How long should a baby stay awake in the first months?

With the birth of a tiny little man, the family gains not only priceless happiness, but also many important issues related to the daily routine. Before answering them, it is worth noting that every baby is individual, like all adults. If one young family doesn’t get enough sleep due to the baby’s frequent awakenings at night, while another, on the contrary, worries about the baby’s incredibly sound sleep at any time of the day, this does not mean that the newborn has developmental disabilities. The article is dedicated to young, inexperienced parents; it will help you find simple answers to questions about how long a newborn child should sleep and stay awake per day, as well as the reasons for poor sleep.

Change at the physiological level

The birth of a child is not only a joy for many mothers and fathers, it is also a huge responsibility that is placed on them.

After the baby is born, significant physiological changes occur during the first weeks:

• Postpartum swelling subsides and disappears completely.
• The bone structure of the skull is strengthened.
• The baby's face takes on certain shapes.
• There is a change in the organs of vision - now eye movements are more coordinated, focusing improves.
• The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) adapts to the new diet, and beneficial microflora populate it.
• A restructuring of the hematopoietic and circulatory systems occurs, and new blood cells are formed instead of fetal hemoglobin.

Parents should not only know how long a baby should be awake at 1 month, but also pay attention to urination periods. In a very young newborn they are quite frequent, at least up to 6 times during the day. The liquid itself has an almost transparent consistency. As for bowel movements, this happens about 12 times a day. And, as a rule, immediately after feeding.

Prolonged sleep during the daytime

Newborn babies are not aware of the time of day and do not know whether it is a sunny day or a calm night outside the window. He stays awake exactly as long as he wants. And if the child has eaten well, he can sleep for several hours and then wake up in a good mood.

However, when malnourished, he begins to be capricious and sleeps poorly, constantly waking up. Breastfeeding mothers, especially those young women for whom childbirth is their first experience, should take into account that improper feeding quickly leads to weight loss of the child.

As a result, this threatens to exhaust the body, and this, in turn, ends with the child spending quite a long time in sleep, and then waking up very tired and lethargic. How long should a one-month-old baby stay awake?

How to establish a sleep-wake schedule?

Disruption of the sleep-wake pattern in a one-month-old baby causes great anxiety among parents. Due to their inexperience, young mothers do not know how to establish a daily routine. The first thing to do is to find out the cause of the graphics failure and eliminate it. Tips for establishing sleep and wakefulness patterns are given in the table below.

A baby may stop living according to the schedule developed for him if the proposed regime does not coincide with his biological rhythms. Therefore, you need to observe your baby and create a daily routine taking into account his needs.

Causes of long sleep

But what leads to such long sleep? There are reasons for everything:

• If childbirth was difficult, then women are usually given various drugs that act on the child’s body as a sleeping pill. Therefore, during the first weeks of life, the baby can sleep peacefully and for a long time.
• If a mother places her baby incorrectly to the breast during feeding, he spends all his strength trying to suck the required portion of milk, which is why fatigue quickly sets in. For this reason, the baby also falls into a deep and prolonged sleep after feeding.
• A woman's rough nipples, as well as their irregular shape, also lead to the child's fatigue, since he has to spend considerable effort to attach himself to the mother's breast.

Each baby has its own individual characteristics, and how long a month-old baby should stay awake is up to him to decide. Some people need more time, others less. As a rule, a child’s body is designed in such a way that it knows exactly how long to stay awake and how long to spend sleeping. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night.

At the same time, parents should remember that a child sleeping too long is a sure sign that he is not getting enough nutrition. For this reason, the baby not only becomes even more sleepy, but also gradually loses his strength.

Fully developing and healthy babies during the breastfeeding period are usually immersed in the kingdom of Morpheus for 16-20 hours, waking up every 90-120 minutes to quench their appetite. And, mainly, this is due to the fact that the stomach is still too small, and it does not take much time to digest milk.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that it was mentioned that the birth of a child is not only a joy, but also a responsibility for parents. And in order for a child to develop fully, it is important to establish his routine.

Normal physiological state from the first days of life to one year

Healthy rest is important for a newborn. A sleeping baby produces the required amount of growth hormone, which is responsible for the proper development of internal organs, tissues, and the maturation of the brain. In the medical literature, there is a predominant table representing the norms for the amount of sleep children get from the first days of life to one year:

• from the moment of birth until the age of two or three months, the baby sleeps 16-20 hours a day. Children born in winter sleep longer. During the day, the baby falls asleep three times and rests for 120 minutes, the fourth fall asleep turns into night sleep and lasts 9-11 hours;
• from four to six months, the number of daytime falls asleep decreases, and the period of acquaintance with the outside world increases. Now, the baby sleeps no more than three times a day for 90-120 minutes. Rest takes 12-16 hours a day, boys can sleep 17 hours;
• From six to nine months, the baby can still sleep 12-16 hours a day. The child is laid down two or three times for 90 minutes. In the morning, the baby may begin to wake up 60 minutes earlier;
• From nine months to a year, the baby sleeps on average 12 hours a day. The main part of the time is given to night rest.

How long should a baby stay awake at 1 month? Or is there a threat from prolonged sleep...

Looking at a sleeping child, you don’t want to wake him up, even if there is a need for it. However, this must be done for his own good. This is mainly due to nutrition - he should be fed every 3 or 4 hours to avoid dehydration. At night, this period increases to 5-6 hours. You should wake up your baby even regardless of his whims; after feeding, he usually calms down.

It is not for nothing that there is a popular wisdom - moderation is needed in everything. This also applies to children, however, they have their own norm. Sleeping too much for a child can have a negative impact on their health and development. And this is mainly due to the lack of nutrients supplied through breast milk.

As a result, increased drowsiness develops, which causes missed feedings. This, in turn, leads to a shift in the schedule, which is extremely undesirable. Along with the question of how long a month-old baby stays awake, this is no less important. Microelements necessary for the full development of the baby are supplied in limited quantities.

As a result, metabolism is disrupted, blood composition changes for the worse, and growth retardation occurs. It also has a detrimental effect on the mental development of the child.

Ultimately, all this leads to the appearance of unwanted symptoms:

• Sound sleep, during which the child lies in the same position for more than 3 hours.
• Unsatisfactory condition of the skin - if you pinch it, the return to its original shape does not occur immediately.
• Quiet and weak crying.
• Urination is rare - less than 2 times within 24 hours.
• Sunken fontanel.
• Dry mouth.
• Fever.

How awake should a baby be at 1 month? In other words, a child’s prolonged sleep (more than the prescribed period) indicates that not everything is all right with him. There may even be a threat to his health. For this reason, if these symptoms appear, you should seek medical help as soon as possible.

How long can a baby stay awake?

Authors : Domres Natalia

"Waking time." Have you ever heard of this term that refers to babies? Personally, I had not heard of this when my baby was born. And in vain... I found out about this when he was 1.5 months old, and before that it was a mystery to me - when should a baby go to bed. It turns out that the biorhythms of babies are different from ours. We usually wake up in the morning, stay awake all day, and go to bed in the evening. And only some adults sleep during the day. It's different for kids. They sleep both day and night. This is due to the fact that their nervous system is not yet capable of being in an “active” state for so long and processing so much new information. Scientists, by observing tens of thousands of kids, have determined how much they can be active so as not to become overtired. After all, overwork has the opposite effect on a baby than on us. When we get very tired, we immediately fall off our feet and instantly fall asleep. But kids from overwork begin to get nervous, even cry, and cannot sleep, although they already want to. Therefore, in order for your baby to feel good, you need to know what time of wakefulness is recommended for his age.

What is waking time? In fact, this is the time from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep. This includes feeding, playing (or “pure” wakefulness), changing clothes, bathing, preparing for bed (ritual) and falling asleep. That is, when creating a daily routine, you need to take into account the time during which the baby falls asleep, as well as preparation for bed. If the waking time for your age is, for example, 2 hours, and getting ready for bed is about 15 minutes and falling asleep the same amount, then you need to “turn off” the games after 1.5 hours from the moment you wake up. Of course, you don’t need to sit by the clock and wait for 1.5 hours to tick by, you need to watch your child. They usually begin to show signs of fatigue closer to the moment they fall asleep, but they need to know when this happens. Because it often happens that, not knowing the time of wakefulness, mothers begin to put their babies to bed already late, when they are overtired, which makes the babies have difficulty falling asleep and sleeping worse. And mothers mistakenly think it’s the other way around.

Wakefulness norms for babies:

* Some may do more

What if the baby is awake less/more?

In any case, the main guideline is the baby’s well-being. If he is cheerful and cheerful, does not become capricious without reason, sleeps well day and night, then there is no reason to worry.

If your baby is less awake, then you may just have a baby who likes to sleep. These babies often sleep a lot during the first months of life. You need to be careful with these babies so that they get enough food, if necessary, wake them up during the day (not at night) for feedings, if necessary, stimulate them during feeding, and monitor weight gain. In most cases, as the baby grows up, he becomes more interested in the world around him and stays awake longer. If an older baby cannot “stay” the amount of wakefulness recommended for his age, then you should think that he is used to going to bed at a certain time or is not getting enough sleep during the night. Separately, hyperfatigue should be excluded.

If the baby stays awake longer, but feels normal and sleeps well throughout the day and night, then he may be one of the children who sleep little, which is also sometimes found. But if he goes to bed crying, sleeps short naps throughout the day, and doesn’t sleep well at night, then this means he’s overdoing it. With prolonged wakefulness, there is a risk of “driving” the baby into hyperfatigue.

Of course, all children are different. But the amazing thing is that during the first 6-8 months, their waking hours are almost the same. Sometimes with an accuracy of 10-15 minutes. Later, of course, the “sweep” is greater, and therefore the kids may differ more, but still the majority stay awake that long. Therefore, save this table for yourself, and let it help you organize your baby’s day correctly!

Natalia Domres, children's sleep consultant and author of the Baby's Sleep project

Source

published 19/05/2015 14:25 updated 03/05/2016 — Sleep

Something else important...

In cases where the child is rarely attached to the mother's breast, the woman's risk of developing mastopathy increases. As a result, the milk production mechanism undergoes changes, and sometimes not for the better. The possibility of breastfeeding decreases sharply or stops altogether.

In this case, you have to use artificial substitutes, but in this situation, this can only worsen the situation of your child. The fact is that supplementary feeding should be introduced only in the absence of any violations on the part of the body.

In this regard, when a 1-month-old baby is awake and misses the next feeding time, the mother needs to monitor the condition of the mammary glands and periodically express milk so that it does not disappear.

However, if a child spends a lot of time sleeping, this does not indicate any pathology. However, this is another reason for parents to be even more attentive to their baby. Experts do not recommend trying to find the cause on your own. It is best to call a pediatrician and, if necessary, conduct an examination.

Awakening Rules

We now understand the need to wake up a child, but the main thing is to do it correctly. This should be done during the period when he is dozing to prevent him from being frightened. This is no less important, as is knowing how long a child is awake at 1 month of life.

Recognizing the right moment is not difficult:

• The eyelids are slightly raised and tremble slightly. Eyeballs move.
• The limbs also twitch.
• As soon as you gently touch the baby’s face, his sucking reflex is activated.
• Facial expressions appear on the face.

Just before waking up the child, you should turn off the main lighting or curtain the windows to create twilight in the room. Bright light has a negative effect on the retina of the eyes. The baby also needs to be unswaddled, because the stuffiness may cause him to refuse to eat.

Mandatory mode

How calmly and for how long the baby will sleep mainly depends on how correctly he is accustomed to the sleep schedule. In order to instill a normal sleep pattern in your newborn, you should follow several rules:

1. You should not miss the time when your child should sleep. The baby's wakefulness should not last longer than 2 hours, otherwise he will become overtired and sleep restlessly. Notice the signs that indicate that the baby no longer feels the desire to sleep; gradually the children’s routine changes.
2. Teach your baby to understand the difference between night and day. Keep your child away from noise and light while awake during the day. At night, on the contrary, the light should be dimmed and silence should be maintained.
3. It is necessary to teach the child to fall asleep on his own, without the constant presence of his mother or, especially, without motion sickness. Try, after feeding, put him in the crib and move away, let the baby fall asleep on his own.
4. Going into sleep must be preceded by a certain ritual. You need to teach your baby to fall asleep after bathing. The child will work up an appetite, eat enough and should sleep soundly. Such a ritual will make it easier for the regime to be established. Pre-ventilate the room where the newborn will sleep. To prevent him from waking up from a start in his sleep, swaddling is recommended, which will also create the feeling of being in the womb.
5. Situations of improper care should be excluded. The baby may be bothered by intestinal colic, so it is necessary to regularly lay it on the tummy or massage the abdomen. This will relieve the intestines of excess gases and it will be easier for the baby to fall asleep. If diaper rash occurs, you may not need to wear a diaper at night.

Forming a sleep routine can sometimes be difficult and requires a lot of effort, but it will have a beneficial effect on the baby’s development.

Compliance with these simple rules does not guarantee that a certain regime will be formed, because it happens that a child experiences weight loss, he is capricious a lot, has difficulty falling asleep, sleeps little and often wakes up at night, no matter how much his mother tries to care for him. If you observe such symptoms, consult your doctor. After an examination, a qualified specialist will give a specific answer as to what the reason is, how and how much the child should sleep in your case.

How to lull a baby

Most mothers think that it is enough to hold the baby in your arms and he will fall asleep. As a last resort, pump it up a little more. However, this is their mistake. The average weight of a newborn is about 3500 grams, but as he grows up, he will become even heavier. Parents will have to pump it all the time due to the developed habit, while simultaneously thinking about how long a month-old baby should stay awake.

On top of everything else, you shouldn’t walk around the apartment almost on tiptoe, for fear of waking up the child. In any case, the child should get used to the sounds around him. Some experts recommend leaving the TV, radio or music equipment on, simply lowering the volume to a minimum. This will make it easier for your baby to get used to the sound environment and fall asleep soundly.

Favorable position

The recommended and safe sleeping position for babies is side-lying. At the same time, parents should ensure that their child changes positions over the course of 3 hours, and does not remain in one position. The right side must be alternated with the left so that the skeleton develops evenly.

Sleeping on your back is highly discouraged, as regurgitation may cause the baby to choke. Also, you should not place the baby on his stomach, as it will be more difficult for him to breathe. This is another important point in the question of how long a child is awake at 1 month, which should always be kept in mind.

To prevent your baby from taking dangerous positions while sleeping, you should place cushions on both sides of him.

Schedule

Actually, now it’s time to move on to creating a daily routine. This is also vital for one-month-old babies. What can a child do in the first month of life? That's right - eat, sleep, establish contacts with parents, spend your free time usefully. Yes, actually, a lot more.

Thanks to the established routine, the child will eventually know what awaits him and will learn to prepare for it in advance. In addition, the baby will develop an optimal biological rhythm, which will allow him to distinguish day from night over time.

As psychologists' observations show, those children who developed according to the rules of the day and night routine grew up disciplined, collected and self-confident.

As an example

An approximate daily routine that will help determine how much time a baby is awake at 1 month may look like this:

• From 6:00 to 7:00 – the first morning feeding is carried out. In some cases, after this and changing diapers, the child may fall asleep again. Mom can also join him.
• From 8:00 to 9:00 – the second feeding of the morning and the first trip to the toilet.
• From 10:00 to 11:00 – morning sleep mode. You can leave your baby in the crib and do housework, or go for a walk with him, placing him in the stroller. Sleeping in the fresh air will be especially beneficial.
• 12:00 – feeding is carried out for the third time.
• From 12:30 to 14:00 – another immersion in the kingdom of Morpheus. The best way to do this is to take a walk outside.
• 15:00 – fourth meal.
• From 15:30 to 16:00 - afternoon rest, which will be useful not only for the baby, but also for his mother. And she better use this opportunity.
• 18:00 – feeding is carried out for the fifth time, wakefulness, communication, massage are indicated.
• From 19:00 to 20:00 – another sleep mode.
• 21:00 – evening bathing procedure.
• From 22:00 to 23:00 - already the sixth meal and sleep. During the night mode, the child may wake up several more times to eat.

Now you can have an idea of ​​how long a baby is awake at 1 month. Of course, this schedule is very arbitrary due, again, to the individual characteristics of the child’s body. However, it will bring invaluable benefits in organizing your day and will give you the opportunity to devote more time to your beloved son or daughter.

Second month

By the age of 2 months, a baby's sleep time changes. As he gets older, he will spend more time awake, and gradually the time he spends sleeping will decrease. The child will spend more time playing and communicating with parents. At this age, the baby shows interest in his surroundings; he will pay special attention to faces, objects in his crib, his toys, wallpaper, etc. With good physical activity and a lot of information, the newborn will quickly get tired and fall asleep.

The total sleep duration of a two-month-old baby is 16-18 hours, respectively, the waking time is 6-8 hours.

At two months, the child begins to sleep 5-6 hours at night without waking up. How long a child will sleep at night is determined by the fact that he is in a calm emotional environment and accustomed to the regime. The total time of daytime sleep is 5-7 hours, it is divided into 2 deep sleeps of 2-2.5 hours each, and 2 superficial sleeps lasting from 30 to 1 hour.

During this period, night feeding does not include waking hours. Woke up, ate, after eating, went to bed. There are babies who disobediently do not want to sleep, while the parents do not sleep as much as the baby. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to teach the baby to fall asleep right now, without being awake after feeding at night.

Features of feeding

This is another important moment in the development of a child. Many pediatricians are inclined to believe that it is necessary to adjust the feeding of the child according to his demand. Young mothers may hear the following phrase: “The baby should be at the mother’s breast 24 hours a day.” But you shouldn't take it literally. The baby should sleep in his own bed, but he must be fed at a time convenient for him. This is especially important for first-time mothers to remember, as they must establish breastfeeding.

One fact worth noting is that several decades ago, most women fed their children strictly according to a given schedule. And it didn’t matter whether the children were crying, being capricious, or throwing a tantrum, in any case they had to wait in the wings. Perhaps the question of how long a child is awake at 1.5 months was not of interest to them at all. Even today, some mothers still do not give up this practice.

At the same time, feeding on demand of the child is valued because the mother’s body begins to adapt to its needs. As a result, exactly as much milk is produced as needed. This adjustment occurs during the first months of a baby's life.

Should I be concerned if my newborn sleeps a lot?

Sleeping too long for a month-old baby frightens caring parents.
We need to find out why the baby began to rest longer than usual. The newborn is likely very tired and needs more time to recover. But prolonged sleep can also be due to pathological reasons. Parents should be aware of the following:

• deep sleep for more than three hours in one position;
• painful condition of the epidermis (blueness, redness);
• sleep is accompanied by whimpering, quiet crying;
• dry diapers for 6 hours;
• heat;
• retraction of the fontanel.

All this indicates the presence of the disease.

If a newborn sleeps longer than normal, is lethargic and weak when awake, and has signs of pathology, then you should contact a pediatrician.

Certain subtleties of feeding

Usually the baby is fed every 1.5-2 hours, which is difficult for him to get used to. Parents have to make some effort.

20 minutes is not always enough for a child to satisfy his appetite. The intensity of suckling at the mother's breast may vary. The risk of malnutrition cannot be ruled out. And this, in turn, can lead to weight loss.

In addition, such a regime, when the child is away from his mother, deals him a psychological blow.

Let's spend time usefully

And yet, how long does a baby stay awake at 1 month? These minutes should be increased gradually, slowly, depending on age:

• up to 2 weeks – from 15 to 40 minutes;
• 2-4 weeks – from 50 minutes to an hour;
• one month old baby – from an hour to 75 minutes;
• two-month-old child – from 75 minutes to one and a half hours.

What can you do to fill these waking minutes? Actually, whatever the heart of the mother and her child desires - feeding on a schedule, bathing, massage, gymnastics, putting the baby on her tummy, walks. It has been noticed by many mothers that babies have a special interest in hanging objects.

Some babies are put to sleep by gymnastics, which is why it is useful to do it just in the evening before going to bed at night. However, if such exercises, on the contrary, have an invigorating effect on the child, then they should be carried out during the daytime. And it’s best in the first half of the day.

Walking in the fresh air is beneficial because babies receive a dose of vitamin D. However, walks must be done regularly (that is, every day, and at the same time). Mornings and afternoon snacks are best for this. Now the question of how long a one-month-old baby stays awake becomes clearer.

But if the weather outside is unfavorable, you should wait it out at home. You can open a window to let fresh air into the room, which will benefit all occupants. This way the child will be able to fall asleep faster and more soundly.

It's better with mom next to you

The duration and frequency of sleep (not only in the first month of life) is determined by several factors:

• well-being;
• emotional state;
• waking time during the day.

The well-being of a newborn depends on proper care and attention; the baby constantly requires his mother’s presence. The duration of sleep can be ensured by constantly being nearby. By waiting out this period, you will ensure that the child feels safe and will be calmer. At the age of 1 month, a newborn does not yet know how to fall into deep sleep. During the light phase of sleep, the baby sensitively senses the presence or absence of the mother nearby, since the predominance of shallow sleep is significant. Therefore, if the mother is absent, the child feels restless and his sleep will be short.

At night, the newborn will demand the mother's breast to satisfy his hunger, and not out of harm. Doctors recommend feeding the baby on demand, without establishing a specific feeding regimen, because this is beneficial for both mother and baby. During feeding, the hormonal levels of a woman who is breastfeeding are formed. The production of prolactin has a calming effect on the child and the mother. Thanks to this process, sound sleep occurs for both.