Sleep, my joy, sleep! How to improve your baby's sleep

In the first six months, the child sleeps quite a lot and wakes up several times at night to eat, and this is normal. Many pediatricians say that a child over 6 months can already sleep throughout the night. But in practice this rarely happens. Problems with falling asleep, frequent awakenings at night, restless sleep in children over 6 months are quite common. What this may be connected with and how to improve your baby’s sleep will be discussed below.

Children at any age need to get a good night's sleep, since it is in their sleep that they grow and develop. It is especially important to get enough sleep in infancy, since it is at this age that the development of the brain and other body systems, strengthening of the immune system, psychological relief and much more occur during sleep. Also, it is at night, from 23 to 01 o’clock, that the child’s body produces the hormone necessary for growth. The duration of sleep in children can depend on various factors: age, temperament, physical factors (growth spurts, teething, etc.), psychological factors (excess emotions, new environment).

Sleep of a newborn and mother

It is unlikely that you will be able to get enough sleep during the same period of time that your baby will sleep. After all, he can sleep peacefully during the day, when you need to do household chores, and at night, when you want to sleep, he can wake up several times. However, for your sleep, you can use the time when you breastfeed your baby (if he himself periodically dozes), or at least you can rest a little.

If you don't sleep while your baby does, you shouldn't try to create perfect silence in the house. It will be useful for your baby to get used to sleeping at a certain noise level.

Massage and other rituals

Rituals help the baby become more comfortable with the routine. The bedtime ritual is especially important. It should be relaxing and calming.

They start with swimming. Then you can do a massage or swing the baby on a fitball.

The morning ritual can consist of mom's smile, hugs and kind, affectionate words. It should give the baby a feeling of warmth and protection.

It is recommended to do massage once or twice a day. It should not last longer than 10 minutes. The child should be sleepless and well-fed. Gradually, massage can be turned into a game.

Should you show your child the difference between day and night?

Yes, from the first days children must get used to the fact that night is different from day, although they can sleep both in the dark and in the daytime. Therefore, during the day, even while the baby is sleeping, the curtains on the windows should be open, and a low noise level in the house should be allowed. When the baby is awake during the day, it is important to play with him as much as possible. But as soon as night approaches, it will be useful to normalize the newborn’s sleep:

• turn down the lights in the room;
• speak as little as possible, and if necessary, do it in a whisper;
• put the baby in the crib immediately after feeding or changing the diaper;
• do not change his clothes if there is no need for it;
• do not play with the baby, even if he is not sleeping.

So the baby will very soon learn to sleep more at night and be active during the day. However, each child may take a different amount of time to adjust to the day/night cycle.

Walks

You can go for a walk with a newborn on the tenth day of life in the summer, and on the twelfth day in the winter.

Time of the first walks depending on the season:

• 5 minutes (winter);
• 10 minutes (summer).

Every day you need to add 5-10 minutes to each walk. Ideally, after a week, the time should be increased to an hour.

And after another seven days - up to two hours.

It is good to combine walks with naps during the day. If it is not possible to go outside, the baby can be left in the stroller on the glass balcony.

How to regulate a newborn's sleep schedule?

You can begin to accustom your baby to a sleep schedule that will be more convenient for you from the age of 3 months. This innovation will be useful not only for you, but also for the baby, who will gradually begin to sleep throughout the night. To do this, it is important to establish a bedtime routine that is pleasant for the child, which may include:

• taking a warm bath;
• changing into your usual night pajamas and a clean diaper;
• brushing your teeth (if they have already grown);
• going to bed;
• reading bedtime stories;
• reducing the light intensity in the room;
• hugs and kisses before bed;
• singing a lullaby, or activating a musical mobile, which has a calming effect on the baby.

If you leave the room while your baby is awake but in a good mood, he will be able to learn to fall asleep on his own in his crib. It is very important not to teach your baby to fall asleep exclusively in your arms or in a rocking crib. Otherwise, he may wake up again when you try to put him in his crib or stop rocking him.

Similar bedtime traditions should be continued after the baby begins to grow up. It is very important to try to reduce his activity every evening and accustom him to quiet activities - looking at books or calm communication.

Avoid activities before bed!

It is best if the newborn sleeps after the evening feeding. If you do this every evening, over time your baby will develop a clear food-sleep chain, and therefore you won’t even have to make an effort to put him to bed. When the baby wakes up at night, he will again need feeding, after which he will fall asleep again.

What to do if your daily routine is lost

It happens that babies confuse day and night. Their activity shifts to the night hours, and during the day they sleep a lot.

This seriously complicates the already difficult life of a young mother.

Here's what experts recommend in this case:

• if the child sleeps for more than three hours, and there are four hours left before bedtime, it is better to wake him up;
• during daytime naps, do not close the curtains tightly, do not isolate the baby from household noise;
• If the baby has become nocturnal, eliminate the last nap during the day.

How long should children sleep?

The baby's sleep may be short but frequent. However, with the process of growing up, periods of sleep can increase significantly and the child learns to surrender uninterruptedly to the arms of Morpheus throughout the night. Moreover, each age period has its own need for sleep:

• In newborns and infants up to 3 months, most of the day is spent sleeping. During the day they can sleep for about 8 hours, and at night from 16 to 18 hours. They can fall asleep and wake up very often, since even at night they will have a need to eat. Sleep disturbances can occur due to room temperatures that are too high or low.
• In the period from 3 to 6 months, the baby's sleep will become longer, as he will gradually lose the need for nighttime snacks. The total amount of sleep during the day and night will decrease to 14-15 hours. For some six-month-old babies, night sleep can last continuously for 8 hours, and daytime sleep will be 2-3 times shorter than night sleep. Already at 4 months, a baby’s nighttime sleep can be twice as long as daytime sleep.
• During the period from 6 to 12 months, most children lose the habit of eating at night, and their sleep can last up to 12 hours continuously. Children can wake up either because of discomfort or because of hunger. During the day they usually sleep 2 times.
• One-year-old babies usually sleep 12-13 hours throughout the day.
• At 2 years of age, children usually sleep 11-12 hours at night and go to bed 1-2 times during the day.
• Children from 3 to 4 years old may have different duration of sleep at night (can range from 8 to 14 hours), although on average this figure is 12 hours. Most children at this age happily take a nap for 1-3 hours, even during the day. You should not wean your child off naps at this age.

Sleep norms in children of the first year of life

There are general norms for the number of daytime sleeps depending on age.

• Babies sleep five times a day in the first three months.
• From three months to six months there is an average of four naps per day.
• Babies from six to nine months sleep three times.
• Children between nine months and one and a half years old need two naps during the day.

These standards are for reference only and not all children strictly comply with them.

Sleep norms for children under one year old by month are shown in the table.

The baby's waking time by month is shown in the table below.

How to cope with the need to get up to your baby several times a night?

A newborn's sleep is not always peaceful. However, if the baby just woke up at night and began to groan, do not rush to go up to him and pick him up. Wait a few minutes, and perhaps the baby will calm down and fall asleep again. After all, all newborns can wake up several times a night, while not always showing a desire to taste breast milk.

To be less tired, you can ask your spouse for help. If you feed your baby with formula, then you can organize night feedings alternately. But even with breastfeeding, you can periodically express milk so that at night your spouse can feed the baby from a bottle, and you can spend the whole night in a restful sleep.

Features of feeding

For more than one year, neonatologists and pediatricians have been recommending that young mothers adhere to the principles of feeding on demand. It is important to ensure that the baby completely sucks both the front and rear milk. Otherwise, digestive problems may occur due to a lack of lactase.

The first days of a newborn's life, while lactation is just establishing, he can be attached to the breast every two hours. Closer to two months, the intervals will increase to three to four hours.

If your baby asks for the breast more often, you shouldn’t refuse him. The feeding schedule may be a bit flexible. Deviations of 30-40 minutes are not terrible.

For a newborn, the feeding process is not only a way to get enough, but also to communicate with the mother. It is important for a baby to feel protected. Through this feeling he undergoes adaptation and develops a positive idea of ​​the world.

The feeding schedule is fully established by the child’s three months. By this time, he wakes up about three times a night to eat. During the day - up to six feedings.

For infants on IV, stricter adherence to the schedule is necessary. This is due to the peculiarities of digestion of the mixture. On average, a bottle should be given every 3-3.5 hours.

Sleep problems

A newborn's sleep will not always be stable. Even if it seems to you that you have accustomed your baby to a stable sleep pattern, one night he may again start waking up every 2 hours. Therefore, in parallel with developing a convenient regime, be prepared for any surprises. They will become especially relevant during the period when the child begins to cut teeth, or when he is sick.

If problems with sleep in a newborn or older baby are observed every day, you should consult a pediatrician or neurologist. Perhaps the baby has some disturbances in the nervous system, which with timely examination by a specialist can be effectively eliminated.

Individual approach or life by the hour?

Once upon a time, Soviet pediatricians recommended that a young mother strictly adhere to the regimen. Give breastfeeding every three hours, wake up exactly at 6.00 and walk twice a day for strictly two hours.

But times have changed. Most doctors and psychologists advise new parents to seek an individual approach to the child and adapt to his biorhythms.

Why routine is important

A routine is defined as performing certain actions at the same time every day. Violation of this principle leads to a failure of physiological processes in the body.

You yourself have noticed that if you sleep a couple of hours longer, you walk around all day with your head “filled with cotton wool.” A child’s daily routine is especially important for the normal functioning of all systems, from the nervous to the digestive.

But the rhythm of a little man’s life needs to be adjusted to his biological clock. There is no need to strive to follow the schedule strictly to the minute. If you put your baby to bed half an hour earlier, nothing bad will happen. The same goes for feeding and walking.

It is important that the same actions are performed regularly at approximately the same time.

Thus, within a few days or weeks, the baby’s body will adjust to a certain order. This will make it easier to lay down and feed. There will be fewer problems with bowel movements.

Why is the complete absence of a regime dangerous?

A child’s chaotic daily routine will have a bad effect on his nervous system. First of all, this is due to disruption of sleep and wakefulness.

No more than 10% of infants fall asleep on their own when they are tired. Most need help - rocking, lullaby, hugs.

If your baby is sulking and you don’t put him to sleep, he may overstay his welcome. And later, the overexcited nervous system simply will not let him fall asleep. Because of this, the baby may confuse day with night.

This will not only cause you inconvenience, but it will also negatively affect the child’s health. Children who did not have a routine in infancy grow up more nervous and excitable.

How to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome?

It is very difficult to determine the exact reasons why many babies die suddenly in their sleep. However, it can most likely be prevented if you place the baby only on his back and make sure that his head is always open. This rule is important to apply to both nighttime and daytime sleep. Also follow these important instructions:

• the baby should not come into contact with people who smoke or be in a space where there is a lot of smoke;
• It is advisable that a baby under 1 year of age sleep in the same room where the parents sleep;
• Breastfeed your baby or imitate this process when feeding from a bottle, which will allow your baby to remain calmer.

Learn more about the rules of care for newborns and infants in the article “How to protect your newborn from the risk of SIDS.”

Sleep like a baby

Sleep is important for a baby. Even in the first years of life, they replenish their strength, develop, and grow. It is very rare that children can sleep normally. Most often, their sleep is quite short and causes a lot of trouble for parents. In the first months you need to literally monitor, because without good sleep the child becomes restless and irritable.

The sleep of a newborn baby up to 1 month is always very sensitive. He may be disturbed by noise, an uncomfortable bed, or hunger. Sometimes you can observe the movement of the limbs, less often the utterance of a voice. Infants rarely sleep soundly, as deep sleep accounts for 20%. You must be extremely careful during this period.

There are times when parents rush to put their child to bed, and a few minutes later they hear his voice again. To prevent this from happening, you need to put the baby to bed when the sleep has become stronger, and he cannot wake himself up with the slightest start. This is important, otherwise the child will not let you sleep or do usual activities for a long time.