The baby cries in his sleep without waking up. A child cries in his sleep

Strong healthy sleep- This is a kind of cure for all diseases and stress. And every adult needs it, not to mention a baby. And it very often happens that new parents spend all night long near the baby’s crib. And the whole point is that the child screams and cries in his sleep. This is especially true at night. And sometimes mom and dad simply cannot find an explanation for this and wonder: why does their baby cry and scream in his sleep at night?

Newborn babies

Babies cry in their sleep when they feel the slightest discomfort: a wet diaper, cold or heat, tummy pain or hunger. So the crying of a baby cannot be ignored; you definitely need to approach the child.

Intestinal colic. Newborn babies often experience tummy pain. At the same time, they strain their legs, jerk them, and the babies pass gas. For such a case, you can purchase special drops or get by with dill water and tea with the addition of fennel. And be sure to stroke the baby’s tummy clockwise - mother’s affection always helps.
Lack of mother nearby. Usually newborn babies fall asleep either in their mother's arms or next to her. When a child stops feeling his mother's presence, he begins to cry in his sleep. In this situation, just take the baby into your arms until he falls asleep again. Or you can teach your baby to fall asleep on his own. To do this, be patient for 3 days (this is the period that allows you to retrain the baby). When your baby wakes up and starts crying, just be patient and let him fall asleep on his own. Although this method causes a lot of controversy.
Teeth. At 4-5 months, any mother encounters the problem of teething. So, promptly purchase pain relief gel from the pharmacy and smear your baby’s gums before bed. Both your doctor and your pharmacist will help you choose the right gel.
Hunger. Immediately after birth, babies should establish a feeding schedule. If you feed your baby according to his demand, then gradually he will get used to sleeping at night for about 5 hours and not waking up. But if you have made the decision to feed your baby on a “schedule,” then be prepared for nighttime crying and feeding demands.
Hot or cold room. Another reason why a child may cry in his sleep is a hot, stuffy or, conversely, cold room. Ventilate your baby’s room more often and maintain its temperature at 20-22 degrees

What calms a child?

Any loving and observant parent, with the desire and some simple knowledge, sooner or later comprehends the science of recognizing children's crying. For example, instinctive crying always stops as soon as dear person takes the baby in his arms. And if this does not happen, look for the reason in physiological needs or discomfort. In other words, check your baby's diaper, remember the last time you fed him, check if he's hot, etc.

By the way, if you took crying baby in your arms, and in your arms he began to yell more strongly than before, then most likely the reason for the “scandal” is that the child is hot.

Infants tolerate stuffiness and too warm a microclimate especially poorly, because at this tender age their sweating system has not yet been established, and the only way to restore the thermal exchange available to the baby is through his breathing. At the same time, the baby’s nasal mucosa very quickly dries out and becomes clogged, which causes severe discomfort. And when you take such a baby in your arms, your size makes him even warmer - that’s why he screams even louder. Just undress the baby, ventilate the nursery and clean the child's nose.

It often happens that an outwardly healthy, active, moderately cheerful and not whiny child begins to scream and cry when he is immersed in the bath during bathing. In this case, the most likely cause of dissatisfaction is the too bright light of the lamp (which, naturally, hurts the babies’ eyes, because they are usually always bathed facing the ceiling), or an uncomfortable water temperature during the dive. You can experiment with both so that the baby no longer makes trouble while bathing.

2 good reasons to let your baby scream a little

In fact, in infant crying one can see not only negative sides, but also positive and useful. And these advantages of a baby’s cry are worth sometimes refraining from instantly reacting to a baby’s roar, but staying away and letting the baby scream a little.

These reasons are the following:

Screaming is the most favorable circumstance for lung development. Indeed, in no other situation do a baby’s lungs develop and strengthen as effectively as during crying and screaming.
Tear fluid, which is produced when crying, through nasolacrimal duct enters the nasal cavity. Due to the presence of lysozyme protein in the tear fluid, which has a very powerful antibacterial property, all bacteria in the nasal cavity simply die. Thus, we can say that crying (with profuse lacrimation) is an excellent antimicrobial therapy.

Children after one year

The question of why children cry in their sleep at the age of one year and older is deeper. Children after two years begin to have nightmares. The reason may be not only various experiences, but also banal overeating, disruption of the daily routine, or too active pastime before going to bed.

Nightmares can be caused by eating a heavy or heavy dinner. Let your baby's last meal be 2 hours before bedtime, but not later. Food should be light. A daily routine will help you avoid sleep problems. If a child goes to bed at the same time, then his body does not have to experience stress and the likelihood of nightmares is minimal. With rare exceptions (trips, guests), the time when the baby goes to bed should not deviate by more than an hour.
To set your child up for rest, come up with a traditional bedtime activity. This could be reading a book or an evening walk. The main thing is that the activity is calm and the child associates it with getting ready for bed. Active games before bed lead to overstimulation. Not only does it become difficult for the child to fall asleep, but his psyche may react too aggressively to such fun.
One of the common reasons why children may cry in their sleep is playing computer games and watching TV. Nightmares can be caused not only by games and films with elements of violence, but also by harmless cartoons. Therefore, reduce your child's exposure to computers and TV, especially before bed.
Emotional turmoil may haunt your baby. This could be a conflict with peers, arguing in the family, anxiety before a test, fear during the day, resentment. If you notice that something is bothering your baby, then try to cheer him up before going to bed. Tell the baby sweet words, support him.
Nightmares can be caused by a fear of the dark. If your baby is afraid to sleep without light, then let him fall asleep with a night light. This will help the child feel protected and avoid unnecessary fears before bed.

Night crying in children 2–3 years of age and older

Psychological aspects. Children at this age are very sensitive to experiences, whether they are positive or negative. Around this age, children are introduced to kindergartens, which causes a storm of emotions in the kids. Their appetite may also worsen, and those who are especially sensitive may even have a fever. If your child is already used to kindergarten and still cries in his sleep, take a closer look at the microclimate in the family - perhaps he night crying somehow connected with the fact that relatives loudly sort things out.
Fear. Fear can also provoke crying in children at this age. If your baby is afraid of the dark, leave him a night light on at night; perhaps he is afraid of some picture or toy - remove it from the child’s eyes. Nightmares can also be caused by banal overeating.

Ways to prevent crying in your sleep

In some cases, recurrence of nighttime crying attacks can be avoided by doing the following before going to bed:

Remember the three basic needs of a baby: affection, food and cleanliness. If your newborn cries at night, try checking before bed to make sure these needs are being met.
Establish rituals before bed, for example, bathing - feeding - reading (song) - sleep. This will help you get in the right mood for your upcoming vacation.
Forget about active games before going to bed - they only cause proven harm.
Provide your baby with fresh, humidified, cool air in his room. Equally important is clean, comfortable underwear.
Try to avoid a tense situation in the family - it is your baby who suffers first of all.
Decide on a daily routine as soon as possible, because its absence can cause crying in your sleep.
Do not overfeed your baby before bedtime. Even adults have nightmares from overeating, especially children.
Consider your attitude towards co-sleeping, because it has been proven that children sleep better next to their mother.
Don't turn off the light near your baby's crib - leave a dim nightlight.

Opinion of netizens

Sweetyfee

This is a common fear, in German “Nachtschreck”. This normal phenomenon in children preschool age. Unlike ordinary fear, the child does not allow himself to be calmed down, which, in principle, should not be done. After a couple of minutes, children usually calm down and continue to sleep as if nothing had happened.

dun'kin pup

Our son was 4 when he woke up hysterical for the first time. He tormented us until he was seven years old, but in the morning he didn’t remember anything, my grandmother helped.

After three sessions, for a ridiculous 3 rubles per session, I was cut off. My son is now 28. Before this, we spent a lot of money on specialists.

OlgaKoenig

I also took mine to grandma! For 3 years the screams continued...There was nothing to lose!

Grandma helped right away, even though she insisted on visiting her 3 times! Since then he sleeps very soundly and peacefully at night! No matter how it sounds, it's true! Moreover, my grandmother sprinkled holy water on the crib!

The son was screaming the same way, not crying, but screaming, waking up for no reason at all! He could have calmed down quickly, he could have gone into overdrive for a long time... He couldn’t explain why or what happened... He simply said that he was scared and someone was scaring him!

kunak Inna

Don't give valerian! It becomes addictive very quickly. Go to the doctor.

Guest

First of all, you need not to be nervous during pregnancy, and that is, there are those who freak out for no reason, roar, bother their loved ones, and then wonder why the child does not sleep and terrorizes everyone.

Guest

And our daughter started screaming so heart-rendingly for 4-6 hours in a row... that my husband and I didn’t even have time to notice that it was already night outside. From 1.5 months to 4 months. - our pediatrician accidentally saw this scene at an appointment and suggested reflux, prescribed us medications to relieve heartburn and gave us a diet - normal days returned. So it’s not entirely right to not find a reason to leave the baby screaming. Our baby, after such a long cry, vocal cords were torn off and the palate was covered with ulcers from stomach acid + the child was terribly afraid to eat because heartburn came after eating

Lileya

The daughter was crying because she was malnourished. And I am a careless mother, I was sure that I had enough milk and that the child asks to eat often is normal. It turned out that they often asked for food precisely because there was little milk. It’s good that I once complained to our pediatrician about this, so she then suggested that perhaps we should supplement her with formula. I bought NAN and started giving it after breastfeeding. My daughter stopped asking for the breast every 15 minutes, calmed down, stopped being capricious, and slept wonderfully, which was greatly appreciated at night.

conclusions

So, knowing the reason for your baby’s crying at night, you can try to solve this problem. If the cause is colic, then light massage tummy (clockwise), warm diaper on the tummy, dill water and special drops will help you cope with this problem and ensure healthy sleep for your child. If your baby is teething, you need to consult a doctor and choose a special gel that will numb the gums. If the reason for the child’s crying is some kind of disease, you need to consult a doctor and immediately treat the baby. If the reason lies in the fear of the dark, leave the night light on at night.

The baby may cry due to some kind of emotional turmoil, in this case, try to calm him down: tell him how much you love him, how wonderful he is. It is very important to adjust the daily routine: if the child goes to bed at the same time, then it will be easier for him to fall asleep. It is not recommended to give your child a hearty dinner; the baby should eat no later than 2 hours before bedtime. You should not play gambling or active games before bed - reading a book or an evening walk is best.

In our article, we examined the main reasons for night crying in children. of different ages. As a rule, parents have no serious reasons for concern. But, nevertheless, if your baby often cries at night, you can seek help from a doctor who will help you pinpoint the cause and tell you how to solve this problem.

Until the child masters speech, crying - the only way attract attention. The tears of an adult are grief and emotion, the tears of a baby are natural remedy communications. Parents gradually get used to the fact that this phenomenon is normal and not at all scary, but they are lost if the baby suddenly starts Why does this happen?

Baby's sleep

Sleep is special physiological state, which performs two main functions: replenishing energy costs and consolidating what the baby has learned during the waking period. Full sleep- this is both a condition for the development of a child and an indicator of his physical and mental health. Therefore, parents are very concerned if the child’s rest is interrupted, and even more so if the baby cries in his sleep.

The sleep norm for a child up to six months is from 18 to 14-16 hours a day. But in the first months of life, the baby can wake up every 3-4 hours, and there is no pathology in this: a stable daily routine has not been developed, and confusion between day and night often occurs.

The baby usually wakes up due to a feeling of hunger, discomfort, or simply showing a normal instinct. Therefore, mothers need to have patience and remember that sleep is a conditioned reflex activity, which means developing a certain ritual for going to sleep at night and observing rules of three"T" (warm, dark and quiet) will help cope with the problem.

Night sleep

By what age is a child able to sleep through the night without waking up? This is purely individual, but most babies by six months can sleep uninterrupted at night for 10 hours. The child does not need to be rocked or put to sleep by force. He can easily cope with this task on his own if the parents catch the signs of drowsiness in time: the child yawns, closes or rubs his eyes, fiddling with a toy. If fatigue is present, the period of falling asleep is normally up to 20 minutes. If you do not create conditions for sleep (bright light, noise, presence of strangers), then this can provoke a situation where the baby cries in his sleep.

The process of falling asleep itself will be difficult, and night rest disrupted due to overexcitation of the baby. To understand why this happens, you need to understand the main phases of sleep.

Sleep phases

Science distinguishes two: active and slow. They alternate with each other every sixty minutes. The activity cycle involves the work of thought processes, which is expressed in the following manifestations:

A smile on the baby's face.
Movement of the eyes under the eyelids or their brief opening.
Leg movement.

It is at this time that the baby cries in his sleep without waking up. Processing in progress nerve cells information received while awake. While experiencing the events of the day, the baby continues to react to them. Crying can be a reaction to experienced fear, a feeling of loneliness, or overexcitement.

During slow - deep - sleep, the child completely relaxes, restoring spent energy, and he produces growth hormone.

To wake up or not?

Whimpering, quiet crying and sobbing during active phase sleep is the absolute norm. The baby is able to see dreams that reflect the impressions of the past day. But children's tears may have another meaning - an instinctive desire to check whether he is safe, whether he has been abandoned by his mother. If there is no confirmation of this, the child may actually wake up and burst into tears for real. What should parents do if their baby starts crying in his sleep?

Main reasons for crying

Why does a baby cry in his sleep if he wakes up? This means that he gives signals that must be deciphered, because he has no other way to attract attention to himself. Pediatricians identify about seven reasons for a baby’s tears. Dr. Komarovsky typifies them, highlighting three main ones:

How to recognize?

There are many reasons, but how to understand which one caused the baby’s tears? There is only one way - analyzing the actions after which the crying stops. You should start by identifying the causes of discomfort. It often happens: while awake, the child is distracted from what is causing him discomfort. For example, a rubber band gets stuck. When activity decreases, discomfort comes to the fore and interferes with falling asleep. If a child calms down after being picked up, then instinct has worked. There is a lot of controversy about this: is it worth reacting if a baby cries in his sleep for fear of loneliness?

There are pediatricians who say that it is even beneficial for a child to cry a little: the lungs develop, the protein from tears, which has antimicrobial effect, enters the nasopharynx. This develops the body's anti-infective defenses. Some parents call the baby a little manipulator and try to raise him without consciously reacting to crying or picking him up. Is it correct?

Neurologists believe that infant is not able to consciously manipulate the situation, and the answer lies in a different plane. Babies raised from birth in government institutions, they cry extremely rarely. There is simply no one to respond to their calls. They withdraw into themselves and stop hoping. This leads to developmental disorders - hospitalism. If a baby cries in his sleep, you should not be afraid to spoil him. The need for affection and care is a vital need for a baby in the first year of life.

What should you be wary of?

The nervous system of a child under one year of age is often susceptible to diseases due to: pathology of pregnancy, difficult childbirth, intrauterine infections and injuries. Along with other symptoms disturbing dream may indicate neurological or somatic problems. Every three months, a neurologist examines the baby, monitoring his development. He should be interested in finding an answer to the question of why a baby cries in his sleep in the following cases:

If this is accompanied by a persistent sleep disorder (difficulty falling asleep, shallow or insufficient sleep).
If sharp, hysterical crying is repeated regularly.
If parents are unable to identify the cause on their own.

If the baby cries without waking up, the reason is in the features baby sleep. If tears are associated with the transition to the wakefulness stage, it means that the child is signaling the presence of problems that require adult intervention to solve.

Sound children's sleep is a fundamental part of healthy child development. Often, young parents in the first year of a baby’s life face problems with night sleep. The baby can start crying and screaming at the most elementary reasons, be it hunger, stomach cramps or a full diaper. But there are times when mothers and fathers notice that the child is crying in his sleep and does not wake up. What to do in such a situation, how to understand and eliminate the cause of the baby’s crying? Let's try to figure it out.

Crying during sleep: possible causes

If parents began to worry about such behavior of the child in a dream, then it was probably not single case. But there is no need to sound the alarm in advance. If a baby cries in his sleep, there is a completely understandable reason for this.

Children under one year of age.

U infants The reasons for crying can be caused by the most harmless factors. If parents carefully monitor the baby, the picture of the appearance of crying will become clear very quickly. So, why do children cry in their sleep:

colic/gas in the tummy– babies 3-4 months old have digestive problems due to swallowing air during feeding. Abdominal bloating causes discomfort in the baby, which he will certainly announce by crying or moaning in his sleep;
teething– Children aged 6, 7, 8 and 9 months may experience painful sensations in the mouth. It's all due to swollen and itchy gums. Not everyone finds teething easy. sore gums they itch a lot. Because of these unpleasant symptoms the baby cries in his sleep without waking up;
separate sleep– some babies feel uncomfortable if their mother is not around 24 hours a day, including during sleep. Even if the mother taught the newborn to sleep separately from the first days, at the age of 10-11 months the child may cry and toss and turn due to the lack of maternal closeness in sleep.

Children 1-3 years old.

In older babies, the above reasons for restlessness and crying may appear. night sleep, but with less frequency. However, at this age other factors appear that can provoke disturbing sleep:

violation of the daily routine– the sleep of a 1-1.5 year old child may suddenly become restless if there is a disruption in the usual daily routine. Unexpected guests, unplanned trip, or you're just celebrating New Year– the body of a child who is 2 or 3 years old will react with mini-stress;
large portion of food before bed– an overfed baby’s stomach will be forced to work all night. When digesting food at night, you may experience discomfort, and the child will cry in his sleep.

Children 4+ years old.

Even those who left infancy children may cry in their sleep. If you notice crying in your child who is already 4 or 5 years old, pay attention to the following reasons:

fear of the dark– at this age, children develop their first fears, which can cause nightmares and bad dreams. At the age of 5, a child screams in his sleep after watching dark cartoons and films, so it is imperative to protect the child’s still fragile psyche from them;
active evening games– before bedtime there is absolutely no need to excite the child’s nervous system. A very tired child cries in his sleep without waking up. There should be no throwing over your head, dancing or jumping after 19.00.

Crying in a dream. Doctor Komarovsky's opinion

According to E.O. Komarovsky, most probable cause crying in babies, if it occurs several times during the night, is increased tone nervous system. Five to six month old babies begin active growth bones and milk teeth. Calcium supplied from food may not be enough, and in this case increased nervous excitability occurs. The solution to the problem is to take calcium gluconate to meet the need child's body in calcium.

A child screams in his sleep - what to do?

The sudden cry of a baby in a dream can seriously frighten parents. But, according to the observations of pediatricians, such cases are not at all uncommon. A child may cry at night for the following reasons:

– increased nervous excitability;

– after suffering stress or an event that excited him during the day;

– many hours computer games or games with gadgets.

If a child periodically cries out at night, parents should seek advice from a neurologist to determine the cause of the night sleep disorder.

How to make your baby sleep more peacefully

When a child cries in his sleep at night, the concern of young parents is understandable. Something is bothering the baby, but he continues to sleep. In such situations, you can try the following options:

– don’t wake up a whimpering baby. See if there is visible reasons for crying: a dropped pacifier, a wet diaper, and if possible, eliminate them;

– sometimes the baby cries at night if it is uncovered. A blanket and plaid give small children a feeling of comfort and security. Try to cover crying baby, and in case of constant opening, purchase a sleeping bag and the baby’s sleep will become less disturbing;

– if everything is fine in terms of comfort for the child, but he cries a lot in his sleep, then stroke him gently on the back and comfort him in a whisper. A few minutes, and the child will further fall into a restful sleep.

For many parents, the joy and happiness from the arrival of a new family member is overshadowed by long-term sleepless nights, constant lack of rash, developing over time into chronic fatigue. Why a child cries in his sleep and often wakes up is known for certain only to himself, while parents are obliged to create the most comfortable conditions for children's sleep and provide the newborn with timely assistance upon request.

If the child sobs in his sleep, There can be a lot of reasons for this phenomenon, ranging from psychological problems and ending physical pain. Every parent should be able to identify those factors that negatively affect the child’s well-being and interfere with his good night’s sleep. To prevent causeless awakenings at night, mom and dad need to be attentive and observant to their child, and give importance to his behavior during the day.

A typical reason for a baby's crying at night is elementary overexcitation, which is provoked by the parents themselves, starting to play active games with the child before bedtime. Before putting your baby to bed, you must water procedures, then you can read fairy tales or sing lullabies - it is monotonous words and actions that will lead to a good night.

It is necessary to pay attention to one more reason for a child’s anxiety in his sleep - this is banal discomfort that can arise due to various reasons, for example, a diaper has gathered, the baby has wet itself, he is cold or hot, there is extraneous noise in the room.

The most basic and unsafe cause of night crying is physiological pain that intensifies at night, which is most difficult for inexperienced parents to diagnose. Most often this intestinal colic, arising due to not yet properly formed digestive tract, which is characterized by difficulty passing gas and bloating in the intestines

At this time, the baby bends his whole body, presses his legs to his stomach, and the actions are accompanied by a heart-rending alternating cry, the cause of which is a sudden cramping pain. If you don't have it at hand miracle cures from the pharmacy, then simple turns from side to side or alternate pressing of the knees to the stomach will help - after these exercises, the gases go away and the baby calms down.

Regular crying of a child, heard every night, should alert parents and cause them to contact a neurologist, child psychologist followed by passing tests, undergoing examination and completing the required course of treatment.

The baby's ears may hurt, but this diagnosis is more difficult to make on your own, since apart from wild screaming, the child does not perform any actions that could become a clue. If there is an ear thermometer in the house, this greatly simplifies the situation, since it can be used to confirm or refute the fact that the baby has pain in the ear.

The fact is that, as a rule, otitis media occurs alternately in each ear, and therefore if there is a temperature difference between one and the other auricle, then most likely there is inflammation of the middle ear. If there is no ear thermometer, then parents should lightly touch the baby’s ear with light movements; if at the same time the child cries and removes his head, then the reason for awakening lies in ear pain.

Babies aged 5 months and older often wake up at night and wake up others with their loud crying due to teething. Excessive drooling, swollen, reddened gums, slight increase body temperature, gnawing reflex - symptoms, the presence of which can assume that a new tooth will soon appear in a small mouth. Eliminate painful sensations, special children's dental gels having an analgesic effect.

Crying at night can also be caused by: various kinds fears, the origins of which are numerous huge variety: loud noise, nightmare, fear of losing mom when she wasn’t there after waking up. Experienced pediatricians do not recommend teaching your baby to sleep together with his parents, despite the fact that this significantly reduces the frequency of awakenings. Doctors explain this by the child’s excessive attachment to his mother, as a result of which it will be very problematic even at an older age to teach the baby to sleep in a separate crib.

Small children do not notice the general sound background, and therefore it does not in any way interfere with their normal sleep soundly, and some monotonous sounds (soft classical music, the operation of the motor of a washing machine or hair dryer, for example), on the contrary, lull the baby to sleep.

A child’s cry heard in the middle of the night should in no case be ignored by parents, because with its cry small man notifies moms and dads about his feeling unwell or discomfort and asks adults to come to his aid.

Most parents perceive a child’s crying as absolutely normal, because it is just a way to convey information about some of the baby’s needs to adults. Although in most cases the reason for crying is on the surface, there are also situations when it is problematic to guess the child’s wishes expressed in this way. If a child cries in his sleep, and does this regularly, some parents are capable of truly panicking - what if the little one is faced with a serious problem and needs the help of doctors?

For this reason, the question of possible reasons for crying in a dream is of great interest to young families, but we will try to answer whether it is worth worrying about in this situation.

Baby sleep specifics

Most often, it is children under one year old who cry in their sleep, and if a similar problem is observed in older children, then they can often express in words the reason for what is happening. That is why we will not consider preschool children, but will concentrate on infants.

Here you need to immediately clarify that if a child under one year old shudders in his sleep, groans, jerks his legs, arches, or even sobs, then there is actually nothing strange or bad about it.

The fact is that kids spend most of their rest in the so-called “ REM sleep”, which is also typical for adults, but only at the moment of falling asleep and immediately before gradual awakening.

Similar difference from adult norm caused by the rapid development of the child's brain, resulting in nervous system in fact he never rests. It is in this phase of sleep that a person sees dreams, so it is not surprising that parents can observe a visible reaction to what is happening in the form of:

“Running” pupils with eyes closed;
Active movements of the limbs;
triggered sucking reflex;
Grimacing;
Various sounds, including crying.

Such phenomena are called “physiological night crying,” and according to doctors, they do not indicate the presence of any irritant.

In some cases, such an irritant may actually be a dream, in which the baby may find himself in uncomfortable or even frightening conditions - in such a situation, even a much older child talks in his sleep, screams and cries. In general, crying is in the usual way release emotional stress so the baby’s tears in his sleep, if he does not wake up and quickly calms down, should not cause concern.

Psychologists also believe that with the help of physiological crying, children instinctively check the situation around them - is the mother ready to come to the rescue if something happens? That is why, by rocking a baby who has not yet woken up in time, you can make sure that he continues to sleep.

Experts do not advise calming the baby too actively, because he himself is not going to wake up yet, and zealous rocking can easily interrupt his sleep; in this case, it will be enough to rock him lightly or even just quietly hum something - the little one will subconsciously understand that everything is in order and will fall asleep again.

If the child does not observe any reaction, his brain signals insecurity, and then the baby wakes up and begins to scream much louder in order to attract the attention of adults.

Approximately by the end of the first year of life, this reflex of “scanning” space should disappear.

Too many emotions

In the first months of life, the baby does not have a sufficiently developed psyche for what is happening around to cause any powerful emotions– in fact, he reacts only to discomfort. However, at the age of 3-4 months, a strong emotional shift occurs, which is the first serious step towards the psychological maturation of the individual.

This may not seem obvious to adults, but at this stage the child is already beginning to actively perceive the world and try to remember or understand it. The emotions accumulated during the day, even positive ones, do not allow the child to fall asleep quickly, excite him and excite him, which leads to poor quality sleep, including crying.

At this stage, parents should move away from strictly following the schedule, and to a greater extent focus on the current needs of children. So, if the child slept poorly the previous time, next period wakefulness needs to be reduced. If this is not done, the child's stress will build up again due to lack of sleep, which will lead to further sleep deprivation, resulting in a vicious cycle.

To emotional reasons do not interfere with the child’s sleep and do not provoke him to cry in his sleep, adhere to a few simple rules:

It is unacceptable to take away part of the baby’s time allotted for sleep to lull him to sleep. To ensure he falls asleep on time, start putting him to bed early. Do not wait for the moment when the child begins to clearly demonstrate signs of fatigue - this is already an indicator of excessive fatigue.
Vivid emotions, even positive ones, are not recommended at all for babies under one year old. This statement is especially true in the afternoon, otherwise you can lose too much time on lulling.
TV is very harmful for young children precisely because a large number emotions. Even calm cartoons give a lot of different information and invigorate big amount bright colors, and in general, do not seem as simple and accessible to a child as to an adult, and therefore can cause bad sleep and crying at night.

As for nightmares, their existence has not been proven before the age of one year. Older children may cry because of them, but this is usually a one-time occurrence rather than a recurring one. If the child complains about regularly dreaming scary dreams with a repeating plot, it makes sense to contact a psychologist.

Unsuitable microclimate

Since babies, as we have already said, sleep much more lightly than adults, it is not surprising that in general they are much more demanding of indoor conditions. What makes the situation even worse is that a child under one year of age has little influence on the situation - after all, he cannot cover himself when it’s cold, or open up when it’s hot. The child may not wake up, but feel discomfort and cry in his sleep, which will worsen the quality of rest and can lead to complete awakening.

To avoid such situations, parents should pay great attention to creating a truly comfortable conditions in children's and their constant support. Ideal comfort as understood by a baby looks like this:

Temperature is about 18-22 degrees. It all depends on individual qualities baby, and on the number and thickness of the diapers in which he is wrapped. The argument “a couple of bones don’t break” doesn’t work here at all! If your baby is uncomfortable falling asleep, he will cry in his sleep regularly.
Humidity – within 40-60%. Too dry air causes the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract to dry out and evaporates too much fluid from the baby’s body; we want him to sleep soundly, especially since he cannot drink on his own and will cry. In our latitudes, the air is usually dry, and this problem can be solved with the help of a humidifier. Too humid air is not typical for our country.
No dust. When dust gets into the baby's nose, it clogs Airways and interferes with the normal enrichment of the body with oxygen, although the child’s brain, actively developing even in sleep, urgently needs it. Since the onset occurs gradually, dust is one of the most common causes of crying in sleep without waking up. To eliminate dust, ventilate the room and carry out regular wet cleaning, and also minimize the number of books, carpets, upholstered furniture and toys in the nursery.
Fresh air. A growing organism needs oxygen critically, so ventilation is practically prerequisite before bedtime. If climate conditions or pollen allergies make this unacceptable, pay attention to complex modern systems air conditioning that can solve this problem.

How to solve the problem of hunger and thirst?

Babies want to eat much more often than adults, so the desire to eat in the middle of the night, even to the point of crying, is quite normal for them, but a person of any age can want to drink at night. However, after such awakenings, the child will have to be put to sleep again each time, which does not allow either the mother or the child to get enough sleep, so we have to come up with ways to reduce the number of such awakenings.

In the first months of life, it will not be possible to completely avoid night feedings - you will still have to wake up, but you can reduce the number of nighttime worries if you feed your baby more intensively during the day. If it is not recommended for an adult to eat before bed, then for an infant such a procedure is not only possible, but also useful, since it will ensure stable sleep.

We have already mentioned how poor quality rest can cause constant crying at night, so in the evening you should eat a hearty meal, after all, a child of this age still does not eat anything that is difficult to digest.

At the same time, experts recommend intensifying the infant’s nutrition not so much with quantity (whether the actual weight of food at one meal or the number of meals per day), but with quality. For those children who are fed baby food, the situation is clear - you just need to pay attention to higher-calorie foods.

Regarding babies feeding mother's milk, then there is very important point, which not everyone knows about: the fact is that when a baby is applied to the breast, the so-called foremilk. It has a relatively low nutritional value, but in terms of volume the baby doesn’t need much - he feels that his tummy is full and refuses to drink any more, that’s just nutrients, obtained with foremilk, does not last long. As a result, the baby, who seemed full, very quickly wants to eat again, and therefore cries in his sleep.

If the baby obviously consumes little milk at a time, it should be expressed first so that he receives only the most high-calorie product.

During night feedings, infants should be offered water only in hot weather, but if the baby is artificially fed, then water must accompany each feeding session.

Teeth

Very often, the cause of night crying is a phenomenon characteristic of all babies without exception - teething. These children have a very difficult time, since they constantly feel itching and pain in their mouth.

Of course, even in such a situation, the child still needs to sleep, so it is possible to lull him to sleep, but at moments when the pain intensifies, he may scream, begins to cry sharply and wakes up. The problem is especially aggravated if the baby has this moment Not just one tooth is cut, but several at once.