The baby wakes up. Why does a child cry when he wakes up? An infant does not sleep because he is hungry

Any mother worries when she hears her child cry; there are no babies who do not cry at night. Child's cry - the only way communication with the adult world. In the first months, it is difficult for a young mother to understand the reason for the baby’s restless behavior. How to figure out what hurts or bothers a child? A little time will pass and she will learn to recognize any shade of her child’s crying.

Why does a baby wake up and cry?

Often the child cries as soon as he wakes up. It happens that this becomes a habit and worries young parents very much. There is no need to worry too much; the main reason for a baby’s screaming and tears is simple hunger. The baby wakes up and expresses his desire to feed immediately, starting with the usual whimpering and progressing to a violent cry. The child smacks his lips and turns his head in the hope of finding his mother’s breast. Wet diapers or an overfilled diaper are the second most important cause of baby anxiety. An infant needs the constant presence of his mother; even in his sleep he can feel his loneliness. The baby wakes up and cries because he is calling for his mother. The baby starts screaming a short time and falls silent to repeat his call again. A sharp cry with tears, clenching of tiny hands into fists, indicates that the child is in pain. Bloating, intestinal colic, or baby tooth may cause the baby to cry.

The baby often wakes up at night and cries

The baby quietly went to sleep and half an hour later wakes up with a loud cry. The situation is not uncommon. No pediatrician can give an exact answer to the question: why does a baby often wake up at night and cry? He may suggest a cause based on the crying characteristics and the baby's age, but the primary responsibility lies with the mother to understand and address the origins of the baby's anxiety. Infants are sensitive to any changes in weather conditions, sudden changes atmospheric pressure. Your child may have a headache, vomiting, and an upset stomach. The most alarming thing is the cry of pain; when the child wakes up, he shudders and literally starts crying. Breast baby may cry from pain in the ear, the cry is piercing and sudden, it hurts to swallow. A common ailment that causes the baby to cry at night, intestinal colic and skin irritation caused by diaper rash.

Baby cries in his sleep and wakes up

Experienced parents know that babies sleep completely differently than adults. After waking up for a short period and having refreshed himself, the baby sleeps up to 20 hours a day. An adult's sleep is a passive process, while a baby's dreams are an active process. Doctors believe that if a baby cries in his sleep and wakes up, this is the norm, called physiological night crying. For infants, maintaining a sleep-wake schedule is important factor. During the first 3–5 weeks of life, the child’s biorhythms are regulated and his internal clock is adjusted. Sometimes failures occur, the baby sleeps well during the day and often wakes up at night. Until an individual sleep schedule is established, the baby will often cry in his sleep. If a child cries a lot every night without waking up, you need to think about other, hidden reasons.

Why does a baby cry in his sleep and wake up?

Fed and healthy babies do not cry without a good reason. What does a child want to say by crying? Look at him carefully and look into his eyes, they are wide open - the baby is scared or angry. The eyes are closed - he is experiencing pain or discomfort. The baby may cry in his sleep and wake up physiological reasons: your arm is numb or your back is sweating. If the air in the room is too dry, the nasal mucosa may dry out and make it difficult for the baby to breathe. If a baby is bothered by a dirty diaper, he will actively wiggle his legs. Often, caring mothers and fathers literally exhaust the baby with active wakefulness before bedtime, walk for a long time in the fresh air, in the hope that he will sleep long and soundly. The effect is the opposite: the child quickly falls asleep and quickly wakes up crying.

Baby falls asleep and wakes up crying

The small child, without causing any concern about his health, fell asleep. After a while he begins to sob and whimper in his sleep. Young parents are often worried, but it is very difficult to understand the reason. You need to observe and remember when the baby starts to worry and be there at that moment. Give the lost pacifier, rock it, and prevent the baby from completely waking up. The infant scans the space; it is very important for him to know that his mother is nearby; finding no confirmation, he begins to cry out loud. At the beginning of life, an avalanche of information falls on the baby; he “digests” the impressions of the first days in his sleep. Baby's sleep is an active process. Shuddering, throwing legs and arms to the sides are actions that he can use to wake himself up.

Newborns often sleep poorly at night, disturbing inexperienced mothers and fathers with such behavior. Parents begin to think that the baby is not feeling well, which is why he behaves this way. In fact, you shouldn’t worry too much, because infants often suffer from sleep disorders; you just need to correctly identify the causes of the disorders.

Every mother can ensure that the baby snores sweetly in the crib required quantity hours. This requires some effort. Sound sleep day and night is not only beneficial for a growing body, but also a lot of free time for parents who are exhausted by work and housework. Young mothers have the opportunity to devote an extra couple of hours to themselves. Let's figure out why the child tosses and turns and what to do if the baby's sleep has become restless.

Data. During the first months of life, babies do not understand what day and night are. They are awake for about 6-10 hours a day.

Causes of sleep disturbances during the daytime

Small children are not yet fully adapted to the daily routine. Babies wake up if they want to eat, drink, or because the temperature in the room is inappropriate. Affects quality nap and feeding time. The baby sleeps restlessly for several reasons:

Unfavorable microclimate of the room in which the baby is located. Dry air, too high a temperature in the room, and infrequent ventilation will ruin the rest of even an adult;
Unstable emotional background. This is due to the still fragile psyche of the baby, for example, babies cannot always fall asleep after active games in the fresh air;
Tight clothes or a blanket that is too warm. You should not wrap your child up in the summer months, with the exception of living in the Arctic Circle.

The following factors have a significant impact on sleep quality:

The appearance of the first teeth;
Abnormal stool, for example;
Individual characteristics of the body: among people, larks and owls are distinguished;
Meteor dependence;
Difficulty breathing due to;
Psychological barriers, for example, a newborn wants to always be close to his mother, not wanting to be separated even for sleep.

Data. A person spends approximately 20-30 years of his life sleeping. For proper rest you need 7-8 hours of sleep.

Causes of sleep disturbances at night

The real problem is keeping the baby awake in the dark. After all, then adults and babies cannot fully relax. Finding yourself in the kingdom of Morpheus interferes with eating in wrong time or nervous overexcitation. Infants also make their contribution, appearing from two weeks of age and making themselves felt up to 4 months.

Often, an infant sleeps soundly when the mother puts him to sleep next to her. The family doesn't have to spend the whole night on one sleeping place, the baby can be transferred to the crib after he falls asleep. The parent's bed should be in close proximity to the sleeping child. Not allowing you to get a good night's sleep:

Night urination. Diapers get wet, and friction against wet fabric leads to skin irritation;
Loud sounds. In city apartments there are many sources of noise: music lover neighbors, cars, and companies in the yard;
A newborn sleeps restlessly due to lack of attention, care and affection from the parents.

Data. The birth of a child leads to the fact that young parents lack about 500 hours of sleep in the first year of the baby’s life.

How long should a child sleep?

Sleep duration and quality affect health and general development small organism. You should know how much time your child should spend in bed at each stage of life:

Up to three months, children sleep for a very long time; they should spend about 15-18 hours a day sleeping;
Up to six months, babies need 14 hours a day;
Up to one year, the indicators are close to 11-12 hours;
During the daytime, newborns sleep approximately like an adult, about two hours.

Data. Scientists have proven that being overweight is associated with lack of sleep.

But you shouldn’t run to the doctor if the time your child spends sleeping differs slightly from these data. Average indicators are presented here, and each human body unique: for some, 5 hours is enough, and for others, 10 is not enough.

What actions need to be taken?

The baby will sleep peacefully if you follow the recommendations below.

Temperature and humidity

Support optimal temperature and humidity. About twenty degrees Celsius is considered ideal. Fresh air promotes deep sleep, so it is important to open windows as often as possible. For example, babies sleep well while walking. Parents should regularly spend time outside with their child.

Darkness

The room should be as dark as possible; it is in darkness that a person produces the sleep hormone - melatonin. For a good daytime sleep, it is necessary to curtain the windows with thick curtains so that natural light does not interfere with the process of falling asleep. Small children do not always like to be in pitch darkness; he will be more comfortable with a night light or light coming from the next room.

Hunger

Both children and their parents sleep better on a full stomach. Feeding should be mandatory before exercise and before going to bed. Sleeping on an empty stomach becomes superficial. Newborn on breastfeeding, falls asleep well after drinking mother's milk. For artificial babies, a bottle with a nipple is suitable. The feeding process calms you down and sets you up for a long rest.

Lullaby

Some babies benefit from listening to pleasant music or a lullaby. A mother's voice soothes any newborn.

Motion sickness

Promotes falling asleep quickly motion sickness But babies are very strong, they will have to pump for a long time, otherwise sleep will not come. Children often sleep in a stroller that is in motion, waking up when it stops moving.

Closeness with mom

Young children have a hard time adapting to new living conditions. Just yesterday they were in the womb, and today they are already forced to be in this unfamiliar and big world. It is psychologically more comfortable to be with the closest person – your mother. Therefore, newborns calm down when they are near their mother, feeling her warmth and smell.

Co-sleeping

Some parents are skeptical about sleeping in the same bed. Then your sleeping places should be next to each other. Babies often wake up in the middle of the night and the mother's absence can be severe stress For small child. The proximity of the crib allows you to immediately respond to the sounds made by the baby.

Small crib

In a children's furniture store, pay attention not to cribs, but to small cradles. A miniature space gives a feeling of comfort and security.

Dry diaper

The baby will toss and turn and behave restlessly if he has wet his underwear. Pampers are not recommended by many pediatricians, but they are convenient at night. If you don’t want to put them on your baby, then be prepared for getting up at night and changing wet diapers to dry ones.

Thirst

The baby does not sleep well and wakes up with a strong desire to drink. Thirst and anxiety can be caused by too dry air in the room, this is important in the cold season when the heating is on. To humidify the room, you can purchase a special device or simply hang a wet sheet on the radiator. There should be a bottle of liquid next to the crib.

Colic

Up to 4 months, restless sleep in a baby can be caused. In this case, shown massotherapy, special gymnastics, lying on the stomach before feeding, bathing in warm water, reception. Parents of formula-fed children should be careful about their nutritional choices. An incorrectly selected mixture can cause severe harm body.

Ritual

Develop a unique bedtime ritual, for example, listening to music, taking a bath with a decoction medicinal herbs or reading fairy tales in the evening. Also, the newborn must have strict regime day. Some factors lead to overstimulation of the psyche, for example, watching television, outdoor games, a large number of strangers around. You should avoid this and then the child will fall asleep easily and sleep soundly for a long time. A calm atmosphere is a hall for good relaxation.

Falling asleep on your own is best prevention frequent night awakenings. Just don’t listen to the baby’s cries half the night and not take any action. This issue should be approached consistently and carefully.

Fatigue

Before going to bed at night, the child should be awake for at least 4 hours, then he will sleep soundly throughout the night.

This is the dream of any of us who has experienced insomnia or a sleep disorder at least once in our lives.

However, many parents are unlikely to agree that their child’s sleep is ideal; on the contrary, they will consider it unimportant.

According to scientific data, in every sixth family an infant or young child has sleep disturbances.

Why does the baby sleep poorly, what should I do? In this article: about the causes of sleep disorders, recommendations on how to improve a child’s sleep from famous pediatricians, somnologists and parents of large families.

Baby's sleep

You've probably wondered why a newborn baby sleeps so much. Waking up for a short time to eat, he can sleep up to 20 hours a day. At the same time, his sleep is not passive, like with us adults, but rather an active process: the baby can shudder strongly in his sleep, throw up his legs and arms.

With such movements he often wakes himself up and scares himself, which serves as one of the...

A newborn needs active (paradoxical) sleep for accelerated development brain, programming of hereditary and acquired instincts responsible for the uniqueness of the future personality. It is for brain development that such long sleep is needed.

As the brain develops (by the age of two it reaches 90 percent of an adult), the proportion of paradoxical sleep decreases, and the child’s sleep becomes more restful. Read more about the duration and structure of your child's sleep.

By 1.5 months, brain structures are formed, and the baby begins to distinguish between day and night based on the level of illumination. Parents should emphasize the differences with their behavior: dark, quiet, calm at night; everything is the other way around - during the day.

By the age of three months, a child who wakes up at night is able to stay awake alone and not wake up his mother. Therefore, from the first weeks we must try to develop in him the skill of self-soothing, as well as create friendly and comfortable conditions so that the baby feels safe.

Physiological causes of sleep disorders in children under 3 years of age

Whimpering, sniffling, or crying Doctors consider babies in their sleep to be the norm; they call these sounds “physiological night crying.”

Physiological crying performs a number of functions:

In the first months, the child receives a huge amount of information that... His dreams reflect the impressions and emotions of the past day, which are expressed by sobbing, smacking, and whimpering.

“Scanning” function of crying: it is important for the baby to know that he is safe, that his mother has not left him, that she is nearby. Whimpering, he subconsciously checks to see if this is true. If there is no confirmation, he wakes up and cries for real.

Do not immediately and actively respond to any nightly self-expression of the child. Excessive care deprives the baby of the opportunity to learn to self-soothe. He needs to get used to it. IN normal conditions 60% of one-year-old children develop a stable skill of self-soothing.

Night awakenings are a natural part of sleep , they occur several times during the night various reasons(, startling in sleep) and do not always require the active participation of adults. One-year-old children wake up once or twice during the night and immediately fall asleep if they have developed the skill of self-soothing. If parents are overprotective of the baby, these natural awakenings can develop into sleep disturbances.

Watch your child and remember how many times and at what time he wakes up at night. Very young children usually wake up after falling asleep within 30 minutes. Try to be nearby at this moment so that with the help of soothing and quiet actions (rocking, light stroking, giving a lost pacifier, hissing sounds “shhh”) to help the baby not wake up completely.

It’s good to have a catchphrase for sleep and teach your child to use it from the first weeks, without using it in other situations. Then, when you wake up at night, it will be easier for you to lull your son or daughter to sleep. For example: “Sleep, my little little bunny, mommy is nearby, sleep calmly...” or “Speeee. Mom is raaaaad. Speeee, my good one. Everything is fine...”

Watch your child and at the first sign of awakening, start actively hissing. “shhhh...” and say this phrase. Elizabeth Pantley, author of How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Without Crying and mother of four, says using this method can help your baby sleep through the night without waking up.

If the child wakes up and cries, try not to wake him up completely : do not change the diaper unless absolutely necessary and, especially, do not turn on the light. Soothe your baby in the usual way: with a pacifier, bottle, breast, pick him up, sing a lullaby or turn on calm music that he likes to fall asleep to. Wherein .

Older children (closer to one year old) are helped to fall asleep independently by developed sleep associations:

the presence of a favorite toy in the crib, hugging which the baby will calm down.
If your baby is used to falling asleep with a pacifier, put several of them in the crib so that if he loses one, he can easily find another.

JERKING (jumping) of the baby in his sleep- this is a natural phenomenon associated with changes in nervous excitability when falling asleep and during sleep during the transition from one of its stages. The child, shuddering and throwing his arms and legs, wakes himself up and scares him.

In very young children, throwing up is especially pronounced because nervous system does not yet have formed inhibitory mechanisms; with the development of the child, the severity of twitches decreases.

Typically, throwing up of arms and legs occurs when moving from easy sleep into a deeper one, after falling asleep, approximately 20-40 minutes.

. To prevent the child from waking up from startling, pediatricians recommend swaddling up to 6-9 months of age; it helps keep the arms and legs from throwing up. Exist various methods swaddling: “loose”, “with handles”, “only handles”, Australian and so on.

With any method, according to orthopedists, the legs should NOT be tightly closed, this will help avoid dysplasia hip joints. It is worth noting that tight swaddling, in which the baby's legs are straightened and pressed tightly against each other, is considered a harmful relic of the past.

For restless babies, swaddling with arms is more suitable, which gives them the opportunity to get better sleep.

After your child falls asleep, stay close to him , hold his hands with your hands firmly, but at the same time gently. After about 20 minutes you will be able to feel the jumping up. Hiss at this moment “shhh”, help the baby switch between sleep cycles without waking up.

It may not work out the first time, but a little time will pass and your child will learn to independently move from light sleep to deep sleep. His sleep will become stable and will delight you with its duration.

Behavioral sleep disorders in children

They appear if, during the period associated with sleep, the behavior of parents and the child is improperly organized. These include:

Incorrect associations of falling asleep.
Disturbances in sleep patterns.
Violations eating behavior.

INCORRECT ASSOCIATIONS for falling asleep(conditions under which the baby feels comfortable, calms down and falls asleep).

Eg.

The child wakes up frequently during the night , cries, and calms down only after being picked up or rocked.

The child does not know how to fall asleep on his own, alone . Required condition- the presence of an adult during falling asleep, which can last for several hours.

From the first weeks of life, try to provide your baby with such sleeping conditions that will subsequently enable not only him, but also you, to rest and get enough sleep. If your baby gets used to falling asleep in your arms, in your bed, while rocking or breastfeeding, then in the future he will “defend” his rights to such sleeping conditions, because he is not accustomed to others.

It should be noted that if parents come and calm their child during night awakenings, then his sleep does not suffer qualitatively or quantitatively. In this case, parents suffer, for whom one can only sympathize: their nights turn into a nightmare that can last until the child is 3 years old.

Forming the “correct” associations for falling asleep:

Sleepy ritual. Compliance before bed permanent order actions: bathing, feeding, at night (a book for older children), leaving the child alone. Nowadays, parents have radio and video baby monitors at their disposal, allowing them to monitor their child in real time, without once again entering his field of vision. Thus, the baby gets used to being alone and develops self-soothing skills.

Toy or “object intermediary” - this is the thing that is always with the child in bed. It helps the baby, when waking up alone at night, to calm down and feel connected to his parents, and therefore safe.

For the little ones, you can use a regular diaper, sheet or blanket that retains the mother’s smell (put this thing between you and the baby while feeding). Older children can choose a small soft toy themselves (without buttons, ropes, sharp or prickly parts).

Teach your baby to fall asleep with minimal parental involvement and in his own crib. You should not run to him at night for any reason, but in all your behavior emphasize the differences between night time and day time: reduce communication during approaches to the crib to a minimum.

If incorrect associations have managed to take hold , but you decide to improve your child’s sleep, be persistent and consistent. Studies have shown that changes in sleep conditions are more stressful for parents than for the child, who gets used to the new routine within a week or two. We will consider in detail how to teach a child to fall asleep independently in the following publications.

SLEEP SETTINGS are disturbed

This sleep disorder is typical for children after one year; they already know how to get out of bed and verbally express their dissatisfaction. Eg:

baby doesn't want to go to bed V certain time, comes up with various reasons just not to go to bed, and can throw a tantrum.

While in bed, refuses to accept the imposed routine and seeks to prolong communication with parents: requests begin to eat, drink, go to the toilet, read, sit next to each other.

Combination of incorrect associations and sleep settings: a child who is accustomed to falling asleep in his parents’ bed, waking up at night in his own bed, is dissatisfied and strives to restore the “status quo” - he goes to his parents’ bed.

To cope with such sleep disturbance, it is necessary to restructure the child’s attitude towards the “imposed” routine. This can be achieved using strict adherence to the sleep ritual.

A one-year-old child does not yet have an understanding of time, so the ritual before bed should contain guidelines that the baby understands, which will subconsciously prepare him for parting with mom and dad for the whole night.

Think over the schedule of actions that the ritual will include, and repeat it an hour and a half before bedtime religiously every day.

It is important that the child develops a reflex, a habit: if they bathe, feed, read a fairy tale (), the lights are dimmed, then it’s time to sleep. A little time will pass, and all these actions will cause drowsiness in the baby, because the reflex, as you know, is the best sleeping pill.

The power of ritual is consistency the same actions. Therefore, if there is not enough time for each full stage, then shorten their duration (instead of three books, read one), but do not disturb the order.

Plan your nap at one specific time too, to get you up and running internal clock in the child's body.

Important! If the baby yawns, then you should forget about bathing, feeding and books, quickly put him to bed! Otherwise, he, who is overtired and has had too much fun, will find it difficult to put him to sleep.

NIGHT FEEDING

refers to eating disorders when a child who wakes up cannot fall asleep without a portion of food or drink. In some cases, the amount of liquid (food) you drink per night can reach up to a liter!

This problem usually develops under the influence of laziness of parents who follow the path of least resistance: instead of creating conditions for the child to develop the right associations, teach him to fall asleep on his own and cope with loneliness, every time he wakes up at night or cries, they offer him a bottle of food or breast.

Such excessive care very quickly becomes an indispensable attribute and association for the child. good sleep. It is not surprising that such children of two or three years old can wake up at night and demand food.

Doctors have found that after the age of 6 months, the baby’s stomach is able to accommodate sufficient quantity food, which means he can do without night feeding.

If there are no problems with weight gain, then night feedings should also be abandoned for a number of reasons:

The child may develop tooth decay;
Meals in horizontal position creates a risk of milk getting into inner ear(through eustachian tube) from the nasopharynx, which is fraught with inflammation;
Feeding at night is disruptive hormonal processes in the body: the norm is rest digestive system at night time.

Allow at least 30 minutes between feeding before bedtime and bedtime.
Don't feed your baby in bed.
If your baby can sit, use a cup or sippy cup instead of a bottle.
Having accustomed your baby to evening meals in new conditions, begin to gradually reduce the nightly portions of food. Then the bottle can be “lost.”

In this article, dear friends, we examined the so-called primary causes bad baby sleep: natural, as well as those that arise due to wrong mode sleep due to the inexperience of the parents.

A child's sound sleep is the main guarantee of his health and normal development. But there are times when a baby wakes up every hour at night for no apparent reason.

Identifying the source of the problem is important action, because allows you to prevent illnesses and begin timely treatment.

Reasons why your baby wakes up frequently at night

In newborns and infants whose age has not yet reached one year, sleep is divided into several different phases, which during the night can change at intervals of every two hours or even an hour. In this case, the baby will not be disturbed by anything. Therefore, 2-3 minutes after a sudden awakening, he will be able to fall into a deep sleep again without whims and tears.

Another common reason that a baby often wakes up at night is a banal sleep disorder caused by a disrupted daily routine. If before going to bed, the baby is excessively active (plays outdoor games, cries, laughs, etc.), then the likelihood of his night awakenings, with a frequency of 1-2 hours, will be very high.

Loud conversations in the house or disturbing music have an equally detrimental effect on a baby’s sound sleep. Therefore, in order to avoid frequent awakenings of the newborn at night, parents should learn how to properly put him to sleep.

Important! For normalization good sleep for infants, parents are advised to introduce several important rituals into their daily schedule, such as bathing before bed, singing lullabies, and rocking the baby in their arms. In this case, it is desirable that the room be in twilight. The bright light will hurt the baby's eyes, preventing him from sleeping peacefully.

Physiological reasons for the baby waking up frequently

If a newborn baby often wakes up at night, then the reasons for this phenomenon may well be physiological in nature. Namely:

Unsuitable temperature in the children's room (the normal temperature at which the baby can sleep comfortably ranges from 18 to 23 degrees).
Soiled diaper.
Hunger or thirst.
Teeth cutting.
Increased body temperature.
Colic. Such sensations most often occur in a child if he has eaten heavily before bed.
Uncomfortable clothes.

All of the above reasons for a newborn baby waking up at night are quite easy to eliminate. But if this does not help, and the baby continues to disturb his parents in the middle of the night, then it is likely that he is influenced by a lack of attention, or the negative mood of others.

Common pathologies in infants that affect sleep disturbances

A more serious reason that an infant often wakes up at night may be a pathology associated with bladder, respiratory organs, or cardiovascular system. And the above deviations can be determined by the following signs:

Disorder Bladder(nocturnal enuresis). With nocturnal enuresis, the baby will often wake up during the night, every 1-2 hours, being capricious and crying. In this case, the first thing you should do is check his diaper. If it fills up every time, it is recommended to immediately show the child to a doctor before the current disease reaches the stage of exacerbation.
Temporary holding of breath during sleep (apnea). If in the middle of the night a child wakes up from suffocation or shortness of breath, which immediately becomes noticeable by his shortness of breath (the baby cannot cry, and his uniform breathing is replaced by short sips of air), then parents are advised to urgently consult a doctor for help. Otherwise, ignoring such a pathology may end up sudden stop hearts.
Increased intracranial pressure or mental disorder (epileptic shock). The most dangerous disease that sometimes occurs in children under 1 year of age. With epileptic shock, the child will move chaotically around the crib, throwing objects that fall under his arm, or hitting his head on the pillow. From time to time he may try to stand on his feet, but each such attempt will end in failure. If the above symptoms are repeated systematically in a child over a long period of time, then this is very alarm signal for parents, indicating serious deviations requiring urgent medical intervention.

If you suspect any of the above-mentioned pathologies in a child, it is strictly not recommended to start self-medication. First of all, the baby needs to be examined by a doctor to find out the real reason any deviations that appear, and only then begin effective course therapy. Otherwise incorrect treatment at this age it can be fatal.

Methods for diagnosing the causes of frequent night awakenings in a child

If the baby does not sleep well at night, waking up every hour or every two hours, then first of all you need to pay attention to his psychological condition. In the absence of crying and hysteria upon awakening, there is no point in premature anxiety. Many children under the age of three years, have very light sleep, and waking up in the middle of the night from any rustle is considered the norm for them.

When frequent awakenings If the child is accompanied by crying and hysterics, this means that something is bothering him. Check your baby's diaper first. If it is dry, then you can immediately discard the option of nocturnal enuresis. But when every night awakening ends with a diaper change, it is better for parents not to hesitate and show the baby to the doctor the next day.

The baby may also experience discomfort associated with uncomfortable clothing or improper temperature conditions in his room. If eliminating these inconveniences did not help, and the baby still does not want to sleep, throwing a tantrum, then most likely the problem is simple colic.

Important! At intestinal colic a child may wake up hysterical only once or twice a night. If this phenomenon happens systematically, with an interval of 1-2 hours, then pay attention to other possible sources of irritation, such as: teething, stuffy nose or elevated temperature. Usually such signs are determined without difficulty, by eye.

The situation is more serious when the baby wakes up from lack of air, since this is a direct apnea symptom. Therefore, even with a single manifestation of pathology, parents should urgently seek help. medical care. Otherwise, constant holding of breath will lead to death for the child.

Well last reason the infant waking up hourly in the middle of the night - increased intracranial pressure, indicating the occurrence of epileptic shock. Main symptom this deviation is not appropriate behavior child. And in the event of such a pathology, you need to act very quickly, even to the point of calling an ambulance in the middle of the night. Otherwise, epilepsy may develop into chronic stage, and then therapy will be practically powerless.

Methods for achieving sound sleep

In order for your child to fall asleep as quickly as possible and not be disturbed by anything during the night, you should determine optimal time his sleep. Typically this time falls between 9 and 10 pm.
An hour before bedtime, the baby needs to be calmed down from the emotions received during the day. A warm bath (with the addition of natural extracts) and a relaxing massage will help with this (when the child is in bed, a night lullaby will not be out of place).

Important! Under no circumstances should you turn on cartoons for your child before bed, and do not give him noisy toys (rattles, etc.). During the day, the baby gets tired of new emotions and impressions. And their excess often becomes the reason that the baby wakes up every hour at night, or cannot fall asleep at all.

If an infant sleeps peacefully at night, this is primarily the result of the caring attitude of his parents. Therefore, it is very important to surround your baby with attention and affection in early age. This is the only way you can overcome everything negative manifestations, ensuring your child’s full and healthy development.

For a newborn baby, long sleep is physiologically necessary. It promotes adaptation to postnatal life and the proper formation of the nervous system.

Currently infants began to sleep less. Up to 25% of babies sleep 16 hours a day. And this is becoming the norm. But there are situations that should concern you. It's about about sleep disturbance in an infant, when the baby sleeps little or has difficulty falling asleep, or, conversely, does not wake up for so long that he misses feeding times.

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Physiological norm of sleep during the newborn period

When born, at first Small child tends to sleep almost all the time, interspersing rest with short periods of wakefulness. A newborn does not distinguish between daytime and night sleep. If nothing bothers the baby, he will spend approximately equal periods of time sleeping (2-4 hours each), waking up only to feed.

The physiological norm for the first month of life is considered to be 18-22 hours of sleep. For babies three to four weeks old, it is acceptable to reduce sleep to 16 hours a day.

If you managed to accustom the baby to correct regimen, then by the end of the first month of life the baby spends more than long time at night, and spends much less time resting during the day. That is, he begins to form a division of sleep into daytime and nighttime.

Duration of night sleep

By the end of the first month of life, an infant should sleep 4-5 hours in a row, waking up only to feed. During it, the baby is half asleep, and after satiation he quickly falls asleep.

Newborns who are breastfed on demand, and especially those who sleep with their mother, quickly get used to long sleep at night.

A four-week-old baby should sleep at night for approximately 10–11 hours, divided into 3 periods of 3.5–4 hours with a break for feeding.

Daytime sleep duration

Rest during daylight hours continues to be necessary for slightly older babies. If the baby does not sleep well during the day, problems may arise with the correct psycho-emotional development of the baby.

Daytime sleep should total 8-9 hours and consist of four periods of 2-2.5 hours. More than long periods rest during the day while walking. The interval between them reaches an hour and a half. The baby begins to become interested in the world around him and self-knowledge, and this leads to the fact that the child sleeps little. By the age of one month, a newborn rests during the day for a total of 6-7 hours, and this amount gradually decreases.

Some babies prefer to sleep during the day at short intervals time, but often. This is also considered a type of norm if, in total, the child gets the required number of hours of rest, is not capricious all day, eats well and is moderately active.

To find out whether a newborn sleeps enough, you need to add up all the sleep segments during the day. It should be taken into account that the baby can suckle at the breast and doze at the same time. This should also be seen as a time of rest.

How much sleep a baby should sleep is clearly presented in the table:

These standards reflect how much sleep a newborn should sleep and are generally accepted and desirable to follow, but since each child is unique, do not worry if the baby sleeps little during the day . Modern children are sleeping less. It is considered normal if one month old baby has at least one daytime sleep interval of more than 1.5 hours, and the rest - about forty minutes, gaining 15-16 hours per day.

A sleep disorder is considered if:

a month-old baby sleeps less than 15 hours;
falls asleep with difficulty after a long period of motion sickness;
wakes up every 10-15 minutes;
sleeps all day without waking up to feed.

If a baby does not sleep all day, worries and cries, or, conversely, sleeps for a very long time, is lethargic, and skips feedings, this is good reasons consult a pediatrician.

How to normalize a newborn's sleep

The organism of a newly born little man characterized by the immaturity of all body systems, the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system experience enormous stress in the process of transition to another level of life. The entire neonatal period is spent training and getting used to new conditions of existence. And it is precisely because of these characteristics that newborns often experience sleep problems.

There are many reasons why a baby does not sleep during the day or at night. However, if the baby does not have serious problems with health, this situation can be corrected by eliminating the factors that caused sleep disturbance.

Causes of poor sleep

It is quite difficult to determine specifically why a newborn baby sleeps poorly, because he himself cannot say. In this case, you need to proceed by trial method, excluding all possible reasons and carefully monitoring the baby's reactions.

Baby is hungry

Very often, the reason that a newborn does not sleep well at night and often wakes up during the day is simple hunger. This happens because his stomach has a small volume, the baby quickly gets full, falls asleep, but soon feels the need for a new portion of milk and wakes up.

This situation most often occurs in breastfed babies, since mother's milk is absorbed much faster, and the volume of its production is difficult to control.

Determine what crying newborn hungry, quite simply: he will open his mouth, look for the chest, quickly turn his head in response to a touch on the cheek. Hungry crying begins with inviting cries, then turns into a loud angry cry, interrupted by the search for the mother's breast. It is enough to satiate the child so that he falls asleep.

The baby is experiencing discomfort

The reason why a newborn does not sleep well may be non-compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards.

The air temperature in the room where the baby sleeps should be maintained at 18-20 degrees Celsius; deviation of this indicator will cause overheating or hypothermia of the body. Air humidity should be 50-70%.

If your baby is hot, he will be restless, wake up frequently, and sweat profusely. Dry air and heat lead to dehydration, and the baby will need additional feeding. In this case, you need to regularly ventilate the room, use humidifiers and do not wrap the baby.

The baby has difficulty falling asleep if he is cold. At the same time, the newborn notices cooling of the skin of the hands, feet and tip of the nose, which means that he should be additionally dressed and well covered.

Another cause for concern is a wet diaper or dirty diaper. Due to skin irritation uric acid, the child sleeps poorly at night and gets little rest during the day. To eliminate this cause, you should change nappies and diapers on time, regularly wash the baby, carefully monitor the condition of the newborn’s skin and try to prevent diaper rash.

Another reason for a child’s restless sleep is that his diaper is uncomfortably bent, or there is pressure or pricking somewhere. The child will fidget, scream, and try to change position. You should carefully check whether the diaper is rubbing or whether the label on the clothes is pricking; you can re-swaddle the baby.

To a lesser extent, noise and bright light disturb a newborn's sound sleep. You should not strive for absolute silence and darkness. It is enough to dim the lighting a little and make sure that there are no sharp or loud sounds.

The baby has colic

Due to immaturity gastrointestinal tract newborn babies are often tormented by colic - an accumulation of gases in the intestines, which causes painful sensations and causes poor sleep.

It is quite easy to understand that a baby is crying for this very reason: the baby is worried, bends its legs towards its stomach, and the crying is loud and sudden. The stomach itself is tense, sometimes you can hear “grumbling”.

It is undesirable to give newborn children any medications, so you need to start with non-drug methods:

do a light abdominal massage, stroking your hand around the navel clockwise, without pressing on the stomach;
apply to stomach warm heating pad(not hot), folded diaper several times;
turn the baby on his stomach; it will be even more effective to place the newborn on his chest with his tummy - this will calm him down;
do a little gymnastics: carefully bend your legs, bent at the knees, to the elbow of the opposite hand; already several movements contribute to the release of gases;
bathe the baby in a warm bath with chamomile;
Be sure to carry the baby upright after feeding so that he burps;
Make sure that during feeding the baby grasps the breast correctly (along with the areola of the nipple); when feeding from a bottle, do not allow air to be swallowed.

If these methods do not help much, and the newborn does not sleep at night due to intestinal problems, you should contact your pediatrician for a prescription. medicine. You cannot administer medications to a child under 1 month of age on your own.

A good remedy for combating colic is Espumisan in the form of an emulsion to reduce gas formation or a drug with normal microflora(Linex, Hilak-Forte and others).

Physiological characteristics of a newborn

Before birth, a child is in complete darkness and cramped conditions, and entering a world without tangible boundaries subconsciously frightens him, causing him to worry.

In order for the baby to sleep soundly in the first weeks of life, it is advisable to create an environment that reminds him of intrauterine existence. This will create a feeling of security. That's why babies sleep so well in a stroller while moving - the tightness and rocking give the feeling of being in the womb.

A restless newborn who has trouble falling asleep should be placed in a cradle rather than in a crib, or swaddled.

Another reason why a baby doesn’t sleep well at night is an untrained nervous system. The processes of excitation in an infant are not compensated by adequate inhibition, this leads to restless sleep and difficulty falling asleep. Often newborns startle so much in their sleep, twitching their arms, that they get scared and wake up. It is better to put such children to bed with swaddled hands at first.

Many one- and two-week-old babies are bothered by physiological functions: before urinating, babies wake up, whine, fidget, and then calm down. This is a child’s natural reaction to strange sensations. It goes away within a month or a month and a half. In this situation, you can help the baby by gently holding him reclining above the floor or container, supporting him under the knees).

Dissatisfaction with the psycho-emotional needs of the infant

In addition to the desire to satisfy physiological needs, a newborn has a number of psycho-emotional needs, and if they are not taken into account, sleep disturbances are possible.

These needs include:

need for frequent physical contact with Mother;
satisfaction of the sucking reflex not associated with food intake;
desire to fall asleep, to be rocked.

Lack of attention to these needs and insufficient fulfillment of them will lead to the baby’s anxiety and restless behavior.

It is enough to often take the baby in your arms, stroke him, rock him and hum, and give breastfeeding on demand to normalize sleep.

Pathological conditions causing sleep disturbances

Any disease causes changes in the child’s behavior, increased tearfulness and anxiety. But newborns are characterized by a number of conditions that are not a disease as such. These are hypotonicity and hypertonicity, increased excitability, a tendency to frequently increase intracranial pressure, diathesis and diaper rash. If an infant does not sleep during the day, diseases and pathological conditions should be excluded.

These pathologies are corrected by the pediatrician by prescribing physiotherapeutic procedures and drug treatment. On the mother's part, all that is required is compliance with the doctor's recommendations, calm, adequate behavior and increased care for the baby. If a newborn does not sleep enough time, these pathologies only get worse.

Prevention

If the child is healthy, then it is enough to observe sanitary and hygienic standards in the room, feed and change the baby on time, and monitor his health. By the end of the newborn period, it is advisable to accustom the child to the correct daily routine, excluding feeding, which during breastfeeding remains on demand.

Two to three weeks after birth, you need to help your baby distinguish between daytime and night rest. It is more convenient to do this by organizing a daily routine that regulates the time and frequency of walking, swimming and going to bed at night.

For this purpose, strictly defined times are set for walking and swimming. It is advisable to include bathing in the evening ritual before a night's rest. For a newborn, the evening ritual marking bedtime includes:

evening period of quiet wakefulness;
bathing, possibly with relaxing herbs;
feeding;
swaddling, if it is more comfortable for the baby.

Strict adherence to this order develops the need to fall asleep at a certain time and signals the child about the beginning of a long period of night sleep.

Conclusion

There are many reasons why a newborn sleeps little or has difficulty falling asleep. If the sleep disturbance is one-time or short-term, and the baby eats with appetite and feels well, there is no need to worry. It may seem that the baby is not getting enough rest if he sleeps in short intervals, but often. It is enough to count all these periods, including moments of napping, and if they total more than 16 hours, and the child does not show anxiety, then everything is in order.