The baby of the first year of life often wakes up at night - newborns need feeding or a change of diaper, older babies may require attention, the warmth of their mother's body, some babies, waking up in a crib, want to go to bed with their parents. The topic of how to teach a child to sleep at night and provide him with a long comfortable sleep is so relevant that mothers turn to somnologists or take an online course with them. How can a baby learn to sleep all night, not wake up every hour, and how many months will the training last - all the answers can be found in this article.
Baby sound sleep
Features of the night sleep of a newborn
If the baby was born full-term (in the period from 37 to 40 weeks), then its internal organs and systems still continue to develop. That is why the first three months of life are called the fourth trimester of pregnancy - the baby is "worn out", he is in close contact with his mother and adapts to the world around him. The neonatal period lasts up to 4-6 weeks - the baby adapts to conditions different from those in the uterus.
Parents need to organize optimal conditions for the comfortable adaptation of the baby and observe the following conditions:
- Sleep 16-18 hours a day;
- Feeding on demand;
- Mom should always be there.
Important! In the very first month, the concept of day and night is absent in the baby, so sleep is often distributed in the most bizarre way. The kid can rest a lot during the day, only after eating, immediately fall asleep, or he may want to stay awake for a long time. Making the baby sleep all night during this period is an unnecessary and useless exercise.
Reasons for waking up at night
The baby sleeps badly at night - this problem worries many mothers. While some causes are natural, others require a visit to a pediatrician.
Why does the baby often wake up:
- He is hungry;
The kid got hungry
- He overeat, which is why his tummy hurts;
- The diapers are full;
- The room is too stuffy or, conversely, cold;
- He is overworked or overexcited from very vigorous play before bed;
- Poor health of the baby: teething, colic, fever;
The baby's teeth are being cut
- The crumb confused day with night.
Child confused day and night
- An abundance of extraneous sounds, conversations, noises.
Hunger
Why does a baby, especially in the first three months, often need to eat:
- The baby's stomach is small, so the baby cannot eat enough to sleep all night;
- 6-10 feedings per day are natural for babies;
- Babies often wake up at 24, 4, 6, and 8 am to kiss their breasts;
- The longest period without food is 4-5 hours.
Note! To accustom to longer breaks between meals should not be earlier than 4-5 months.
If the child confused day and night
In a newborn, as a rule, sleep is built around feedings and often in a chaotic manner. Each child is different: some sleep well at night from birth, gradually increasing the intervals between feedings, while others rest restlessly, cry and demand a mother.
Remedy methods:
- It is necessary to gradually synchronize the children's rhythm with the light and dark hours of the day;
- Walk outside until lunchtime;
- At night, only feed, do not play, do all the manipulations with minimal lighting.
Note! If the baby constantly wants to be in her arms, then you should not worry. The adaptation period will end soon, and the newborns will not be spoiled.
When to start giving up night feeds
Weaning is an individual process. Some babies sleep all night already at 6 months, others - up to 2-3 years old require mother's milk or mixture. This is not considered a pathology. Sooner or later, any child will give up nighttime snacks - it's just a matter of time.
Important! It is worth accurately tracking whether the baby needs food or tactile contact with his mother.
The first three months, during the period of "wearing out", there can be no excommunication. If the baby is worried about something, and he does not feed, and then often wakes up at night, it is worth identifying the cause of the unrest, and subsequently proceeding to weaning from night feeding.
Effective methods of sleeping without feeding
If the parents decide to wean the baby from night feedings, you should be patient and realize that the baby is under great stress during this period. You need to be flexible and be able to find alternative replacements for one method or another.
Additional Information. If the regime changes too abruptly, then the baby will start to hysteria, thus showing his protest. Therefore, you should start changing your routine gradually, realizing that the first nights will be difficult for all family members.
Methods on how to teach a child to sleep without waking up all night:
- increase feeding during the day;
- observe the daily routine;
- replace the mixture or milk with water;
- more contact with mom;
- reach an agreement;
- connect dad.
Increased daily feedings
Children who have reached the age of one eat almost everything. It is important to give your baby a variety of food in sufficient quantities throughout the day, then before bedtime and at night he will not want to snack. You can offer cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt an hour before bedtime.
Compliance with the daily routine
The daily routine will help both mom and baby. The baby will quickly learn to recognize when he is resting, when he is swimming, and when he is walking.
Child's day regimen from birth to 10 months
Other methods
If the baby is artificially fed, then from six months you can start replacing the mixture with water or dilute it with a very large amount of water.
After a year, children often not so much want their mother's milk as mother's warmth and attention. You should take the baby on the arms, sing a lullaby, shake it. Your favorite toy is also great for helping you fall asleep quickly.
You can negotiate with children over two years old. To do this, you should explain the reason why there will be no milk and mixture at night, and promise that in the morning the baby will have a delicious breakfast.
If the baby can't stop feeding at night, throwing tantrums to mom and showing resistance, then dad should be connected. Let him vilify the baby, put it next to him, tell him a story - so the child calmly and quickly weaned off awakenings at night.
Parents' mistakes
Some adults make unacceptable mistakes that lead to discord between the child and the parent.
What mistakes should not be made:
- You can't leave the baby to “scream”. Grandmothers recommend letting the child shout, so he will subsequently shut up.
Additional Information. Margot Sunderland, an English psychologist, performed an ultrasound scan of the brain and found that children who were left to cry for a long time could get serious neurological diseases.
- Detachment from the baby. Mothers try to give the baby to their grandmothers, lock themselves in another room or leave before bathing the baby somewhere, and return after midnight, but this can significantly violate the level of trust between the child and the parents.
Removal from the child
- Start changing the regime drastically. Mothers smear their breasts with mustard, brilliant green, they can sprinkle with pepper. Older children usually correctly assess this method of exposure, but one-year-olds may be frightened and completely abandon the breast. You should not offer your baby a breast with all sorts of spices and herbs.
- Add other stressful moments. If the baby is already in an unstable environment: teeth are teething, illness, the experience of moving, the baby has just gone to kindergarten, new restrictions cannot be introduced. Let it take several weeks after the illness, the tooth will erupt, the baby adapts in kindergarten, and you can wean off supplementary feeding.
Doctor Komarovsky's advice
Dr. Komarovsky, a famous Russian pediatrician, tells in his lectures how to teach a baby to sleep soundly all night.
9 rules to help you with this:
- Do not build heroes out of yourself and give your whole life only to the baby. Better to find ways to quickly build a daily routine.
- It is imperative and as soon as possible to develop a structured daily regimen.
- Determine where and with whom the baby sleeps: with his parents or in the crib.
- Control daytime dreams and do not allow more rest.
- From 6 months, children are less likely to wake up at night from hunger, often just want to communicate, to be rocked. You should not feed your baby right away, otherwise he will overeat, which is also not good.
- Walk a lot, communicate, be active during the day.
- A baby sleeping place should be comfortable, comfortable and cozy.
- Always prepare the crumbs' room for bed: ventilate, humidify the room.
- Use high-quality and properly selected sleep diapers.
The first months after birth with a baby is not easy: he sleeps badly during the day, at night, requires attention and milk. As you get older, you can begin to teach him to take longer intervals between feedings and a long rest at night. How quickly the baby adapts to the surrounding world depends on the parents. It is worth being patient and consistent so that the baby sleeps soundly, calmly and serenely all night.
