From the first month of life, children sleep 12-18 hours a day, frequent nighttime awakenings of infants negatively affect physical and intellectual development. For a comfortable and relaxing holiday, the baby should create favorable conditions. It is important to consider various little things that can affect the duration and quality of sleep.
Baby does not sleep well at night
Sleep rates for babies
Table of norms for children's sleep (0-3 years)
| Age, months | Daily sleep rate, hours | Night rest, hours | Daytime rest, hours | Number of daytime dreams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15-18 | 10 | 9 | 4 |
| 2 | 14-17 | 10 | 7 | 3 |
| 3 | 14-15 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| 4-5 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 3 |
| 6-8 | 14,5 | 11 | 3,5 | 2 |
| 9-12 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 2 |
| 18-30 | 13 | 10,5 | 1,5 | 1 |
| 30-36 | 12 | 10,5 | 1,5 | 1 |
Note! The generally accepted sleep norms for infants are the average parameters of rest for healthy children.
The difference between the upper and lower limit of the norm is a maximum of 3 hours. Each deviation is determined by the unique characteristics of children: genetic factors, increased physical, emotional stress, well-being and special sleep conditions. At the same time, a pattern is observed: the younger the child, the more sleep the baby needs.
Causes of poor nighttime sleep in babies
Sleep disturbance in infants is a big problem for parents who cannot distinguish between healthy sleep and insomnia. Flinching when falling asleep, twitching of individual muscles, changes in facial expressions, pronunciation of certain sounds are variants of normal sleep. You should worry if the baby often wakes up at night (more than five times), is awake for a long time, and is capricious.
Sleep Disorder Causes:
- Development of the relationship of rest with feeding, lulling, falling asleep in the mother. The lack of familiar conditions complicates the process of falling asleep, the baby begins to get up often. The condition usually develops with maternal postpartum depression or parental overprotection. If the relatives are too concerned about the violation, the situation becomes more complicated and becomes chronic.
- Failure of the daily routine. With prolonged daytime sleep or late awakening, the baby is full of vitality, preventing proper sleep at night.
- The presence of somatic pathologies: intestinal colic, gastroesophageal reflux, otitis media, the appearance of the first teeth.
- Hunger.
- Daytime stress or nightmares.
Child confuses day and night
- Lack of fatigue with insufficient activity of the crumbs during the day.
- Irritating factors: uncomfortable air temperature (the optimal indicator is 18 degrees), uncomfortable diapers, poor bed.
- Absolute silence from the first days of life is also undesirable. Children sleep peacefully with the TV, music player, and the sound source muffled.
- The presence of loved ones. While the child is small, the presence of the mother should be constant. When preparing the baby for sleep, it is advisable to sit next to the baby, sing a song, or just stroke. The child closes his eyes, then it's time to remove your hands, leave the crib.
Important! Night sleep disturbances threaten with chronic fatigue of the nervous system, the development of many diseases.
On HB at 8 months
At the age of eight months, children can do a lot: they turn their heads, follow objects, focus their vision on products that are remote at different distances, turn over, distinguish voices and sounds, the world around them becomes interesting for the baby. The baby is afraid of missing something, even the feeding time seems wasted.
If a baby on HB often wakes up at night, the right decision would be to organize daytime feeding in a calm atmosphere, a darkened room. Usually mothers are helped by sling buses, others offer the baby to eat in a dark pantry.
How to help your child wake up less often at night
The right ways to improve your night's sleep:
- A regular schedule is a must for good sleep. Pediatricians recommend putting the baby to bed, feeding at the same time. Newborns sleep comfortably on their chest (or with a bottle). It is advisable to put the baby to bed at the end of feeding; sleep should not be associated with food.
- Daily rituals improve sleep quality. Many parents arrange an evening walk, a chamomile bath, and meals. Favorite toys in the cradle, bedtime story and a kiss are popular options for preparing older children for a vacation.
- The duration of night sleep is increased by decreasing daytime rest. If the day's rest is prolonged, it is worth waking up the baby. You can't let the child confuse day with night.
- Throughout the day, the baby needs to be carried away with active activities: walking, doing gymnastics, massage, and arranging outdoor games.
Mom teaches the child to sleep in the crib
Council. Be sure to ventilate the room before resting, the air in it must be fresh.
How not to harm your baby by getting a night's sleep
Among the common mistakes of poor sleep at night, nighttime snacks are distinguished. Pediatricians say: there is no need to offer food to children over 1 year old at night if the baby sleeps normally without a bottle of milk. Night feeding is a habit for most babies. Children associate the crib with milk, wake up at night to receive the next portion of complementary foods. It will not be possible to wean from the habit quickly. The best solution is to gradually reduce the amount of night milk by replacing the filling with water in a bottle.
Sleeping in the parent's bed is common. Often mom and dad will let the baby spend the rest of the night in a shared bed. It is not easy to accustom a son or daughter to a separate bed, the following recommendations will help:
- you should not take the crumbs in your arms, rock them at night;
- turning on the light when returning the baby to the baby bed is also not recommended for adults;
- Something forced the baby to wake up and call his mother, do not rush to respond - usually, after a few minutes, the child falls asleep.
Nighttime comforts and amusements are also harmful to healthy sleep.
Adults justify the child's frequent awakenings in the first months of life by the need to drink, listen to a fairy tale, to be hugged and rocked. Increasing attention to the toddler provokes more frequent awakenings. It is important to minimize nighttime interactions with the baby as much as possible: do not look into the eyes, do not maintain a conversation, do not turn on the light if the baby begins to cry.
Do not rock your baby in your arms before bed. Newborn children have a weak vestibular apparatus; hand-motion sickness is equated to riding on rides (for adults). The baby experiences an acute lack of oxygen, which negatively affects health.
From six months of age, you should replace the morning rest with daytime or evening. Prolonged awakening in the morning contributes to an increase in the child's hyperactivity in the afternoon, deterioration of development.
The baby sleeps well with a soft toy
Need for sleep
In a dream, newborn babies are actively growing, their brain and nervous system are restored, contributing to a calm wakefulness and a better perception of the outside world. With prolonged wakefulness, the child's body is depleted, brain cells die off. The muscular system is slower to master the surrounding space, develops skills for physical development. The senses (for example, the eyes) react worse to stimuli.
Features of day and night sleep
Why is daytime and nighttime relaxation equally important for children? At night, the nervous system is restored, brain activity develops. During the day, the child takes a break from emotional and physical stress. Overwork has a negative impact on intellectual development and physical skills.
Sleep between complementary foods
Most babies rest according to an approximate schedule: 3-4 hours of sleep are replaced by 2-3 hours of wakefulness. Many babies wake up to feed every 2 hours. This is a normal pattern when forming a lactation regimen. Frequent complementary foods increase the volume of milk produced by the mother, the baby feels calmer and more confident.
Important! If the baby sleeps for a long time, it is undesirable to wake up the baby for feeding. An insufficiently rested baby will start screaming and will not be able to sleep for a long time.
Sleep is important for all babies, especially low birth weight or premature babies. The task of adults is to create conditions for a calm and comfortable rest. If your baby sleeps too little or for too long, you should consult a pediatrician.
