradually adjust the time of daytime sleep.
Doctors believe that by 6–8 weeks the child is able to maintain certain rhythms.
From birth, the baby has no routine: he does not understand where is day and where is night
Causes of sleep and wakefulness disorders
Very often, young children have problems sleeping. Sometimes this can be caused by neurological diseases. If there are none, then a violation of the regime is possible due to improper organization of care for the baby.
- Hunger. If the baby is put to bed hungry or at a time when he is used to eating, sleep will be restless and short-lived.
- Infantile colic. This is a common condition in young children and occurs due to the immaturity of the digestive system. It goes away over time, but in the meantime you can help the little one with a massage or applying a heating pad to the tummy.
- Abuse of certain products by a nursing mother. A woman's consumption of coffee or chocolate can interfere with her sleep. If your baby is bottle-fed, formula may not be suitable for him.
- Physical discomfort. It is unpleasant for the baby to sleep wet, so during sleep he needs to be provided with a good diaper. The seams on clothes should be on the outside so as not to injure delicate skin.
- Incorrect microclimate in the room. This applies to both too low and too high temperatures. Optimal conditions are 19–210C.
- Overexcitement. The opinion that the more the baby is awake, the better his sleep will be, is fundamentally wrong. If a child has had too much fun, it will be difficult for him to fall asleep. You need to monitor the length of time you are awake and increase it when the little one is ready for it.
- Mom's tense state. The baby's connection with his mother is so strong that he feels when something is wrong. Any irritation of a woman is immediately read and reflected in her sleep.
Newborn crying lets you know he's uncomfortable
There are no extraneous sounds among the causes of sleep disturbance. Many children, on the contrary, like “white noise” - a monotonous, quiet sound that makes babies fall asleep faster. This could be the murmur of water or the rustle of the wind, or even the hum of operating household appliances, such as a hair dryer.
Walks
Fresh air is very important for the development and health of babies. Therefore, do not neglect walks with your baby; you can cancel them only if there is strong wind, frost or rain outside. It is not recommended to take newborns out into the fresh air if the window outside is below -10 or above +30 degrees. In such cases, it is better to spend the first walks on a glazed balcony, opening the window and dressing the baby according to the weather, or even letting him sleep in the room.
It is recommended to start walking with your newborn from the 10th day of life. The first walks should last no more than 5 minutes in winter, and in warm weather they can last about 10 minutes. Gradually increase the time your baby spends outside until you bring the total duration of walks to 1.5 hours in winter, and 4-6 hours in summer.
- Dress your child according to the weather; overheating is even more dangerous for the baby than hypothermia. Check whether the baby is comfortable in clothes by touching his neck and back. If they are wet, go home to change clothes. If your baby's nose is cold to the touch, you can cover it with an additional blanket.
- On sunny summer days, you can let your baby take sunbathing. Vitamin D is important for a child, so you can expose his body to the sun for 2-3 minutes.
- If there is no strong wind outside, fold the stroller canopy so that the baby gets fresh air.
- It is better to take walks in quiet places where the baby will not be awakened by street noise. It is better to roll the stroller away from the roads; walks near home in parks and squares would be ideal.
Features of nutrition of a newborn and one month old baby
The diet is determined primarily by whether the mother is breastfeeding the baby. The routines for natural and artificial feeding are somewhat different.
If a baby is fed breast milk, then lactation begins within 2 months after birth. During this period, it is especially important to regularly put the baby to the breast. In the first weeks, it is recommended to do this every 2 hours, with the exception of uninterrupted night sleep.
How to establish breastfeeding
There are two breastfeeding modes:
- on demand;
- by the hour.
Both methods have their pros and cons. Without a doubt, when feeding strictly according to the clock, the baby quickly establishes a daily routine, because he learns that he needs to eat at the same time. Mom can plan some things and return to the child on time. In addition, the baby is able to quickly establish a nighttime sleep schedule. But there are many more negative sides to this method:
- at different feedings, the baby may suckle at the breast with different intensity and, because of this, receive an unequal amount of milk, and as a result, the total daily volume will be less than necessary;
- there is a high probability of lactostasis, because the breasts do not empty on time;
- soon the milk may disappear, because it is produced in response to sucking;
In order to have a lot of milk, night feedings are especially important: the hormone prolactin, which is responsible for its production, is more active at night.
- from a psychological point of view, when feeding by the hour, it turns out that the mother ignores the baby’s needs if he wants to attach to the breast at the wrong time.
Experts from the World Health Organization recommend breastfeeding “on demand.” This means that you need to give your baby breastfeeding as often as he wants, and not by the hour. If you follow this rule, lactation is established as quickly as possible: the woman’s body adapts to the child, producing as much milk as he needs.
Mother's milk is the best food for a newborn
Feeding on demand may not seem so convenient at first glance. The woman will need to be near the child almost all the time, especially in the first months. Many babies love to sleep with the breast in their mouth, practically “chaining” their mother to them. In this case, the routine also suffers: babies wake up more often at night. But if feeding on demand is so inconvenient, why do modern pediatricians recommend this method?
- If the baby is fed on demand, you don’t have to worry about weight gain: he will definitely get everything he needs from his mother’s body.
- Children who receive breastfeeding on demand do not need to be supplemented with water. They are less likely to suffer from colic - breast milk is the best food for babies.
- This method of feeding is an excellent prevention of milk stagnation - lactostasis and mastitis.
- Lactation is quickly established (the term “mature lactation” is used for this), which means that the baby is not in danger of a lack of milk.
- The sucking reflex is fully realized, so there is no need for a pacifier, the benefits and harms of which are widely debated.
- Children who receive breastfeeding on demand grow up calmer and more self-confident, because their needs are not ignored by their mother.
The volume of milk per day for a breastfed child in the first 2 months of life - table
| Age | Number of feedings per day | Volume of milk per day |
| 1 day | 10 | 100 ml |
| 2 days | 10 | 200 ml |
| 3–4 days | 10 | 300 ml |
| 1 Week | 8 | 400 ml |
| 2 weeks | 8 | 400–500 ml |
| 3 weeks | 8 | 500 ml |
| 1 month | 7–8 | 600 ml |
| 2 months | 5–6 | 800 ml |
Komarovsky about breastfeeding - video
Formula feeding
If the baby is bottle-fed, then the daily volume of formula he drinks is proportional to his weight. Typically, baby food packages provide recommendations depending on age, as well as the amount of formula per feeding.
Taking into account individual characteristics, different children may eat a little more or a little less than the recommended amounts. The issue of feeding is very important for normal development and growth, so if in doubt you should contact your pediatrician.
Formula feeding is an alternative to breastfeeding
Approximate amount of formula required for a bottle-fed baby - table
| Age | Number of feedings per day | Volume of mixture per day |
| 1 Week | 7–8 | 400 ml |
| 2 weeks | 7–8 | 1/5 of the child's weight |
| 3 weeks | 7–8 | 1/5 of the child's weight |
| 1 month | 6–7 | 1/5 of the child's weight |
| 6 weeks | 6–7 | 1/6 of the child's weight |
| 2 months | 5–6 | 1/6 of the child's weight |
Sample daily routine for a newborn baby
Before you build a newborn's daily routine, you need to monitor his natural rhythms. It is useful to record the time at which the baby eats, sleeps and is awake. For bottle-fed babies, creating a schedule is a little easier, since feeding occurs approximately once every three hours, unlike infants who feed more often on demand.
Another significant difference between artificial and natural babies is that when breastfed, babies get used to falling asleep with the breast in their mouth. Therefore, they most often eat not after waking up, but before falling asleep.
Periods of wakefulness are filled with bathing, gymnastics, massage, carrying in arms - in the order chosen by mother and baby.
Approximate daily schedule for the baby at the end of the first and second months of life - table
| Baby in the first month of life | Baby of the second month of life | |
| Waking up and first feeding | 6:00 | 6:00 |
| Wakefulness | 6:00–7:00 | 6:00–7:20 |
| Dream | 7:00–9:00 | 7:20–9:20 |
| Feeding | 9:00 | 9:20 |
| Wakefulness | 9:00–10:00 | 9:20–10:30 |
| Sleeping in the air | 10:00–12:00 | 10:30–12:30 |
| Feeding | 12:00 | 12:30 |
| Wakefulness | 12:00–13:00 | 12:30–13:45 |
| Sleeping in the air | 13:00–15:00 | 13:45–15:45 |
| Feeding | 15:00 | 15:45 |
| Wakefulness | 15:00–16:00 | 15:45–17:00 |
| Dream | 16:00–18:00 | 17:00–19:00 |
| Feeding | 18:00 | 19:00 |
| Wakefulness | 18:00–19:00 | 19:00–20:15 |
| Night sleep with breaks for feedings | 19:00–6:00 | 20:15–6:00 |
Recommendations
- If a month-old baby’s daily routine is not normal, use walks in the fresh air to correct it. There the kids fall asleep sweetly and rest longer.
- Morning hygiene procedures lay the foundations of a newborn’s daily routine. Wipe his face and eyes in the morning with cotton pads soaked in boiled water.
- To prevent your child from subsequently confusing night with day, turn on a dim night light in the dark and be quieter.
- You can begin to introduce certain rituals into your daily routine: calmly read fairy tales to your baby after bathing and feeding, or play soft, soothing music.
Natural child mode
Many young parents are inclined to believe that the child’s daily routine should be built depending on his individual inclinations and characteristics. Supporters of the natural regime consider it convenient, first of all, for the baby himself, because the priority is the comfort of the toddler. The main message of this method is this: the task of mom and dad is to satisfy the needs of the baby, and not force him to meet the requirements of adults.
To maintain a natural regime, the mother needs to make sure that all the baby’s needs are met. In the first months of life, this is sleep, food and communication. It is important to learn to understand the signals that the child gives. For example, when a baby wants to sleep, he begins to rub his eyes, and when he wants to eat, he smacks his lips.
Proponents of natural routines welcome co-sleeping
The natural mode involves the constant presence of the mother next to the baby. It includes co-sleeping, breastfeeding on demand and being carried. But if the child himself decides to refuse some manifestation of these rules, then the parents need to agree with him.
Positive and negative aspects of the natural graph - table
| pros | Minuses |
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Reviews from moms about the natural regimen
My baby developed a routine for himself, and I adapted to it. I like our regime
