A 9 month old baby's daily routine, how much does a 9 month old baby sleep?

As the baby grows up, it is accompanied by a gradual reduction in sleep duration. To find out how much sleep a child should sleep at 9 months, let’s turn to special tables showing the physiological norms of babies of different ages. Like everything that concerns young children, these norms are relative. Strict adherence to them is impossible, and not necessary. The main thing is to think through the day and night rest of the baby so that the number of hours is close to the norm.

Age characteristics at 9 months

The little one is becoming more independent. He crawls well, stands at a support without the help of adults and, holding onto the wall, walks with an unsteady gait. Runs happily in a walker. Able to sit down and reach for an object that has attracted his attention.

Fine motor skills of the hands develop and the grip becomes stronger. Now the baby can take small things. To select them, you will have to try.

It's time for parents to concentrate on shaping their child's personality. He learns to get along with others, to respect himself and others. Now the baby can participate in games with other children.

Physically, the baby continues to gain strength. During this month, your height will increase by a couple of centimeters and your weight will increase by 0.5 kg. Normally, by the age of 9 months, a baby should weigh at least 9 kg.

Constant regime change

If your baby doesn't have any kind of sleep-wake schedule at all, he can become extremely moody and whiny. Constant regime change does not bode well either. The child gets used to the chaos, that he can go to bed at any time and get up regardless of the time. Such behavior greatly interferes with character development and contributes to the formation of an emotionally unstable personality.

In the future, parents, as a rule, come to their senses and realize that they made a mistake. However, teaching a three- to four-year-old child to follow a routine when he resists it is very difficult. That is why it is important to instill in your own child a desire for order as early as possible. This will make it easier for everyone. Still, the regime is a great thing. It makes it possible to develop a specific schedule and stick to it for a long period.

Baby's daily routine at 9 months

The standard daily routine for a 9-10 month old child includes feeding, rest, walks, hygiene and therapeutic procedures, and educational games. The schedule must reflect how many times a day a 9-month-old child should sleep. If by this time an hourly daily schedule has not been formed, then it’s time to create one. It is most convenient to use an approximate schedule compiled in the form of a table.

Following an established routine will make adaptation into society easier.

The daily routine of a 9-month-old child should correspond to individual characteristics. His need to eat or go to bed 20-30 minutes earlier than the set time must be taken into account.

The main task of parents is to create an approximate daily schedule so that the baby himself wants to rest in the allotted time. A baby's sound sleep at 9 months is the key to mental and physiological health.

Night sleep

A nine month old baby should sleep 10-11 hours a night. Waking up 1-2 times is the norm. Most people can already sleep for about 7 hours continuously. Some babies wake up their parents more than 1-2 times.

Nine-month-old babies are highly active. They play, explore the world, learn to walk, and have emotional contact with adults. The child cannot go to bed peacefully until the emotions subside. Nine months of age involves the introduction of a “ritual” of proper bedtime. 20 minutes before going to bed, stop active games so that your child has time to calm down and get ready to rest.

The period 21.00 - 22.00 is considered the most suitable time to put the child to bed. In this case, he will wake up at six or seven o’clock in the morning.

Violation of the regime. Sometimes a child falls asleep 5-6 times during the day, sleeps for 30 minutes and does not rest properly, which is why he becomes restless and capricious. This behavior is caused not only by general health and well-being, but also by external factors.
Room temperature. If the child is dressed warmly and the temperature in the room is above +24°, restless behavior is probably caused by the fact that he is hot. Or vice versa: the baby is freezing and needs to be covered. The best option is to sleep in a cool room, moderately dressed.
Deviation from the regime. If you have moved away from your usual sleep and wakefulness patterns, you will experience a disruption in your schedule. The baby will go to bed later that day and wake up later than usual. A chain reaction will begin, and it will be difficult to return to the usual schedule. Therefore, maintain a daily routine regardless of the circumstances.
Emotional overload. New people, children with whom your baby is not familiar are a strong emotional burden. Do not put it down immediately after guests leave. Wait 1 hour. Emotions will subside and the baby will be ready to rest. Older children can also exhaust a small person, but he has not yet grown up to such loads.

Parents should determine what possible factors are causing sleep disturbances and address them.

If the problem is temporary and does not last long, there is nothing to worry about. But if the child sleeps little and restlessly for a long time, consult a doctor.

How much sleep during the day

Daytime sleep is a guarantee of good mood and active behavior. During the day, a 9-month-old child should sleep as much as is required to restore expended energy.

How to organize proper rest for your child?

Sometimes children at 9 months sleep once during the day (2-3 hours or more), there is an opinion that this is the norm, but prolonged activity at this age can negatively affect the child’s health. If the baby does not fit into the schedules and norms, you should not look for any serious pathologies in the baby and immediately consult a doctor.

The first thing that experts advise is to create optimal conditions for good rest, which includes:

normal temperature and humidity in the room (18-20 degrees and 50-70%, respectively). It is necessary to ventilate the room immediately before going to bed, and if it is warm outside, you can leave the window open. In summer it is better to sleep outside or on the balcony;
evening swimming, gymnastics, light massage should become daily rituals. They perfectly normalize the sleep of any child;
The baby needs the right (cotton) clothes and a good diaper. The underwear should not squeeze or otherwise interfere; if the baby is used to throwing off the blanket in his sleep, it is better to dress the young fidget warmer than to adjust a slipping accessory all night;
It is important to properly organize your child’s day. Walking outside, playing outdoor games, stimulating physical activity - all this is relevant for any age. It’s great if before bedtime mom reads a fairy tale or sings a lullaby. But active and noisy games in the evening should be excluded;
It’s worth feeding the baby well at night - this will reduce the likelihood that he will get hungry before the morning;
It is important to maintain a certain daily routine. A baby accustomed to a routine follows it, which means he has fewer problems with sleep than a child who gets up, lies down, and goes for a walk at different times;
You should not teach a baby to sleep in the same bed with his parents, regardless of age - this has nothing to do with healthy rest;
If a child sleeps significantly longer than normal during the day, it is worth waking him up so that he can rest better at night. But this happens extremely rarely, and is suitable for those children who experience difficulties in the dark;
pillow, mattress, quality of children's linen - all this must meet the standards;
The baby's breathing should be free - you can clean the nose before bed using a saline solution. If there are problems with the tummy and gases, you should try to solve them with the help of a pediatrician.

The above tips also include recommendations given to parents by the famous children's doctor E.O. Komarovsky. If the measures do not bring a positive result, it is worth showing the baby to a neurologist; perhaps the reason lies in existing diseases.

Causes of sleep disturbances

Exhausted by insomnia, the baby's parents begin to worry. It seems to them that the baby has some abnormalities. However, often the reasons for sleep regression are simple:

Temperament. Energetic and impressionable children sleep little and wake up easily.
Excess energy. If the baby has not spent energy over the past day, then at night he will choose games instead of peaceful sleep.
Feeling hungry or thirsty. If the baby often wakes up in the middle of the night with a strong desire to eat, then it is necessary to increase the number of daily feedings or their volume. Eating at night is a bad habit that interferes with proper rest. It should be weaned off gradually. Frequent thirst at night is a sign of an unsuitable microclimate in the nursery, endocrine system disorders or poor nutrition.
Lack or excess of sleep. When a baby does not rest for the amount of time he needs, the production of stress hormones increases. This has a bad effect on sleep quality. And vice versa, having had enough sleep during the day, the baby will not want to rest at night.
Discomfort. Heat, cold, an uncomfortable bed and everything that causes inconvenience are the enemies of a calm, good rest.
Teething is a common cause of sleep problems.
Disease. The cause of insomnia can be any disease: allergies, colds, otitis media, neuralgia, digestive problems.
Emotions. New experiences can prevent a baby from falling asleep.

Possible problems

Experts include the most common causes of sleep disorders: lack of routine, poor microclimate in the room, noisy games in the afternoon, frequent guests and other irritating factors in the house, improper feeding of the baby, lack of walks and/or physical activity.

Main signs of sleep problems:

short naps during daylight hours. The baby can sleep 3 or more times a day, lasting up to half an hour;
frequent awakenings at night. They are accompanied by problems with falling asleep and further rest (sleep becomes light, superficial, and constantly interrupted).

In the first case we are talking about disturbances in sleep cycles, in the second - problems with its quality.

Experts say that prolonged wakefulness leads to excessive fatigue of the nervous system, and even if the baby feels normal and does not look tired, it is better to try with all your might to transfer him to two day rests.

How to normalize sleep

Children's needs for rest vary. Some people need quiet time 3-4 times a day, and the duration does not exceed half an hour. Other babies have difficulty falling asleep, wake up frequently, cry and are fussy.

The following recommendations will help you normalize your night's rest:

The best time to fall asleep is between 20:30 and 21:30. Timely bedtime affects the quality of sleep. It is important to watch for signs of drowsiness, when the child's movements slow down and he begins to rub his eyes. If you miss the moment when it’s time for your child to go to bed, he may become inflamed and it will be difficult to put him down.
Daytime sleep should stop before 17-18 hours. The baby should not “overstay” the set time.
The day should be physically active - walking, playing with toys and parents, being in a walker.
In the evening, the baby needs to be fed tightly.

To improve your night's rest, you first need to eliminate the cause that disrupted the quality and cyclicity of your sleep.

Second nap

It usually occurs two to three hours after the main lunch. During this period, the baby seems to sleep more soundly. The second nap begins at about sixteen o'clock in the afternoon and lasts until eighteen in the evening. As a rule, during this time a caring mother manages to prepare her child a meal, wash wet onesies, and even clean the apartment. The baby's second nap during the day comes at a time when some women themselves want to take a little nap.

In fact, this is the right of every mother, like every normal person. If a person feels such a need, especially a woman who gets tired doing household chores, there is nothing reprehensible in that. During the second nap, the child usually sleeps for at least two to three hours.

Healthy Sleep Basics

What to do if the ubiquitous baby doesn’t want to settle down? Pediatricians and psychologists agree that sleep, like any other skill, needs to be taught. And the best way is to strictly adhere to the daily routine:

Wakefulness should be strictly limited in time and content, in accordance with age standards. Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to become overtired.
One hour before bedtime, calm and quiet activities are recommended - this way the baby’s nervous system calms down and prepares for rest.
You should perform a “sleep ritual” 30 minutes before going to bed. It may include a relaxing massage, bathing in a warm herbal decoction, changing into pajamas, feeding, reading books. The main thing is consistency: the same actions every day should follow each other in a clear order. This predictability relaxes and calms the child.
Feeding before bed is an important point, because a well-fed baby will sleep long and peacefully. Make sure that the bottle-fed baby eats everything in the bottle, and that the baby does not get distracted and doze under the mother’s breast.
A 9 month old baby should not be rocked to sleep. Dr. Komarovsky notes that this forms the wrong association for falling asleep - each time the child will again and again demand the repetition of his favorite action.
You should always put your baby down at the same time.

Coolness, fresh indoor air and a cozy bed with a hard mattress will help improve your sleep. Doctors advise hyperactive children to take baths with sleepy infusions or place a small sachet of dried valerian at the head of the bed - the herbs will calm the nervous system and relieve muscle spasms. The only and important condition is that the child should not suffer from allergies.

These simple tips will help make your baby's sleep sound and healthy, and your life calmer and happier.

Note to parents

9 months is a kind of transition period from infancy to early childhood. The baby becomes more independent: he tries to move independently, speaks his first words, and learns to consciously manipulate objects. The next leap in its development often leads to a sleep crisis, during which the baby:

Does not want to go to bed, even if he is very tired, which manifests itself in whims, crying, hysterics, and sometimes aggression.
Trembling at night is an involuntary contraction of the muscles, relaxing and adjusting to sleep.
Having woken up and not finding his mother nearby, he begins to cry loudly - this is how the fear of isolation manifests itself, especially characteristic of children of this age.
Moans, sobs and twists in his sleep. The cause may be physical or emotional fatigue, as well as short-term awakening between cycles.
In a half-asleep state, he can sit down, stand up, or even crawl in his crib, at the subconscious level, training recently acquired new skills.
Wakes up feeling hungry. This means that while eating, the child was distracted, in a hurry, behaved restlessly, and did not eat enough. In breastfed children, the lack of calories is explained by the lactation crisis, which so often occurs in the mother during this period and is characterized by a decrease in the amount of milk produced.

There is no need to change the already established daily routine now - it is this that shapes the baby’s readiness to fall asleep. But difficulties are temporary; they will disappear without a trace in a few weeks.

What to pay attention to

Poor, restless sleep and night crying of a child always cause anxiety among parents. After all, such behavior of the baby may signal that some problems are occurring in the child’s body:

Nasal breathing is difficult due to dry crusts, runny nose, allergic reaction or congenital structural pathology.
Rickets develops, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin D.
Digestive problems arise: colic, regurgitation, bloating.
A rise in temperature is a symptom of teething, a cold, or an infection.
The ear, throat, stomach hurts, or sore gums ache.
I am concerned about skin rashes of various etiologies.
Neurological disorders appear.

If whims continue during the day, accompanied by characteristic symptoms, do not waste time, consult a doctor.

Other reasons that disrupt a baby’s restful sleep include:

violation of the daily routine;
emotional and physical overload of the child;
external irritants - uncomfortable bed or clothing, uncomfortable room temperature, stuffiness, too loud noise;
inability to fall asleep independently after a short awakening between two sleepy cycles.

By 9 months, children begin to become aware of the urge to urinate and easily wake up from discomfort. If the mother notices the relationship between the child’s anxiety and the filling of the diaper, then this moment can be used for potty training.

Thematic material:

Baby's sleep at 8 months
Baby's sleep schedule at 7 months

Why did my child stop sleeping well?

Situations often occur when the child slept well, sometimes even all night without getting up, but by the age of nine months he stopped. Why is this happening?

As a rule, this is due to his growing up. Every month, the baby opens up more and more opportunities related to the capabilities of his body, and he himself becomes active and inquisitive. If he wants, he can easily roll over from his back to his stomach and back, crawls well, sits and even stands up - now he can do a lot. Accelerated growth rates can cause a child to stop sleeping well.

The second reason for poor sleep can be overwork. Sometimes kids are so passionate about learning everything new that they don’t eat much during the day, they have no time for it. A 9-month-old baby has so many different objects available to him that he can reach and touch himself! At this age, the child also learns new dishes, because this is the period of introducing unusual foods into complementary feeding.

As a result, in the evening the baby may be so tired from his activities and impressions that he wakes up several times at night. It is more difficult for an overtired child to fall asleep, he falls asleep later and wakes up earlier, because there is a desire to eat and make up for daytime losses. Thus, at night he sleeps much less than he should sleep at his age, and the daily sleep duration is reduced.

Age norms

Research by modern scientists has proven that lack of sleep in a person for five days leads to the destruction of brain cells, disruption of heart function and irreversible changes in the body, leading to death. Adult volunteers participating in a multi-day experiment, after only 3 sleepless days, stopped reacting adequately to what was happening, hallucinated and fell into an unconscious state. What can we say about a nine-month-old child, with his immature psyche and unformed body? Sleep is a vital necessity for him. This is a way to relax, relax the nervous and muscular system, and also consolidate newly acquired skills and newly acquired skills in memory. The main thing is to correctly alternate active periods with rest, focusing on the age norms indicated in the table: