For a 4-month-old baby, sleep is in the same place as breastfeeding in terms of significance. Lack or lack of adequate rest, as well as a balanced diet, will not allow the baby to grow and develop normally. It is during sleep that the nervous system relaxes, growth hormone is produced, the information received during the day is absorbed and fixed, energy is accumulated for future vigorous activity. It is not easy to assess the quality of sleep. The main guideline in this case is the average age norms, which help to understand how much a child should sleep at 4 months.
Good sleep for your baby is the key to healthy growth and development.
How much should a 4 month old baby sleep
A baby who has reached the age of four months changes significantly: he grows up, gains strength, shows more and more activity. All this puts a certain strain on his still weak body and fragile nervous system. That is why the baby needs high quality rest. Often, upon reaching the fourth month, the child's sleep deteriorates sharply, and therefore it is very important to help the baby survive this difficult period as easily and comfortably as possible.
Based on the age characteristics characteristic of the early childhood period, certain sleep norms are identified, and in accordance with them, the rules for organizing rest are developed.
Sleep rate for 4 month old babies
At the age of 4 months. the baby learns to distinguish between day and night. The fact is that such a skill is not inherent in nature and is not given from birth. Therefore, the baby's internal clock is adjusted under the influence of the regime that the whole family follows. Gradually, intermittent sleep at night gives way to long and uninterrupted rest. At the same time, the periods of wakefulness also increase.
The total sleep duration of a four-month-old child is 14-16 hours a day, of which 10-11 are for night rest, and the remaining 4-5 hours are devoted to daytime sleep.
Morning awakenings occur quite early - at 5 or 6 o'clock. The optimal time your baby can stay awake ranges from 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours.
For normal rest, the baby needs deep sleep intervals, which can only occur in a calm environment, devoid of loud and harsh sounds and bright light. Such a dream is called "third". With age, the baby ceases to feel the need for it.
Is silence needed
According to Dr. Komarovsky, a quiet environment has a beneficial effect on the quality of sleep, but complete silence is not a prerequisite for a normal baby's rest. Quiet speech, quiet music, various monotonous sounds, like the ticking of a clock or a peacefully working TV, are quite acceptable.
Sleep periods and duration
The total rest time of the child per day is from 14 to 16 hours. 10-11 hours of this interval are allocated for a long night's sleep, and 4-5 hours for a short daytime sleep.
On a note. During rest, the level of the so-called stress hormone cortisol decreases, which contributes to better relaxation of the body and the restoration of the nervous system.
There is no ideal distribution of time for sleep, but experts recommend that you divide your rest into 4 intervals. The first two should be calm and long enough - 50-80 minutes each. The remaining intervals are short and rather superficial. In this matter, you need to focus on the state of the baby: if he is excited, it means that he urgently needs rest. Parents themselves must understand and distinguish between such nuances.
How much does a child sleep at night
10-11 hours for a night's rest is quite enough. The child usually wakes up only once to eat. It is recommended to lay the baby at 20 o'clock.
Baby sleeping
Daytime sleep hours
As the child becomes more active, the duration of his daytime sleep is significantly reduced. At this age, daytime rest is divided into 3-4 intervals of approximately 1.5-2 hours. Such a regime maximally contributes to the complete emotional unloading of a young organism. The ideal time to rest is after feeding in the morning and at lunchtime and at 4 pm.
On a note. During the day, children stay awake for more than 2 hours, so parents should carefully consider what activities are best to fill the waking period (for example, games or developmental activities). In general, the period of wakefulness of the crumbs should not exceed 2-3 hours. At the same time, do not forget about individual characteristics - one child needs 30-40 minutes, another needs more time.
It is not always possible to put the baby in the crib during the day. It is not uncommon for an infant to fall asleep in a stroller during a walk or in the arms of a parent. In such cases, sleep is superficial. To provide your baby with a full day's rest, it is necessary to provide him with peace in the house, at least for a short time.
Sleeping in the fresh air
Children under the age of one year should spend on the street from 15 minutes 1 time a day (in the first months) to 3 hours 3 times a day (in the future). In winter, the duration and frequency of walks are reduced to 10 minutes - 1.5 hours 2 times a day. It is necessary to take the baby outside every day at the hours set for sleep (taking into account the weather and the state of health of the baby).
It is recommended to accustom your child to outdoor recreation gradually from the very first days of life. It is assumed that a baby at the age of 4 months is already accustomed to this regimen. If not, then it is not too late to instill in him such a useful habit.
Fresh air has a calming effect on the child, stimulates metabolism, improves immunity. Staying on the street has a beneficial effect on sleep - during a walk, the body of the crumbs is saturated with oxygen, as a result of which the child falls asleep faster, and the quality of his sleep increases significantly.
It is recommended to walk in a park or green area near the house. In summer, the stroller should be kept in places protected from the sun and out of the reach of the wind. It is advisable to cover it with an anti-mosquito net or other similar material that will protect the baby's sleep from annoying insects.
Important! Along with the movement of the sun, the angle of incidence of the rays changes, so the position of the stroller must be periodically changed.
For a summer walk, the child is dressed lightly enough so that he does not sweat or overheat.
Baby sleep in the fresh air
Sleep crisis at 4 months
At this age, certain problems may arise that disrupt the child's sleep:
- Night awakenings.
- Negative associations associated with going to bed (when the baby gets used to the ritual of motion sickness and feeding (whether it be HV or artificial feeding), as a prerequisite for falling asleep). It is necessary to get rid of such associations. It is important that the child knows how to fall asleep on his own, and not thanks to the efforts of his parents (gv, dummy, motion sickness, lullabies, etc.).
- Difficulty falling asleep. Most often, this problem occurs if the baby is overworked and goes to bed too late.
- Sleep regression.
A very important point should be highlighted - by 4 months, such a phenomenon as sleep regression often occurs. A child at this age has already overcome the stage of a difficult adaptation period, he is no longer tormented by colic, and, it would seem, the most difficult is now behind him. However, it is too early to relax - the baby's behavior may change for no apparent reason, as a result of which there are problems with falling asleep, both at night and during the day. The motion sickness process can drag on for an hour, the rest becomes short, superficial and intermittent. As a result, the child becomes moody, his appetite increases. The fact is that a lack of sleep leads to a large expenditure of energy, which the child tries to replenish with frequent snacks. During the night, the baby can wake up up to 15 times, which greatly exhausting the parents. Another sign of regression - the child refuses to sleep alone, preferring to be in his mother's arms.
Sleep regression is not a cause for concern. During this period, the baby seems to return to the very first weeks of his life, when the regime of day and night was not yet ordered. This condition usually occurs at 17 weeks and lasts for 2-6 weeks. Parents have no choice but to be patient and just wait out this difficult stage in their life.
Why does sleep regression occur in a 4 month old baby? The main reason lies in a sharp jump in the development of the child, both from the side of the psyche and physiology. The result is a change in the structure of sleep, which now consists of the same stages as the sleep of an adult:
- Slow, which includes:
- Doze;
- Surface phase;
- Deep dream.
- Fast (stages of vivid dreams). At this stage, the nervous system is restored, the assimilation and consolidation of the information received and the preparation of memory take place.
The phases change one another, then the cycle repeats. Between cycles, the child wakes up, this is the difference from the sleep of an adult who does not notice this transition and easily falls asleep again. The baby is not yet able to do it on its own, and therefore, when it falls asleep, it immediately begins to cry and scream, attracting the attention of its parents.
Sleep phases in an infant
There are age norms of sleep, deviation from which requires the obligatory determination of the cause.
Other causes of sleep disturbances besides regression include the following:
- Teething. It is a long and painful process that causes considerable distress to the baby. In addition, inflammation of the gums occurs, the temperature rises, the metabolism is disturbed, which leads to constipation or diarrhea.
- Pathology. It can be anything: abdominal pain, viral infection, etc.
- Overwork and overexcitement. This condition occurs if the child has not slept for more than 2 hours in a row. In response to fatigue, cortisol begins to be actively produced, the task of which is to give additional energy to the body, to invigorate it. The child literally opens a second wind, as a result of which it becomes almost impossible to lay him down.
- Uncomfortable environment. Hot, stuffy air in the nursery is common.
On a note. According to psychologists, deviations from the norm in any direction within 2 hours are not critical, provided that the child is healthy, feels good, and leads an active lifestyle.
Factors that affect sleep quality
Special rules will help to cope with problems, which are based on careful and long-term observation of babies of this age. The above recommendations will help to organize a good rest for the child, both at night and during the day:
- The daily routine should meet the needs of the baby and be flexible enough (within reasonable limits). It is necessary to lay the child down when the first signs of fatigue appear, otherwise the baby will be overexcited and will not fall asleep at all. These signals are:
- Yawn;
- Rubbing the peephole;
- Tired state or, conversely, the manifestation of whims;
- Laying on the shoulder.
- It is necessary to organize the ritual of going to bed and teach the child to it. The daily procedure for laying down should include the same steps, for example, bathing, feeding, massage, motion sickness, etc.
On a note. The effectiveness of motion sickness as a way to calm the baby and set him up for sleep is due to the innate memory of the child. Being in the mother's stomach, the baby felt a weak swaying, and now such sensations, as well as the warmth and caress of mother's hands, soothe the baby and help him relax. In this case, it is important not to overdo it - the child's vestibular apparatus is still quite weak, so strong swaying can make him dizzy and even provoke fainting.
- The duration of the infant's sleep should be monitored, especially with regard to daytime rest. Sleeping too long will make it difficult to fall asleep at night. According to Dr. Komarovsky, the baby should be woken up even if he is sleeping soundly and sweetly.
- During the period of regression, you will most likely have to switch to feeding at the request of the child.
- Fill the waking time with active activities (games, walks, exercises, massage, bathing, etc.). The child should spend time on the street at least 2 hours a day.
- A calm home environment is another important condition for sound, uninterrupted sleep and easy sleep. A kid at this age is so strongly attached to his mother that he feels her mood very subtly and begins to copy it. It is not for nothing that there is a well-known expression: “the mother is calm, the baby is calm”.
- Joint sleep. Resting with parents contributes to:
- The baby sleeps longer, as the constant presence of the mother gives the baby peace of mind and allows him to completely relax.
- Mom gets the opportunity to instantly calm the baby after waking up and thereby prolong his sleep.
- When a child wakes up from hunger, the mother is able to immediately satisfy his need, practically without interrupting the rest process. In addition, the mother also manages to sleep longer.
Shared sleep
Thus, the benefits of co-sleeping are undeniable, especially in regression periods. Knowing how much a 4-month-old baby should sleep will help you organize your baby's night and day rest correctly. High-quality sleep will provide the child with healthy development, and the parent - peace of mind and peace of mind.
