How much should a newborn sleep in the first months? Behavioral disorders of children's sleep. Closeness with mom

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 develop a division of sleep into daytime and nighttime.

Duration of night sleep

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

Newborns who are on breastfeeding on demand, and especially those sleeping 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 - forty minutes each, gaining 15-16 hours per day.

A sleep disorder is considered if:

baby in one month old 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 features 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 reaction.

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 diapers 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 change the baby's diaper again.

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 light massage abdomen, stroking your hand around the navel clockwise, without pressing on the abdomen;
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;
After feeding, be sure to carry the baby upright 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 to combat 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, the 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 baby's excitation processes are not compensated by adequate inhibition, which 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 appropriate behavior and increased care for the baby. If the newborn does not sleep sufficient quantity Over 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 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, it is strictly established for walking and swimming certain time. 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.

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 a child has an infant or early age sleep is disturbed.

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 on short time To refresh himself, 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 huge amount 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(, shuddering in sleep) and do not always require active participation 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 in about 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. Calm 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. At the same time.

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, jumping up is especially pronounced, because the nervous system does not yet have developed inhibitory mechanisms; as the child develops, the severity of jumping up 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. There are 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).

For example.

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, the 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, which allow 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. For example:

baby doesn't want to go to bed at certain times, comes up with various excuses 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 daytime 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 a sufficient amount of 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.

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.

Have you been awake for several nights in a row and wondering why your baby wakes up at night? You shouldn’t hope for a miracle and wait for change, but it’s time to find the reason for the nightly festivities and crying. The baby may wake up due to disturbances in the sleep and rest phases, he may be teething painfully, or he may simply be hungry. Just watch your little one and the situation will definitely become clearer.

Night festivities of a newborn

If you flattered yourself with hopes that your newborn baby would sleep all night long, we hasten to disappoint you. A child under 3 months simply a priori will not be able to sleep for so long (what happens to a baby at this age? Read more in the article What should a child at 3 months be able to do?>>>). He wakes up to nurse, pee, and sometimes just grunt.

The newborn has a phase shallow sleep prevails. All it takes is a knock or a clap, and the baby wakes up and cries. Often the baby wakes himself up by twitching his arms. You can try swaddling him, then naughty fists will not interrupt sweet dreams.

A detailed algorithm for improving your baby’s sleep awaits you in the video course: A baby’s restful sleep from 0 to 6 months >>>.

Psychological aspects

There is a psychological explanation for situations where your child often wakes up at night and cries, and calms down only after being held:

The baby is used to being rocked in his arms or in a chaise longue, and, already sleepy, is transferred to a crib. Just imagine his reaction when, opening his eyes, he sees the bars of the bed instead of his mother’s hugs. He is overcome by fear and despair, and he will only calm down in his arms.

In this case, you can go two ways:

Start practicing co-sleeping. The child will feel your warmth, smell, and heartbeat. At the slightest awakening, you give the baby the breast and continue to sleep. (read useful article: Until what time should you feed your baby at night?>>>);
You need to teach your baby to fall asleep on his own. To do this, after feeding, you put the baby in the crib, while you are nearby. You can stroke him, sing a lullaby, but do not pick him up or rock him to sleep additionally.

The method is not simple. But if you act consistently, then within 2-3 weeks you will see how your baby’s sleep improves. In order to understand the algorithm, study the course, which describes in detail how to teach a child to fall asleep on his own: How to transfer a child to a separate bed?>>>

A baby who learns to fall asleep without rocking will not cry at night and, opening his eyes slightly, can turn over and fall asleep again.

The moment a child moves to a separate crib after practicing co-sleeping will most often be accompanied by night awakenings. You need to create optimal conditions for the baby. A night light, your favorite toy, new soft pajamas with your favorite character will come in handy;
Tell them that all children have their own crib, read similar fairy tales or show cartoons. A little patience, and the little one’s sleep will last, as expected, all night and in his own separate bed;
Night waking may occur after weaning from the breast or bottle. But you must understand that such whims are temporary, and sooner or later you will have to go through it. By the way, the pacifier is not a way to fall asleep at all. The child will not keep it in his mouth all night, and as soon as it falls out, he will wake up;
Your baby's sleep disturbances may appear when you go to work or your child goes to kindergarten. Don't give up, you are not doing anything wrong and the child will soon understand this.

Night whims, unless, of course, they are associated with nightmares, are a kind of child’s cry for help. He says that the child has not yet mastered the skill independent sleep and needs your consolation. Your task is to show him that your offer to sleep separately is not a punishment, but his right to sound sleep and personal space.

Disturbances in sleep and wakefulness

You know for sure that your baby should walk during the day and sleep at night, but you may not even know when night rest should begin.

It has been proven that optimal time for falling asleep from 19:30 to 20:30. It is at this time that the body produces the hormone melatonin.

The baby shows you with all its appearance that it is ready to sleep: it rubs its eyes, yawns, and lies down on the pillow. Don't waste your chance and put your baby in the crib. If you miss the moment, the stress hormone will replace melatonin, and in the near future you will see a toddler jumping and laughing loudly, under the influence of the cortisol hormone.

When going to bed is forced and at the wrong time, the child constantly wakes up at night, sleeps for a long time in the morning and wakes up, as a rule, in no mood.

Night feast

Late-night snacking is only allowed during infancy, older children can survive the night without food, especially if they eat well during the day. If your baby is breastfed, he usually wakes up 3-4 times a night, attaches to the breast for a short time and immediately falls asleep again.

After one year of age, children should generally reduce nighttime treats to zero. The maximum is to offer to drink a little water. But don’t forget to make sure your gourmet eats the whole dinner; you can offer him kefir or warm milk. Perhaps your child begins to wake up at night precisely because he goes to bed hungry.

Sleep regression

Sleep disturbances can provoke new skills and abilities of the child, overstrain and excessive excitability, a change in the number of day dreams and their duration.

There is no need to panic, as these moments of crisis occur in every baby, and with patience, you will special effort overcome temporary interruptions in rest and sleep. Stick to your daily routine, set your own bedtime rituals, and don’t follow your child’s lead. Many useful information You will find questions about this in the article Bedtime Rituals >>>.

Medical nuances

The reason that your child does not sleep well at night, wakes up, or cries may be due to health problems.

Teeth bother adults too, so you can understand a baby whose teeth are just emerging. As an option, give the child a teether or lubricate the gums special means(Dentinox, Dentol-baby, Kamistad). Children's Panadol will also help relieve pain;
A cold is not the best companion healthy sleep. If a little one's nose is clogged, it is difficult for him to breathe and, accordingly, sleep (read the current article: How to protect a child from colds?>>>). The spout must be washed and cleaned. By the way, the cause of a runny nose can also be an allergy to the spring riot of plants.

When sleep disturbances have a clear explanation and, after the necessary manipulations, go away, then there is no reason to worry. Another thing is the nightly crying on an ongoing basis. Without medical examination in this case it is not possible.

Sleep conditions

You must understand that the quality of night's sleep is also affected by where and how the baby sleeps. The optimal temperature for night rest is 20-23 degrees, it can be lower, so do not rush to turn on the heater as soon as the heating is turned off. Be sure to ventilate the room in the evening; you can leave the window for micro-ventilation all night;
Pajamas are the perfect outfit for traveling to the kingdom of Morpheus. In summer it is thin, in winter it is terry, and, most importantly, according to age. By the way, the process of dressing for bed is also part of the ritual and the mood for rest;
It is also important what mattress the child sleeps on. Leave orthopedic delights for the preschool period, and for children under 3 years old, hard natural mattresses, for example, made from coconut fiber, are recommended (read important article: Which mattress to choose for a newborn?>>>);
Regarding pillows, a newborn does not need them at all, and an older child will have enough of one flat pillow (current article: Pillow for a newborn >>>);
From birth, do not accustom your baby to absolute silence and darkness, otherwise he will wake up from the slightest noise;
Bedtime rituals should become a law for you and not be violated either with guests or while traveling. It’s enough to get off schedule a few times and then spend weeks improving your baby’s sleep.

I hope that with the help of the tips in this article, you can easily and effortlessly improve your baby's sleep at night. Sweet dreams and good nights to you!

Every parent faces the problem of sleep disturbance in their baby. That's why this phenomenon — rather a rule than an exception. Doctors associate a baby’s restless sleep with ill health, so he is prescribed various medications. However, you should not rush to give your baby medicine. After all, there are certain reasons why an infant does not sleep well at night and often wakes up. Let's look at this problem and what to do if it exists.

There are many triggers for sleep disturbances in infants. In some cases this is due to physiological characteristics. However, if the baby develops normally, the reason why an infant wakes up at night or takes a long time to fall asleep is often associated with improper sleep organization, namely:

Sleeping too long daytime days. If your baby sleeps almost all day, you can’t count on normal sleep at night. Therefore, you should keep a sleep diary and not let him sleep for more than two hours at a time.

Bright lighting. Children don't sleep well in front of him. However, many of them suffer restless sleep even with a small light source. To solve this problem, you should draw the curtains tightly and turn off the night light.
Late bedtime. As a rule, a baby's biorhythms are set in such a way that falling asleep should occur at 7-9 pm. If you put the child in a more late hours, he can't sleep.
Lack of daily routine. One of the reasons why an infant stopped sleeping normally at night is a violation of the “baby” schedule. Children quickly get used to waking up and going to sleep at the same time. If you disrupt this regime, then sleep disorders will not take long to occur.
Overexcitement. Before going to bed, you should take a relaxing bath and reduce the lighting. You can also introduce a special evening ritual that your child associates with sleep. Active games and laughter overstimulate the child, disturbing his sleep.
Falling asleep in your arms or rocking in a cradle. Many parents prefer to rock their children to sleep to help them fall asleep faster. Therefore, babies wake up at night, demanding the usual action. Moms and dads must teach them to fall asleep on their own.

If you normalize your routine, create a special evening ritual, and also eliminate too much rest during the day, you can return normal night sleep.

Other causes of sleep disturbance at night

There are other reasons why a baby doesn't sleep well at night. They are associated with exposure to various irritants on the body. In addition to external factors, the child’s condition can also be influenced by internal reasons. Other reasons include:

Hunger. The baby can also wake up because he wants to eat. Even though he was full before bed, his stomach is quite small. Therefore, during the night he can wake up several times to eat. In addition, on the chest or with a bottle, the baby falls asleep much faster and more soundly.
Cold or hot. For normal sleep The temperature in the room should be about 21 degrees. If there are significant deviations from the norm, he wakes up, becomes capricious and cannot fall asleep for a long time. Therefore, it is important that the room where the newborn sleeps is maintained optimal temperature and humidity.
Wet diaper or nappy. If your baby is having trouble sleeping at night, he may simply need a diaper change. If parents prefer to swaddle rather than use diapers, they should wear a disposable diaper at least overnight.

Noise. Some children cannot fall asleep in the presence of extraneous noise. Therefore, parents should turn on movies, music, or talk while the baby sleeps.
Teeth are being cut. A newborn baby cannot cut teeth. However, already a month-old baby may suffer from teething. This condition accompanied by elevated temperature bodies, painful sensations, the baby becomes restless.

Therefore, if infants or one year old child sleeps poorly at night, often wakes up and behaves restlessly, known children's doctor E. Komarovsky recommends reviewing the daily routine and eliminating all irritating factors. Healthy children should wake up at night only from hunger. If the reason is different, consult a pediatrician. The doctor will be able to determine the reason why a newborn or one-year-old child is not sleeping well and will help eliminate it.

How to put your baby to sleep

If your child begins to sleep poorly, you should follow simple tips to help put the baby to bed:

do not put your child to bed hungry;
in the evening you should create a special algorithm of actions, including bathing, light massage, feeding, a fairy tale or a lullaby. This will help the baby calm down and get ready for sleep;
organize the most comfortable conditions: humidity, temperature and lighting. Too much bright lighting or heat can have a negative impact on the baby;
the baby’s mattress and pillow should be quite hard and even;
If the baby sleeps very poorly, colic may be the cause. Therefore, you should give the child a lung massage of the abdomen;
If a one-year-old child does not sleep well at night and often wakes up, it is necessary to spend as much time as possible walking with the baby in the fresh air.

E. Komarovsky recommends contacting a pediatrician if all conditions for good sleep and parents do not know what to do if the child does not sleep well at night and often wakes up. The sooner appropriate measures are taken, the sooner peace will come for parents and their children.

Folk remedies for improving sleep

If parents don’t know what to do, if their one-year-old child doesn’t sleep well at night and often wakes up, you can try traditional methods to improve sleep quality. Their use is allowed only after consultation with a specialist.

The most effective of them:

Chamomile. A decoction from it - the best remedy to reduce nervousness. It is enough to give the baby 50-70 ml of drink. It is best to bathe newborns in a decoction of this herb.
Pumpkin and honey. For children over a year old You can give a decoction of pumpkin with the addition of natural honey before bed.
Bedstraw. A bath with the addition of bedstraw infusion helps overexcited babies fall asleep faster.

Young babies may wake up several times a night to nurse or bottle.. If the reason the baby wakes up is not hunger, you need to carefully consider this problem. Parents should show calm and patience in this matter, and a soundly sleeping baby will reward them for this good mood and healthy sleep.

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There are a lot of tips online for how to get your baby to sleep through the night as an infant, but not a lot for parents of kindergarteners who still wake up multiple times during the night.

At the age of 2-3 years, when the child is released from the “imprisonment” of a small crib and goes to sleep on big bed, he may often come to his parents to find comfort and safety in their bed. Plus, there are always children who cannot fall asleep at 7-8 pm and wake up after 7 am. Moreover, one out of 5 children who had problems sleeping in infancy, similar difficulties may arise later, aggravating in adolescence. So sleep problems spanning several years of a child’s life are relevant to many parents.

Dr. Craig Canapari, father of a 2-year-old child, pediatric pulmonologist and sleep expert, answered the most common question parents have about childhood sleep and explained why it happens.

Why does my baby wake up at night?

Every parent woke up at 2 a.m., hearing the cry of the baby (or seeing him move on the baby monitor monitor), and waited, crossing his fingers, until silence reigned again (or the figure on the screen froze, falling asleep again) ... But if the expectations There were no excuses, everyone was ready to run very quickly to the nursery to give the baby a pacifier before he actually woke up.

Most babies are actually capable of long periods of sleep (6-8 hours straight) at night by the age of six months. But if you carefully care for your child, it may take a little longer to achieve this result. However, every 9-12 month old baby should already be sleeping through the night.

However, any child can sometimes stay awake at night. Night awakenings become a problem if they last more than a few minutes, occur several times during the night, or lead to a significant deterioration in behavior and well-being during the day—and this affects both the child and the parents.

There are several circumstances that often cause poor night sleep.

“Inappropriate” sleep onset associations. This is a classic childhood sleep disorder described by the renowned Dr. Ferber. The child simply falls asleep in conditions that do not occur later in the night. For example, before going to bed you stroke his back or hold him in your arms; breastfeed him or give him a pacifier. At night, the baby enters a more deep sleep, sweats into a more superficial phase, and then may wake up for a minute or two every few hours. If there are no previous familiar conditions (for example, he is lying in bed, and not in his mother’s arms), the child will scream until he is picked up.

You can eliminate this problem by teaching your baby to fall asleep on his own, that is, leaving him sleepy but still awake. Sometimes shifting your bedtime - at least 30 minutes later - helps make it easier to fall asleep on your own. Your baby may still wake for a night or two, but on average the night wakings should stop after a week.

Hunger. This factor may be triggered if the baby is used to constantly drinking a bottle or two of milk at night or still suckles at the mother's breast several times a night. Such children wake up because they are simply hungry - a habit that took a very long time to form. If a child is older than one year, he is healthy, but is used to eating several times a night or requires changing his diaper, then this is most likely a problem for the parents. If a baby falls asleep with a bottle or mother's breast, he may have difficulty sleeping. Therefore, I recommend reducing the volume of the bottle by at least 40-50 grams or increasing the intervals between feedings by an hour so that the child actually eats when he is hungry.

Medical pathologies. Very often, many common health problems are simply not taken into account when determining the cause of a child’s sleep disturbance. If your child coughs frequently at night, he or she may have asthma or allergies that need to be treated. Backup of acid from the stomach into the esophagus (reflux) can cause stomach pain, vomiting, and breathing problems at night. Obstructive sleep apnea is very common. side effect snoring, and this can also disturb sleep. I strongly recommend that you meet with your pediatrician if at least one of these problems is relevant to you.

Factors environment . As a rule, these reasons are obvious - they can be recorded by the senses. Is there a TV in the room? If yes, then please remove it from there!

Are there noisy neighbors who are night owls or a noisy road nearby? Does the child share a room with a sibling or parent who is used to making noise? If you cannot change such circumstances (change apartment), then a generator will help you white noise or fan.

But if the room is simply too dry, hot or too cold (more than 23.5 degrees Celsius or less than 15), then you can easily change such unfavorable factors using a humidifier, heater, or air conditioner. Even opening a window at night will make your child sleep more soundly.

Do you think these four explanations are appropriate for your little one? Have you done everything in your power to stop your child’s nightmarish awakenings?