Crying babies is often the most compelling reason for new parents not to have a second child. Many recall the first year of a baby's life with a shudder. No one wants to go through another year without sleep, listen to children's cries and constantly carry a baby in their arms, forgetting about themselves. No parent realizes that he himself is most often to blame for the fact that his child cries especially piercingly before bed.
Baby crying
Crying before bedtime - normal or pathological
A child, like any other healthy person, will not just cry. However, babies are not yet able to reproduce anything except screaming, therefore especially temperamental babies can communicate with relatives with the help of loud exclamations.
Before grabbing the baby in your arms to shake and rock, you need to find out why the baby yells before bedtime. There are several reasons for crying in babies:
- the baby is hungry;
- wants to drink;
- feels discomfort due to heat and stuffiness;
- the baby is cold;
- with the help of a cry, he informs about the desire to be in mom's arms;
- wants to sleep;
- does not want to sleep, but he is put to bed;
- uncomfortable clothes.
Interesting! Baby crying has a special effect on the psyche of parents, which is why especially vulnerable family members often lose their minds and are unable to reason sensibly and make informed decisions while the child is crying.
Parental confusion
Due to the fact that it is impossible for the mother to objectively assess the reasons for crying, she, being in captivity of her own emotions, most often makes two decisions: to feed the child or to shake it. Because of these situations, children are overfed by their parents and suffer from abdominal pain, so they scream even more. While rocking, a woman does not solve the problem, but forces the baby to lose consciousness in the most accessible way. In order to resolve the issue with night crying, you need not force the child to shut up, but eliminate the problem.
Physical reasons for crying before bed
Physical reasons that prevent a child from sleeping include:
- Indoor microclimate. Each mother notes that her child in a stroller sleeps on the street, not reacting to extraneous noises, and at home in a crib she is bursting with crying, torturing the whole family. You can save yourself by putting in order the temperature and humidity of the air in the room - it is better to let it be + 16˚C than + 26 иC, and the humidity of 55-70%.
- Uncomfortable clothes. A baby wrapped in a cap, socks, sliders, undershirt suffers from constant friction, annoying strings, rubber bands, but cannot say about it. A quality diaper and blanket are sufficient attributes for warmth and comfort.
- Dirty linens. The baby spits up several times a day. If he is put in a crib after feeding, then the headboard area gets dirty with milk. Mom may not notice stains, especially if the linen is colorful. The sour and unpleasant smell will torment the child.
- Crumbs in the bed. If the baby is already being treated to cookies and other free-flowing delicacies, when he learns to stand in the crib, the crumbs crumble. Lying on them is very uncomfortable for a baby with delicate skin.
Airing
In order to prevent such reasons from arising, mom should carefully prepare the sleeping place, starting with the air in the room. If the house does not have a household air humidifier, you can put the microclimate in order by washing the floor with clean water without adding chemicals, each time ventilating the room for a long time, preventing stuffiness from forming. Frosty air is especially beneficial for baby's sleep. Therefore, it is good if, after the baby has fallen asleep, the mother will cover him with a blanket and open the window again so that the freshness and coolness will help the child sleep better.
Psychological reasons for crying before bed
Among the reasons due to which a child falls asleep every time crying, there are the so-called features of the infant psyche. These include:
- Inability to fall asleep on your own. If the baby is constantly rocked in his arms, in a stroller or a pendulum crib, he himself cannot fall asleep, he needs help. Due to the fact that babies are not yet aware of such desires, they begin to scream loudly and pitifully. This is due to the fact that the child is tired, his health worsens, everything around is annoying. So he will sob until he is picked up and pumped.
- Unwillingness to sleep in a separate bed. When the parents have decided that it is time to sleep separately from the child, the baby will accept this idea without joy. If earlier he slept near his mother, felt her scent, felt warmth, and they decided to deprive him of an important attribute of a peaceful sleep, he will protest. The bed in this situation will be perceived by him as a punishment. Therefore, every time he finds himself in it, he will become loudly capricious. Parents in such a situation should not give in to emotions. If mom and dad find the psychological strength for two nights in a row not to get up and not take the child until morning, then on the third day the nights will become much quieter, and on the fourth day the problem will disappear forever.
- The baby is forced to sleep - that's why the child cries a lot before going to bed, bends over, as if he wants to fall out of his hands. Many young mothers, listening to the advice of the older generation, try to build a sleep and wakefulness regime, relying on the readings of the clock hands. Deciding that 22:00 is late for the child, he is carefully put to bed. He is not tired yet, has not seen enough, has not played enough. A day for a child lasts as long as he himself is neither exhausted nor wants to rest. When he is sprightly and active, put to bed, falling asleep is seen as a violent act. Mom should understand that the night for the child will begin when his body requires it.
The kid bends when crying
Additional Information! The psychological problems of crying are easily solved, but only when the parents are mentally prepared for it. Especially if adults wean the baby from sleeping together and understand perfectly why their baby cries before bedtime.
How to help your child fall asleep
Parents need to understand that in order for a baby to fall asleep quickly and soundly, he needs to be tired. Therefore, the way to sleep depends on how his day went. It is difficult for a newborn to come up with activities that make falling asleep easier, because even without them he sleeps well for several hours, waking up only to eat.
Babies over a month old need certain physical and emotional stress. They need to be tired in order to want to rest. Therefore, every day, in between dreams, you need to work with your child, help him develop. Gymnastics in the morning and a soothing massage in the evenings give good results. Bright toys, peek-a-boo games with mom, getting to know objects that are different to the touch (massage ball, soft brush, rustling candy wrapper) - all this is well tiring and emotionally burdensome. After a busy day, the baby no longer screams before going to bed, but peacefully falls asleep, without noticing it.
There is no need to rock a newborn from the very first day. Not having such a habit, not knowing what a swing is, it will be easier and faster to learn to fall asleep on its own. Mom's over-caring and advice from the older generation trumps common sense. Mom needs to understand that a child, like any adult, cannot live without sleep. He, like everyone else, needs to sleep to regain his strength. Regardless of whether he is pumped or not, if he is really tired, he will fall asleep by himself. Of course, at first he will cry, because he will experience a breakdown, and everything around him will be annoying, but after a short cry, he will definitely fall asleep.
A cool bath has a beneficial effect on sound sleep, especially if the parents are not constrained by fears and teach the baby to dive. By spending a huge amount of energy in cool water, the child gets an excellent development of his physical abilities. If, after a half-hour swim with diving, he is well fed, he can instantly fall asleep soundly. Do not be afraid to lower the water temperature.
Important! Nothing will work if the baby is bathed in a basin at a temperature of 36˚C. The child will soften, relax and not be in the mood to lose energy. After such a bath, he would rather want to crawl on the big bed than fall asleep.
Mom soothes with hugs
If the baby is naughty, begins to whimper, there is nothing terrible in the fact that his mother will take him in her arms to calm him down. But you don't need to make swaying movements. This is the first step on the way to a dead end, from which it will be very difficult to get out later. Many families know pediatricians, in which poor women, even at four years old, continue to rock their children. This harm is caused not only by the mother, whose hands, back and knees hurt, but also by the child himself, because he can no longer become completely independent in adulthood.
Hugging your baby to you and stroking the back is the best way to calm even the strongest crying. It is better to sing a song to the baby, stroke the head, forehead and hands, soothing from the next disorder. If the baby spent an active day, was tired, swam in the bathroom, ate and ended up in a cool ventilated room with a clean bed, he will definitely and with pleasure fall asleep.
