Sleep is an important factor in a child's full development. Therefore, if there is no daytime sleep, this makes many parents worry. Others are convinced that the less a child sleeps during the day, the better his sleep will be at night. Is this so, and what are the sleep standards at each age?
Little baby sleeping
Benefits of daytime rest for a baby
Sleeping during the day helps babies to concentrate well, find interesting activities for themselves, and generally be more independent.
Contrary to popular belief, naps during infancy do not adversely affect the quality of the night. Moreover, poor daytime and nighttime sleep in infants often has the same cause: overexcitation of the nervous system.
It is in a dream that the child's full development occurs, therefore, if you deprive him of rest, the baby will develop more slowly. In some cases, daytime sleep can negatively affect the quality of nighttime sleep if, for example, a child falls asleep late at night. It all depends on the age of the baby. Newborns sleep almost all the time.
Needs at daytimem cne for a child
It is impossible to strictly name the numbers. Each child is individual and has its own recreational needs. If the baby feels good while awake, plays and communicates with adults, then, most likely, everything is fine.
Nice little baby is sleeping
Dr. Komarovsky adheres to the fact that such standards are accepted in modern pediatrics. This information is provided only in order to roughly understand how much rest a child needs.
Up to 6 months
Newborns tend to sleep from one feeding to the next. The older the child becomes, the longer the duration of the waking period. As a rule, two-month-old children wake up in the late afternoon, at 17 o'clock. Until 3 months, the duration is 16-20 hours a day. At the age of six months, the child sleeps only 14.5 hours a day.
Short daytime sleep
Attention! It is necessary to look at the total duration of the rest. Children often compensate for the daytime hours at night.
9 months
Usually at 9 months, the child sleeps 3 times during the day and 2 times at night. The total duration of a night's sleep is 11 hours.
From 9 months to 1 year old
Up to a year, the duration of a baby's sleep is 13.5 hours. That is, the difference is not very large in comparison with six-month-old children.
Causes of poor daytime sleep
There can be a huge number of reasons why a child does not sleep during the day. For example, due to the disturbed balance of day and night rest. The fact is that up to a certain age, babies do not know how to compensate for one species with another. Therefore, there are requirements not only regarding the total duration of the rest period, but also separately for the day.
Daytime rest for baby
Older children can already sleep poorly during the day if they rest more at night than necessary.
Life hack! You can check if the child is sleeping enough. If by 4 pm the baby behaves the same way as in the morning, then everything is in order.
Wrong daily routine
This is one of the most common reasons. If the duration of sleep at night is short, the hormone cortisol is produced in the child's body, the task of which is to hold out until the next bed. If the concentration is too high, it may be difficult to fall asleep. Therefore, a healthy night's rest is required for a quality daytime rest.
Council.In order for the baby to sleep well during the daytime, he must wake up earlier than 7 am.
If a child's schedule includes a lot of activity that is not for his age, the baby may develop overwork, which also does not allow him to calm down. It may be necessary to provide the baby with extra daytime sleep or extend the available ones.
If your sleep is less than an hour, it may need to be extended. To do this, you need to create the same conditions as when falling asleep: dim the lights, sing lullabies, and so on. The duration of the action to prolong the rest is 20-40 minutes. If more time has passed, you need to stop doing this. If, due to continued rest, the baby slept more, it is necessary to reduce the duration of the next rest by 20 minutes.
Often, a child can sleep poorly because the parents unconsciously encourage him to awaken. This can happen if you change the conditions for falling asleep after a temporary awakening of the baby. For example, if he initially fell asleep in the crib, and then woke up, and his mother took to sleep with her, this will be an incentive to wake up, and the child may have problems sleeping.
Abrupt change of activity
Children need time to prepare for their vacation. What for? Often, children have trouble switching between different activities. Therefore, if the baby had been walking merrily before, then attempts to put him to bed will cause tears and protest. At 4-5 months, a child can, of his own free will, give up sleep in order to play and be capricious if they try to put him to sleep. Therefore, it is recommended to switch to less active forms of pastime 10-15 minutes before going to bed.
It is very helpful to create rituals that will tune your baby to sleep. After a while, they will become firmly associated with him, as soon as the parent begins to sing a lullaby or read a book, the baby begins to fall asleep.
External factors
A month-old baby can fall asleep under any conditions. The older he gets, the more distractions appear that can disrupt the process of rest. Therefore, you need to try to limit the crumbs from unnecessary noise by closing the window, provide the desired room temperature (or wear warmer), turn off the light (sleep hormone is produced in the dark). Also, the room should be humid. If it's winter outside and the batteries are very hot, you need to use a humidifier.
Premature transition from 3 dreams to 2
It is possible to switch to two daytime naps only in such cases:
- If the third dream starts at 4:30 pm or later, and its duration is 30 minutes or less.
- If there are difficulties with laying the baby down at the usual time.
- If the night's sleep starts too late (after 20:00).
- If, due to a large number of daytime dreams, there are problems with night rest.
- If the child sleeps less in the morning.
If these signs do not appear, then it is too early to switch to fewer daytime dreams.
Important! Removing the third sleep from the child also reduces the total number of hours of rest.
Feeling unwell
Feeling unwell is a common reason why a child is unable to sleep during the day. Already within the first month, parents may face the problem of intestinal colic in the baby. If a child begins to cry almost every time after eating, at least three times a day, then this indicates that gas forms in his tummy.
There is nothing wrong with that, but the baby still feels bad and cannot sleep. Colic is caused by the immaturity of the baby's digestive system. Normally, they take up to 4 months. As soon as the colic ends, the first teeth begin to cut, giving the baby considerable discomfort.
Illness can be caused by diseases: allergic reactions, stuffy nose, snoring, problems with the nervous system, and so on. In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor. If your poor sleep is caused by colic or teething, this is not a cause for concern - it will go away on its own.
Interesting. To some extent, you can minimize the negative impact with the help of a properly composed daily routine.
How to train your child to sleep during the day
In general, the baby himself understands well when to fall asleep and when not. Therefore, he can fall asleep on his own. If you stubbornly fail to ensure that the child falls asleep, you need to take him to a doctor and check if he has any diseases. Usually there is no cause for concern, and the doctor will advise you to simply optimize your daily routine.
How to create a daily routine
The main recommendation when drawing up a daily routine is to focus on the needs of the child. Creating a routine begins by observing what activity the baby is doing and when. Next, you need to try to find a pattern in his actions.
Important! In the first months of life, it is almost impossible to accustom a baby to the regime. His biorhythms have not yet formed. Mom can still watch the activity of the baby in order to adapt her schedule to it.
How to properly lay your baby
The best way to put a baby to bed is with lullabies. If the baby does not fall asleep for a long time, often the song is enough to make him want to sleep, especially if lullabies are practiced regularly. In this case, they begin to associate with sleep and make the baby feel sleepy.
It is also important to create the right conditions: dim the lights, make the room temperature within 20 degrees, provide good ventilation, and humidify the room. Do not dress your child too warmly, as this also affects sleep.
If you follow these guidelines, your child's sleep problems will disappear soon.
