A newborn baby is in a state of sleep for most of its life. The health status of the baby largely depends on how complete it will be. If the child does not sleep enough, the formation of neural connections will slow down, and this will certainly affect the development of the brain. Given the above, parents should know as much as possible about the phases and other features of sleep in a child under one year old.
A child's sound sleep is the dream of all parents
Sleep cycles in newborns
When a baby is just born, when he is asleep, he only experiences REM sleep. This allows the brain to develop fully. Since during REM sleep, strength is restored rather slowly, the baby sleeps almost all the time. In the process of fast-wave rest, a number of processes take place in the child's body:
- relieving stress from the central nervous system;
- rebooting the brain;
- consolidation of the information received for the day;
- brain stimulation with dreams;
- relaxation of the body as a whole.
REM sleep is a calm state in which the baby does not sleep too deeply, which keeps the brain active. When the baby reaches the second month, REM sleep will be replaced by long sleep, since it will take much more time for the baby to restore energy and strength.
Sleep from birth to one year old
If an adult goes through six phases in a dream, then in children from a month to a year, only two are distinguished:
- deep;
- superficial.
Many children categorically refuse to sleep if their parents are not around
At the same time, the duration of sleep during the first year changes, and very significantly:
- The first two weeks from the moment of birth, the baby sleeps from 20 to 22 hours. At the same time, the child wakes up almost every 30 minutes, is awake for a short time and falls asleep again. For him there is neither day nor night. Frequent awakenings during this time are the norm.
- From two weeks to about three months, sleep time will gradually decrease to 16-18 hours during the day. The kid will already get used to the environment and a certain routine. At this age, he will already be able to survive the night (at least six hours) without feeding, and in the daytime he will begin to more actively study the world around him.
- At three months, it is enough for a baby to sleep 15-16 hours a day. The rest of the time it will remain active.
- Until about six months, the total number of hours of sleep will remain unchanged. Of the average 15 hours, 8 will go to sleep at night, and the rest - for short "quiet" hours during the day, lasting half an hour or an hour, sometimes an hour and a half.
- At the age from six months to 9 months, the time that the child sleeps during the day is reduced to 12 hours a day. The baby will sleep most of it at night. In the afternoon, it should be laid for an hour and a half in the morning and in the afternoon.
- Starting from 9 months, 10-11 hours will be enough for children to have a good rest, which includes two daily naps.
Why does the child sleep 30 minutes
30 minutes is a normal sleep cycle in babies under 6 months. Over time, this time interval increases and by the year it is already an hour. In adults, the sleep cycle lasts an average of one hour and thirty minutes, during the night there are from 4 to 6 such cycles. The transition from one cycle to the next involves a short awakening. For an adult, it goes unnoticed, and in the morning no one remembers how he turned over on the other side or adjusted the pillow.
A long nap is a guarantee of children's health
A nursing baby is not yet able to independently move from one sleep cycle to another. This is the reason why the child sleeps for 30 minutes during the day, and then wakes up. Having figured out why the child sleeps for 30 or 40 minutes during the day, most parents quite logically wonder what to do in such a situation, because this time is completely insufficient.
Practice shows that correcting short dreams is not an easy task, which, however, will have to be solved. If you do not teach the baby to associate sleep cycles in a timely manner, he will chronically not get enough sleep. Closer to the moment when the cycle of thirty minutes expires, moms need to be ready. As soon as the baby spins, immediately offer him the breast, shake or calm him in another usual way that will help him go through the transition to the deep sleep phase. This should be practiced for at least a week. After that, the body of the crumbs will get used to it and understand how to rest properly.
Sleep in the afternoon 15-20 minutes
Sometimes babies sleep even less than half an hour during the day: only 15 or 20 minutes. In this case, the recommendations for extending daytime sleep and linking cycles will be the same. In some cases, if the baby does not show signs of lack of sleep, behaves calmly and gains weight well, perhaps he just has such an age norm, and there is absolutely no reason for concern.
Sleep in the afternoon 40 minutes
Forty minutes for a daytime sleep for a baby in most cases will also not be enough. But this is still better than 20. However, if a baby wakes up without tears after a short sleep and sleeps well at night, you should not break the daily routine.
Is a short nap harmful
It is definitely impossible to answer the question unambiguously whether a short sleep of 30 minutes for babies is harmful or useful. For most children, this time is not enough to rest. If the reluctance to sleep for a long time is a variant of the norm, and the child is cheerful and cheerful with this regime, you should not panic. In this case, the following points are much more important:
- Does the crumb pour out the daily sleep rate recommended for its age;
- how long he is awake between naps;
- how many hours does he sleep at night.
Important! Even half an hour's sleep has a positive effect on the development of new skills and abilities by the baby, memorization of information and development of memory.
Although naps are considered less restorative than long naps, there is no conclusive scientific evidence for this claim. Short daytime dreams are uncomfortable, first of all, for mothers of overly vigorous babies, since they have absolutely no time either for themselves or for other household chores. And maintaining the regime during the day in such cases is not easy.
Self-sleep training
It is necessary to teach an infant to fall asleep independently from about six months of age. At 6 months, the baby no longer needs frequent night feedings and can be in its crib or cradle for a long period of time.
The better babies sleep, the faster they develop.
In order not to harm the child's nervous system, the training should be as painless as possible. To do this, you will need to adhere to the following simple recommendations:
- Putting the baby in the crib is required strictly at the same time. This will accustom his body to a certain regime.
- It is worth performing rituals that are pleasant for the crumbs before going to bed. For example, singing a lullaby, reading a fairy tale, or putting on the same beautiful pajamas for a child. These actions will eventually be firmly deposited in the child's memory as a clear signal for sleep.
- If the baby is naughty, it will not be superfluous to bathe him and have a relaxing massage.
- You can buy an original and bright night light, the inclusion of which will tell the baby that it is time to fall asleep.
Important! Putting babies to sleep without motion sickness on their own should be no more than 10 minutes. If all the preparatory procedures take longer, they will be difficult to understand. This is fraught with the fact that the child, if he falls asleep as a result, will be very restless to sleep - his fragile brain will diligently process the information received.
How to get good sleep
You cannot find parents who would not want their child to sleep well and soundly. To achieve this will take some effort:
- Find out empirically in what conditions a newborn sleeps better and better: at home in his crib, in the air in a stroller, next to his mother, etc., and put him more often there.
- Place the baby's bed at a distance from the mother's bed. Often children wake up at night just out of habit. If it is supported by constant feedings, then getting rid of it will be problematic. In this case, the mother should pull herself together and not run to the child at his first cry. It will be very useful to put the baby in another room (necessarily equipped with a baby monitor). But not all mothers find this to be an acceptable move, despite the fact that it significantly improves both the quality and quantity of infant sleep.
- It is important to strictly observe the time of laying the baby in the crib. If you miss it, the child will be overexcited and will not be able to sleep for a long time.
- The room needs to be well ventilated, turned on dim lights and put on clothes comfortable for sleeping on the baby.
Happy sleeping baby
A huge number of books have been written about the nuances associated with the problem of falling asleep in children. Whatever theory the author adheres to, his work will still be based on the assertion that any child can be taught to sleep. When implementing this or that technique, parents should remember that any innovation should be introduced consistently and gradually. You also need to be prepared for the fact that at first the baby will actively resist and try to hold on to old habits that have already formed.
