The baby wakes up. Why does the baby cry when he wakes up? The baby does not sleep because he is hungry

Any mother is worried when she hears her child crying, there are no babies who do not cry at night. The cry of a child 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 restless behavior of the baby. How to figure out what hurts or interferes with the child? A little time will pass, and she will learn to recognize any shade of her child's crying.

Why does the baby wake up and cry?

Often the child cries as soon as he wakes up. It happens that it becomes a habit and worries young parents very much. You should not worry too much, the main reason for the cry and tears of the baby is ordinary hunger. The infant is awake and declares his desire to eat immediately, beginning with the usual whimpering, progressing to a violent cry. The baby 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 anxiety for the baby. A baby needs the constant presence of his mother, even in a dream he can feel his loneliness. The baby wakes up and cries because it calls for mom. The kid starts screaming a short time and falls silent to repeat his call again. A sharp cry with tears, clenching tiny hands into fists, indicates that the child is in pain. Bloating, intestinal colic, or the appearance of baby tooth may cause the baby to cry.

The baby often wakes up at night and cries

The kid quietly went to sleep and after half an hour wakes up with a loud cry. The situation is not rare. Not a single pediatrician will be able to give an exact answer to the question: why does a baby often wake up at night and cry? He can guess some reason based on the characteristics of the crying and the age of the baby, but the main responsibility to understand and eliminate the origins of the baby's anxiety lies with the mother. Babies are sensitive to any changes in weather conditions, sudden changes atmospheric pressure. The child may have a headache, vomiting and indigestion. The most disturbing is the cry of pain, waking up, the child shudders and literally starts crying. breastfeeding baby may cry from pain in the ear, the cry is piercing and sudden, it hurts him to swallow. A common ailment that causes the baby to cry at night, intestinal colic and skin irritation caused by diaper rash.

The baby cries in a dream and wakes up

Experienced parents know that babies sleep differently than adults. Waking up for a short period and refreshing, the baby sleeps up to 20 hours a day. Sleep in an adult is passive, dreams of a baby are an active process. Doctors believe that if a baby cries in a dream and wakes up, this is the norm, called physiological night crying. For infants, maintaining a sleep-wake schedule is an important factor. During the first 3 - 5 weeks of life, the child's biorhythms are streamlined, his internal clock is being adjusted. Sometimes failures occur, the baby sleeps well during the day and often wakes up at night. Until an individual sleep pattern is established, the baby will often cry in a dream. 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 a dream and wakes up

Well-nourished and healthy babies don't cry without a good reason. What does the child mean by crying? Look at him carefully and look into his eyes, they are wide open - the baby is scared or angry. Eyes closed - he is in pain or discomfort. The baby may cry in a dream and wake up physiological reasons: the handle is numb or the back is sweaty. Due to too dry air in the room, the mucous membrane in the nose can dry out and it is difficult for the baby to breathe. If a baby is worried about a dirty diaper, he will actively kick his legs. Often, caring mothers and fathers literally exhaust the baby with active wakefulness before going to bed, 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.

The baby falls asleep and wakes up crying

A small child, without causing any concern in his state of health, fell asleep. After a while, he begins to sob and whimper in his sleep. Young parents often worry, but it is very difficult to understand the reason. You need to observe and remember when the baby starts to worry and be around at that moment. Give the lost nipple, shake, do not let the baby wake up completely. A baby scans the space, it is very important for him to know that his mother is nearby, not finding confirmation, he begins to sob out loud. At the beginning of life, an avalanche of information falls on the baby, he “digests” the impressions of the first days in a dream. Baby sleep is an active process. Startling, throwing legs and arms to the sides are actions with which he himself can wake himself up.

Newborns often do not sleep well at night, disturbing inexperienced mothers and fathers with such behavior. Parents begin to think that the baby does not feel well, that's why he behaves this way. In fact, you should not worry too much, because babies often suffer from sleep disorders, you just need to correctly determine the causes of the violations.

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

Data. 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

Young children are not yet fully adapted to the daily routine. Toddlers wake up if they want to eat, drink, or because of the wrong temperature in the room. affects the quality daytime sleep 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 temperature in the room, rare ventilation will spoil the rest even for an adult;
Unstable emotional background. This is due to the still fragile psyche of the baby, for example, babies can not always fall asleep after active games in the fresh air;
Tight clothing or a blanket that is too warm. It is not necessary to wrap a child in the summer months, with the exception of living in the Arctic Circle.

The following factors have a significant impact on the quality of sleep:

The appearance of the first teeth;
Violation of the stool, for example;
Individual features of the organism: among people, larks and owls are distinguished;
Meteorological 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 about 20-30 years of his life in a dream. For a good rest, you need 7-8 hours of sleep.

Causes of sleep disturbances at night

The real problem is the wakefulness of the baby in the dark. After all, then adults and babies can not fully relax. To be in the kingdom of Morpheus interfere with eating in wrong time or nervous excitement. Infants also make their contribution, appearing from the age of two weeks and making themselves felt up to 4 months.

Often, a baby is sound asleep when the mother puts him to sleep next to her. Families don't have to spend the whole night alone sleeper, 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 getting a good night's sleep:

Nighttime urination. Diapers get wet, and rubbing against a damp cloth leads to skin irritation;
Loud sounds. There are many sources of noise in city apartments: music lovers, cars, and companies in the yard;
A newborn sleeps restlessly due to a lack of attention, care and affection from the parents.

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

How much sleep should a child have?

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 sleep about 15-18 hours a day;
Up to six months, crumbs are enough for 14 hours a day;
Up to one year, the indicators approach 11-12 hours;
In the daytime, newborns sleep approximately like an adult for about two hours.

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

But you should not run to the doctor if the time spent by the child in a dream is slightly different from these data. Here are the averages, and each human body is unique: 5 hours is enough for someone, and 10 is not enough for someone.

What actions need to be taken?

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

Temperature and Humidity

support optimum temperature and humidity. About twenty degrees of heat are 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 stay outside with the child.

Darkness

The room should be as dark as possible, it is in the dark 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, they will be more comfortable with a night light or light coming from the next room.

Hunger

On a full stomach, both children and their parents sleep better. Feeding should be mandatory before exercise and before going to bed. Sleep on an empty stomach becomes superficial. A newborn on breastfeeding sleeps well after drinking mother's milk. For artificial people, a bottle with a pacifier is suitable. The process of feeding soothes, adjusts 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 fast falling asleep motion sickness. But the kids are strong, they will have to pump for a long time, otherwise sleep will not come. Children often sleep in a stroller that is set in motion, awakening occurs when it stops moving.

Closeness with mom

Young children have a hard time adapting to new living conditions. 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 next to the closest person - with my mother. Therefore, newborns calm down, being near the 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 absence of a mother 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. Miniature space gives a feeling of comfort and security.

Dry diaper

The baby will toss and turn and behave restlessly if he wets or underwear. Pampers are not recommended by many pediatricians, but they are comfortable at night. If you do not want to put them on your baby, then be prepared for nightly rises and changing wet diapers to dry ones.

Thirst

The baby does not sleep well and wakes up from a strong desire to drink. Thirst and anxiety can be caused by too dry air in the room, this is true 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 infants can be caused. In this case, it shows massotherapy, special gymnastics, lying on the stomach before feeding, bathing in warm water, reception . Parents of children who are on artificial mixtures should carefully consider the choice of nutrition. The wrong mix can cause severe harm body.

Ritual

Develop a kind of ritual for going to bed, for example, it can be listening to music, taking a bath with decoction medicinal herbs or reading fairy tales in the evening. Also, the newborn should have strict regime day. Some factors lead to overexcitation of the psyche, for example, watching TV, outdoor games, a large number of strangers around. It is worth avoiding this and then the child will fall asleep easily and sleep soundly for a long time. Calm atmosphere - a hall of good rest.

Sleeping on your own is the best prevention frequent nocturnal awakenings. Just do not need to listen to the cries of the baby for half the night and not take any action. This issue should be approached consistently and carefully.

Fatigue

Before a night's sleep, the child should be awake for at least 4 hours, then he will sleep soundly all night.

Dreams of any of us who have encountered at least once in our lives with insomnia or a sleep disorder.

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

According to scientific data, in every sixth family, a baby or young child has a sleep disorder.

Why does the baby sleep badly, what to do? In this article: about the causes of sleep disorders, recommendations on how to improve a child's sleep from well-known pediatricians, somnologists and parents with many children.

Sleep baby

You must have wondered why a newborn baby sleeps so much. Waking up for a short time to refresh himself, he can sleep up to 20 hours a day. At the same time, his sleep is not passive, as 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.

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

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

By 1.5 months, brain structures are formed, the baby begins to distinguish between day and night according to the level of illumination. Parents should emphasize the differences with their behavior: dark, quiet, calm at night; the opposite is true 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, one should try to develop in him the skill of self-soothing, as well as to create benevolent and comfortable conditions to make the baby feel safe.

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

"WHUNCHING", SOBBING, or crying a baby in a dream is considered by doctors 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 is expressed by sobbing, smacking, whimpering.

"Scanning" crying function: 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 confirmation is not followed, he, waking up, cries for real.

do not immediately and actively respond to any nocturnal self-expressions of the child. Overprotection deprives the baby of the opportunity to learn to self-soothe. He needs to get used to. AT normal conditions 60% of one-year-old children develop a stable skill of self-soothing.

Night awakenings are a natural element of sleep , they occur several times during the night different reasons(, startling in a dream) and do not always require the active participation of adults. One-year-olds wake up once or twice during the night and fall asleep immediately if they have developed the skill of self-soothing. If the 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 after 30 minutes. Try to be around at this moment so that with the help of soothing and quiet actions (swaying, light stroking, giving a lost nipple, hissing “shhhh” sounds) help the baby not wake up completely.

It's good to have a catchphrase for sleep and teach a child to it from the first weeks, without using it in other situations.. Then, during night awakenings, it will be easier for you to lull your son or daughter. For example: “See my little bunny, mommy is nearby, sleep calmly ...” or “Speeeee.

Watch the baby and at the first signs of awakening, start actively hissing "shhhh ..." and pronounce this phrase. Elizabeth Pantley, author of How to Put Your Baby to Sleep Without Tears and a mother of 4, says this method will help your child learn to sleep through the night without waking up.

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

Older children (closer to a year) are helped to fall asleep independently by developed sleepy associations:

the presence of a favorite toy in the crib, embracing 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.

STRIPPING (rising) of a baby in a dream- this is a natural phenomenon associated with changes in nervous excitability during falling asleep and during sleep during the transition from one of its stages. The child, shuddering and scattering his arms and legs, wakes himself up and frightens himself.

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 shuddering decreases.

Usually throwing up the arms and legs occurs when moving from light sleep in a deeper one, after falling asleep in about 20-40 minutes.

. So that the child does not wake up from shuddering, pediatricians recommend swaddling at the age of 6-9 months, it allows you to keep your arms and legs from throwing up. Exist various methods swaddling: "free", "with handles", "only handles", Australian and so on.

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

Restless babies are more suited to swaddling "with handles", which gives them the opportunity to get better sleep.

After the 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 uplift. Hiss at this moment "shhhh", help the baby switch between sleep cycles without waking up.

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

Behavioral disorders of children's sleep

Appear if during the period associated with sleep, the behavior of parents and the child is not properly organized. These include:

Incorrect sleep associations.
Sleep disturbances.
Violations eating behavior.

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

For example.

Child wakes up frequently during the night , cries, and calms down only after he is picked up or shaken.

Child unable to fall asleep on their own . Required condition- the presence of an adult during falling asleep, which can stretch for several hours.

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

It should be noted that if parents approach and soothe their child during nocturnal awakenings, then his sleep does not suffer qualitatively and quantitatively. In this case, parents who can only be sympathized with suffer: their nights turn into a nightmare that can last until the child is 3 years old.

We form the “correct” sleep associations:

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

Toy or "object intermediary" - this is the thing that is always with the child in bed. It helps the baby during the night awakening alone to calm down and feel his connection with his parents, which means safety.

For the smallest, you can use an ordinary diaper, sheet or blanket that retains your mother's smell (put this thing between you and the baby during feeding). Older children can choose a soft small toy themselves (without buttons, ropes, sharp and prickly parts).

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

If wrong associations managed to gain a foothold , but you decide to improve the child's sleep, be persistent and consistent. Studies have shown that changes in sleep conditions are more stressful for parents than for a child who gets used to a new regime within a week or two. We will discuss in detail how to teach a child to fall asleep on his own in the following publications.

SLEEP SETTINGS violated

This sleep disorder is typical for children after a year, they already know how to get out of bed and verbally express their displeasure. For example:

baby doesn't want to go to bed in certain time, comes up with different reasons just not to go to bed, 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 him.

A combination of incorrect associations and sleep attitudes: a child who is accustomed to falling asleep in his parents' bed, waking up at night in his bed, is dissatisfied and strives to restore the "status quo" - he goes to bed with his parents.

To cope with such sleep disturbance, it is necessary to restructure the child's attitude to the "imposed" routine. This can be achieved with strict observance of the sleeping ritual.

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

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

It is important that the child develops a reflex, a habit: if they bathe, feed, read a fairy tale (), dim the light, 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 the ritual is in the sequence the same actions. Therefore, if there is not enough time for each full-fledged stage, then reduce their duration (instead of three books, read one), but do not break the order.

Plan your daytime sleep at the same time too, so that you can tune in and earn internal clock in the child's body.

Important! If the baby yawns, then you should forget about bathing, feeding and books, quickly put to bed! Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to put him to bed, overtired, overworked.

NIGHT FEEDING

refers to eating disorders when an awakened child cannot fall asleep without a portion of food or drink. In some cases, the amount of liquid (food) drunk 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, they offer him a bottle of food or crying every night of awakening or crying. breast.

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

Doctors have established that after the age of 6 months, the baby's stomach is able to accommodate enough food, which means that he can do without night food.

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

The child may develop caries;
Food in horizontal position poses a risk of milk getting into inner ear(through eustachian tube) from the nasopharynx, which is fraught with inflammation;
Feeding at night disrupts hormonal processes in the body: the norm is rest digestive system in nighttime.

make the time interval between feeding before bedtime and sleep itself at least 30 minutes.
Don't feed your baby in bed.
If your child can sit up, use a cup or sippy cup instead of a bottle.
Having accustomed the baby to the evening meal in the new conditions, proceed to a gradual decrease in nightly portions of food. Then the bottle can be "lost".

In this article, dear friends, we have 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.

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

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

Causes of frequent awakening of the baby at night

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

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

Loud conversations in the house or restless music have no less detrimental effect on a sound sleep of an infant. Therefore, in order to avoid frequent nighttime awakenings of the newborn, parents should themselves learn how to properly put him to sleep.

Important! For normalization sound sleep in 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 was twilight. Bright light will cut the baby's eyes, preventing him from sleeping peacefully.

Physiological reasons for the frequent awakening of the baby

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

Inappropriate temperature in the children's room (the normal temperature regime at which the baby can sleep comfortably ranges from 18 to 23 degrees).
Soiled diaper.
Hunger or thirst.
Cutting teeth.
Increased body temperature.
Colic. Such sensations in a child most often occur in cases where he ate a heavy meal before bedtime.
Uncomfortable clothing.

All of the above causes of nighttime awakenings of a newborn child are quite simple 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 affected by a lack of attention, or the negative mood of others.

Common pathologies in infants that affect sleep disturbance

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 to determine the above deviations can be on the following grounds:

Disorder Bladder(nocturnal enuresis). With nocturnal enuresis, the baby will often wake up during the night, with a frequency of 1-2 hours, naughty and crying. In this case, the first thing to check is his diaper. If it fills up every time, then it is recommended that the child be immediately shown to the doctor until the current disease has become exacerbated.
Temporary holding of breath during sleep (apnea). If in the middle of the night the child wakes up from suffocation or lack of breath, which immediately becomes noticeable by his shortness of breath (the baby cannot cry, and his even breathing is replaced by short breaths of air), then parents are advised to urgently seek medical help. Otherwise, ignoring such a pathology may end sudden stop hearts.
Increased intracranial pressure or mental disorder (epileptic shock). The most dangerous disease that sometimes occurs in children under the age of 1 year. In epileptic shock, the child will randomly move around the crib, scattering objects that fall under his arm, or hitting his head on the pillow. Periodically, he may try to get up on his feet, but each such attempt will end in failure. If the above symptoms are repeated in a child systematically, for a long time, then this is very alarm signal for parents, indicating serious deviations requiring urgent medical intervention.

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

Methods for diagnosing the causes of frequent nocturnal awakenings of 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 tantrums during awakening, premature anxiety does not make sense. Many children under the age 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 the child is accompanied by crying and hysteria, this means that something is bothering him. Check your baby's diaper first. If it is dry, then you can immediately discard the option with nocturnal enuresis. But when every night awakening will end 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 be disturbed by the discomfort associated with uncomfortable clothing or the wrong temperature regime in his room. If the elimination of these inconveniences did not help, and the baby still does not want to sleep, throwing a tantrum, then, most likely, the matter is in banal colic.

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

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

Well last reason hourly awakening of the baby in the middle of the night - increased intracranial pressure, indicating the course of epileptic shock. Main symptom this deviation is not adequate behavior child. And it is necessary to act with such a pathology very quickly, up to calling an ambulance in the middle of the night. Otherwise, epilepsy can turn into chronic stage, and then therapy will already be practically powerless.

Sound sleep methods

In order for the child to fall asleep as quickly as possible, and nothing disturbed him during the night, it is necessary to determine optimal time his sleep. Usually 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 will help in this (it is possible with the addition of natural extracts), and a relaxing massage (when the child is in bed, a lullaby for the night will not be superfluous).

Important! In no case do not turn on cartoons before bedtime, and do not give him noisy toys (rattles, etc.). The kid during the day gets tired of new emotions and impressions. And their excess often becomes the reason that the baby wakes up at night every hour, or cannot fall asleep at all.

If a baby sleeps peacefully at night, then 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. Only in this way can you overcome everything negative manifestations to ensure the full and healthy development of your child.

For a newborn baby, long sleep is physiologically necessary. It promotes adaptation to postnatal life, 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 worry. It's about about sleep disturbance in an infant, when the baby sleeps little or falls asleep with difficulty, or, conversely, does not wake up for so long that he misses the feeding time.

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The physiological norm of sleep in the neonatal period

Coming into the world, the first time Small child tends to sleep almost all the time, interspersing rest with short periods of wakefulness. The newborn does not distinguish between daylight and night sleep. If the baby is not bothered by anything, he will spend approximately equal periods of time in sleep (2-4 hours each), waking up only for feeding.

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

If you succeeded in accustoming 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 much less time resting during the day. That is, he begins to form a division of sleep into daytime and nighttime.

Night sleep duration

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

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

For a four-week-old baby, nighttime sleep should be approximately 10-11 hours, divided into 3 periods of 3.5-4 hours with a break for feeding.

Sleep duration

Rest during daylight hours continues to be necessary for a little grown up crumbs. 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 be 8-9 hours and consist of four periods of 2-2.5 hours. Over long periods rest during the day while walking. The interval between them reaches an hour and a half. The baby begins to be interested in the outside world and self-knowledge, and this leads to the fact that the child sleeps little. By a month, a newborn rests during the day for a total of 6-7 hours, and this value is gradually decreasing.

Some babies prefer to sleep during the day short intervals time, but often. This is also considered a kind of norm, if in the total amount the child gains the required number of hours of rest, does not act up all day, eats well and is moderately active.

To find out if a newborn is sleeping enough, you need to add up all the segments of sleep during the day. It should be borne in mind that the baby can suckle the breast and doze off at the same time. This should also be taken as a time of rest.

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

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

A sleep disorder is considered if:

a baby at the age of one month sleeps less than 15 hours;
sleeps with difficulty after long motion sickness;
wakes up every 10-15 minutes;
sleeps all day without waking up for feedings.

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

How to normalize the sleep of a newborn

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

There are many reasons why a baby does not sleep during the day or at night. However, if the baby does not 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 does not sleep well, because he himself cannot say. In this case, you need to act by trial method, excluding all possible reasons and closely monitor the baby's reaction.

The kid is hungry

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

This situation is more common in babies who are breastfed, since mother's milk 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 his chest, quickly turn his head in response to a touch on his cheek. Hungry crying begins with inviting calls, then turns into a loud angry cry, interrupted by the search for the mother's breast. It is enough to saturate the child so that he falls asleep.

The baby is uncomfortable

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, the deviation of this indicator will cause overheating or hypothermia of the body. Humidity should be 50-70%.

If the baby is hot, he will show anxiety, wake up often, sweat heavily. 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 does not fall asleep well if he is cold. At the same time, the newborn has a cooling of the skin of the hands, feet and tip of the nose, which means that you should additionally dress him and cover him well.

Another cause for concern is wet diapers or a dirty diaper. Due to skin irritation uric acid The child does not sleep well at night and has little rest during the day. To eliminate this reason, you should change diapers and diapers in time, wash your baby regularly, carefully monitor the condition of the skin of the newborn and try to prevent the appearance of diaper rash.

Another reason for a child’s restless sleep is that the diaper is uncomfortably bent, it presses or pricks somewhere. The child will fidget, shout, try to change position. You should carefully check whether the diaper rubs, whether the label on the clothes pricks, you can re-swadd the baby.

To a lesser extent, the newborn is prevented from sleeping soundly by noise and bright light. Do not seek absolute silence and darkness. It is enough to dim the lighting a little and make sure that there are no sharp and loud sounds.

Baby has colic

due to immaturity gastrointestinal tract newborns are often tormented by colic - an accumulation of gases in the intestines, which causes infants pain and causes poor sleep.

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

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

make a light massage of the abdomen, stroking the hand around the navel clockwise, without pressing on the stomach;
apply to stomach warm heating pad(not hot), a diaper folded several times;
turn the baby on his stomach, it will be even more effective to put the newborn on his chest with his tummy - this will calm him down;
do a little gymnastics: carefully bend the legs, bent at the knees, to the elbow of the opposite hand; already several movements contribute to the passage of gases;
bathe the baby in a warm bath with chamomile;
be sure to wear the baby vertically after feeding so that he burps;
make sure that during feeding the child correctly captures the breast (together with the areola of the nipple), when feeding from a bottle, do not swallow air.

If these methods do not help much, and the newborn does not sleep at night due to intestinal problems, you should contact the pediatrician for an appointment. medicinal product. It is impossible to use medicines for a child under 1 month alone.

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

Physiological features of the newborn

Before the birth, the child is in complete darkness and tightness, and the exit into the world without tangible boundaries subconsciously frightens him, making him anxious.

In order for the baby to sleep soundly in the first weeks of life, it is desirable to create an environment that reminds him of intrauterine existence. This will create a sense of security. That's why babies sleep so well in a stroller while they're on the move - the tightness and motion sickness gives the feeling of being in the womb.

A restless newborn who has trouble falling asleep is best placed in a bassinet rather than in a crib, or swaddled.

Another reason why the baby does not 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 difficult sleep. Often, newborns shudder so much in their sleep, twitching their arms, that they get scared and wake up. It is better to put such kids at first with swaddled hands.

Many one- and two-week-old babies are disturbed by physiological functions: before urinating, babies wake up, whimper, twist, and then calm down. This is a natural reaction of the child to incomprehensible sensations. By a month and a half it passes. In this situation, you can help the baby, gently hold it reclining above the floor or container, supporting it under the knees).

Dissatisfaction with the psychoemotional needs of the baby

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

These needs include:

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

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

It is often enough to take the baby in your arms, stroke him, shake and sing, breastfeed on demand in order to normalize sleep.

Pathological conditions that cause sleep disturbances

Any disease causes changes in the behavior of the child, 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 frequent increase intracranial pressure, diathesis and diaper rash. If the baby 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 part of the mother, only compliance with the recommendations of the doctor, calm, adequate behavior and increased care for the baby are required. If the 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 swaddle the baby on time, and monitor his state of health. By the end of the neonatal period, it is desirable to accustom the child to the correct daily routine, excluding feeding, which remains on demand during breastfeeding.

Two to three weeks after birth, you need to help the 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, a strictly defined time is 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 to mark bedtime includes:

evening period of calm wakefulness;
bathing, you can with relaxing herbs;
feeding;
swaddling, if the baby is so comfortable.

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

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 in nature, and the baby eats with appetite and feels good, do not worry. It may appear that the baby is not resting enough if he sleeps in short intervals, but often. It is enough to count all these periods, including moments of drowsiness, and if they are more than 16 hours, and the child does not show anxiety, then everything is in order.