The first three months of a baby's life, parents could observe its incredibly rapid development in a very short time. The small inconveniences of the initial months have already been overcome, and the first parenting experience has been accumulated. You can now interact more with the baby as the periods of wakefulness have become longer. How long does a 3 month old baby need to stay awake to develop correctly?
Baby 3 months
Sleep rules for a 3 month old baby
Sleep is a very important component for the health of babies. The quality of the baby's sleep affects not only his health. Restless sleep day and night, frequent crying of the baby lead to a general nervous state of all family members.
Parents are often worried about why the child is awake if he has to spend a certain amount of time sleeping. How much sleep is enough for the little ones depends on their age and individual characteristics.
Important! Despite average daily and nightly sleep rates, some babies may sleep more than others.
This daily sleep schedule (in the figure below) contains the average norms for infants of different ages.
Sleep rates for babies
From these norms it is clearly seen how, as the child grows, the hours of night sleep increase, and the hours of daytime sleep decrease.
Features of baby sleep:
- During the first two months, the baby's sleep consists of segments of 2-3 hours, since he must be interrupted for feeding;
- From the second month, the duration of night sleep increases slightly, the break between feedings is stretched;
- In the third month, children usually start sleeping at night 6-8 hours without a break, which greatly facilitates the life of parents.
Duration of walks with a 3 month old baby
Walks for babies are very useful, they have a beneficial effect on the formation of the baby's immunity, stimulate the development of brain activity.
Important! Sunlight promotes the production of vitamin D, which is essential for strengthening bone tissue.
During the first three months, the walk should not be long, its duration is about half an hour. After three months of age, you can extend the time spent on the street, repeat it several times during the day, combining it with sleep, as the baby often falls asleep in the stroller. On a fine warm day, the time spent in the fresh air can reach two and a half hours.
Baby on a walk
When is the best time to walk with your child depends on the season. In the fall and winter, especially on colder days, a midday walk is ideal when the air temperature is near its daytime high. In late spring and summer, when it is warm and even hot, the best time is in the morning before 12 noon or after 5 pm.
Important! Walking in severe frost, wind, rain, heat is not recommended.
Some tips for walking with a 3 month old baby:
- If possible, you should choose a walk in a park or green area, avoiding too noisy places and the proximity of gas-polluted highways;
- It is better to walk with the baby immediately after feeding;
- On cold days it is necessary to shorten the walking time;
- How to dress a child can be determined as follows: the infant usually needs another layer of clothing compared to the parent. If, for example, mom goes outside in a blouse or T-shirt, then the baby also needs outerwear.
The duration of wakefulness of a 3-month-old baby
How long a child should be awake at 3 months during the day is determined by simply subtracting the required sleep time from 24 hours. The main thing is not the total amount of this time, but how it is distributed throughout the day, and what is the duration of the periods of wakefulness.
In accordance with the norms, a three-month-old baby will sleep 14-16 hours a day. Of these, at night - 8-10 hours, the rest of the time is distributed 3-4 times for an hour and a half during the day. At the same time, the baby can stay awake for no more than one and a half hours in a row, then he must rest.
Important! Very active behavior of the child late in the evening or at night can be a sign of fatigue of the baby, lack of total hours of sleep per day. When a child is too tired, it is more difficult for him to calm down and get enough sleep.
Feeding mode
A three month old baby does not need any complementary foods. Its main food is breast milk or adapted formulas. In this case, the number of times food is taken gradually decreases, and the volume of food eaten increases.
Night feedings have not stopped yet, but they are already becoming much less, up to 2 times. During the day, the intervals between meals are 3.5-4 hours.
Breastfeeding your baby
Important! The frequency of feeding children who are breastfed and artificially fed differs, since the process of digestion of adapted formulas is longer.
Your baby is likely to eat enough if:
- looks content, calm, and active
- gains weight, constantly grows and develops;
- feeding frequency - 6-8 times a day;
- wet and dirty diapers on a regular basis.
The need for a daily regimen for a child
A clear daily routine will be useful for parents and baby not only to determine how much the baby is awake and sleeping at 3 months. This will help the baby to avoid problems with falling asleep and excessive fatigue, and will gradually lengthen the night's sleep. Ultimately, the daily routine will have a beneficial effect on the health of parents and children.
How you can develop healthy sleep habits:
- It is necessary to establish routine habits that will be repeated from day to day, at the same time, 10-30 minutes before bedtime. You can bathe the child (only before bedtime), sing him a lullaby, draw the curtains so that the street light does not penetrate;
- The child should sleep in the same place, preferably in his own crib (the exception is sleep during a walk). It is necessary to exclude extraneous noise and bright light;
- It is necessary to give the baby the opportunity to fall asleep on his own. If before that he was rocked in his arms, then at the last moment the baby should be transferred to the crib. So the child will get used to falling asleep himself.
Sleeping baby
Important! When a baby wakes up at night, do not turn on a bright light and speak in a loud voice. If it is necessary to change the diaper, it must be done carefully and under the light of a night lamp. The child will be able to sleep peacefully again.
The daily routine for a baby 3 months old can be something like this:
- rise, hygiene, food - 08.00;
- wakefulness, active games - 08.20-09.30;
- 1st dream (probably combined with a walk) - 09.30-11.30;
- food - 11.30;
- quiet activities - 11.50;
- 2nd dream (possibly for a walk) - 12.30-15.00;
- feeding - 15.00;
- active games - 15.20-16.30;
- 3rd dream - 16.30-18.30;
- quiet activities, massage - 18.30-19.30;
- food - 19.30;
- swimming - 19.50;
- night sleep - 20.30-8.00;
- night feedings - 22.00, 01.30 or 03.30.
Or like this:
- rise, hygiene, food - 07.00-07.30;
- gymnastics, games - 07.30-08.30;
- 1st dream - 08.30-09.30;
- food, games, massage - 09.30-10.30;
- 2nd dream (probably on the street) - 10.30-12.00;
- games, food - 12.00-14.00;
- 3rd dream (at home or for a walk) - 14.00-16.00;
- food, games - 16.00-18.00;
- 4th dream - 18.00-19.00;
- games - 19.00-20.00;
- swimming, eating, preparing for a night's sleep - 20.00-22.00.
Important! Immediately after feeding, you cannot start active games, you need to wait a little.
Activities with a waking baby
When the child is awake, he needs to do something. There are a number of activities that will stimulate and entertain your baby and help develop emotional bonds with their parents.
Healthy treatments such as massage and gymnastics can turn into an exciting game for your little one. For him, physical contact is very important, and here kisses and caresses play an important role.
From gymnastic exercises, you mainly need to practice extension-flexion of the legs and arms. You can do this together and alternately, and also use the exercise "bike".
Important! Exercise with a baby should be done only when he is predisposed to them and feels comfortable. If the baby is nervous and crying, they should be stopped.
To strengthen the neck muscles, it is better to put the baby on the tummy. Coordination of vision with hand movements improves day by day, so it will be helpful to place bright toys in the baby's field of view so that he reaches for them.
The kid reaches for the toy
You can also keep the baby busy while bathing: give him small objects for research and splashing, talk quietly with him, sing a song.
To stimulate vision, hearing and movement, the child must be engaged in musical activities. Listening to music and voice begins in the mother's womb, a three-month-old baby may already prefer certain sounds. Musical and sound toys will be useful here.
Important! Mom or Dad song is the best sound play a child could wish for.
Creating comfortable conditions for sleep and wakefulness for a child is the main task of parents. If the baby is well, he will often smile, every day surprising and delighting moms and dads with his achievements.
