Causes of sleep disorders in a month-old baby

Periods of sleep at night in a child under four years of age: normal mode

0-3 months

Babies from 0 to 3 months sleep for 30-50 minutes at night, going through the stages of shallow and deep sleep. At this age, shallow sleep prevails over deep sleep. Your baby will wake up after finishing one sleep cycle and often need help getting back to sleep.

3-6 months

By 3 months, the beginnings of a sleep-wake pattern appear. Children sleep up to 3-4 hours straight at night. This reduces the number of awakenings.

6-12 months

By 6 months, your baby is sleeping through his longest stretches of sleep without waking up during the night. Going to bed for the night is between 18:00 and 20:00. It takes your baby less than 30 minutes to fall asleep. Provided that there are no problems with sleep and the child is not overtired. At night, a child can sleep up to 6 hours. Sometimes more.

Almost two thirds of children wake up only once at night for feeding. But there are also babies who still wake up about 3-4 times.

1-2 years

After one year, children can sleep peacefully all night and do not need additional feedings if their diet is adjusted and there is no food-sleep association.

2-4 years

At this age, night sleep is already stable.

In the first hours after going to bed, children sleep in the deep sleep phase. Therefore, it is difficult to wake them up. In the second half of the night, babies sleep more superficially and shallowly. At this time, it is easier to wake up the child; night awakenings occur more often during this period.

But if the baby has problems sleeping, then even in the first half of the night he may wake up often.

The sleep cycle lengthens as the child gets older. By 3 years it reaches 60 minutes. By age 5, children have the same sleep cycle as adults—90 minutes.

Which bed is better for a child to sleep on?

Choosing a bed for a child

Standard children's beds suit the child well. The choice is up to the parents. It is important to approach the choice wisely; convenience for the child and parents is the guideline for choice.

Choosing a children's mattress: its density should be medium. An overly soft mattress leads to squeezing and bending of the body when lying down. The spine should lie straight along the line, without unnecessary bending, maintaining only physiological curves. An overly hard mattress is also uncomfortable and uncomfortable for a child.

What pillow should a child sleep on?

Choosing a baby pillow

The height of the pillow should be such that there is no tilting of the head to the side when lying on the side; There was no backward bending when lying on the back.

So, a pillow with a height of 2-3 cm is suitable for a child from birth to 3 months.

You can make such a pillow yourself: take a synthetic padding polyester, fold it into 4 layers and sew it into a pillowcase 20 by 40 cm. It is preferable to purchase a special low pillow for newborns.

We often recommend an orthopedic pillow for newborns, with a recess for the back of the head, in order to form a physiological cervical lordosis.

Orthopedic pillow from birth to 6 months

The head fits comfortably into such a pillow, like a testicle in a socket, reducing the likelihood of secondary deformation of the skull. Often we see when examining a child after 1-3 months that the back of the head is “skewed” due to the forced position of the head on its side (torticollis).

While positional treatment using an orthopedic pillow smooths out tension in the posterior cervical muscles, forming a slight, correct forward bend of the neck.

For a child 6-18 months old, we place a 4-6 cm pillow: this is already 8 layers of padding polyester.

There are doctors who say that children under 2 years of age do not need to sleep on a pillow. It is also more comfortable to sleep in the stomach position without a pillow. Try it! An individual approach is a selection method.

From 1.5 years old, we use pillows of standard sizes 40 by 60 cm, with a thickness equal to the width of the child’s shoulder, if you lightly press on the pillow.

Which pillow to sleep on

We select bedding for children in cute children's patterns, from soft natural (cotton, viscose) fabrics. For washing we use hypoallergenic special washing powders for children's clothes, using additional rinsing, followed by double-sided ironing.

Frequency of washing (changing) linen, depending on soiling: daily several times a day, but at least once a week.

Such measures may be less significant with age, in the absence of a negative reaction.

Frequent awakenings at night - is this normal?

As can be seen from the description of sleep patterns at night, frequent awakenings may be the norm in the first year of life. Therefore, here it is worth talking about the number and reasons for awakenings and looking at the child’s age to understand whether it is necessary to wait it out or whether it is worth working on sleep. If the baby wakes up too often for his age, sleep becomes fragmented, its quality deteriorates, and the deep sleep phase is shortened.

Why is it important? Shallow sleep is responsible for brain development. Deep - for physical recovery, restoration of tissues, muscles and nervous system.

If a child sleeps short sleeps and does not sleep at night, this affects his health and development:

• mood worsens;
• activity decreases while awake;
• tremor of the limbs appears;
• muscles weaken;
• growth slows down;
• problems with nutrition appear.

The benefits of night sleep for a child

Along with nutrition, sleep plays an important role in the development of a child.

During sleep, a number of processes occur in the body

1. The child’s brain matures and information is consolidated. Several studies have shown that children who sleep well and longer at night learn and remember information better.
2. Babies who sleep longer at night are less fussy during the day, are easier to negotiate with, and are better able to adapt to changing events while they are awake. Such children cope more easily with separation from their mother and are more willing to stay at home with a nanny or grandmother without her.
3. Lack of sleep negatively affects growth hormone. Because this hormone is produced during rest, a child who does not sleep well grows more slowly. Also, lack of sleep affects a child’s weight if the hormone leptin, which is responsible for the feeling of fullness, malfunctions. The baby will eat even after being full.
4. When children lack sleep, coordination is impaired, which leads to numerous injuries - the child more often falls and stumbles out of the blue.

Scope of the task.

Parents of young children are eager to learn more about what they can expect from their child's nighttime sleep routine. The studies carried out yielded different results because they were conducted on different populations and used different terminology and data processing methods. Typically, the incidence of night awakenings was estimated to be 100% in newborns and dropped to 20-30% in six-month-old infants. Once an uninterrupted night's sleep has been achieved, some children may begin to wake again during the night - this is often the result of social factors rather than maturational problems. Night awakenings are more common in early childhood. Research has shown that approximately one in three children under 4 years of age continue to wake up during the night, requiring parental intervention to get them back to sleep.

Why does my child sleep poorly at night?

Children's sleep at night is influenced by 3 main factors: physical, physiological-emotional and sleep habits.

Why doesn't a newborn sleep?

• Until 2-3 months, many newborns can sleep in any conditions. But there are more sensitive children who react sharply to the atmosphere around them. In this case, the child's sleep can be affected by temperature, humidity, extraneous sounds around and lighting during sleep and sleep.
• Overtiredness is the most common reason why a newborn does not sleep well. Up to 3 months, the baby is able to stay awake for no more than 45-75 minutes. The younger the baby, the less time he spends actively. Now even an extra 5 minutes can lead to excessive fatigue, which will make it difficult to fall asleep and make sleep more sensitive.
• Severe overexcitation. Babies are born with an immature nervous system and need time to adapt to the new world. Therefore, a newborn is easily overstimulated by excessive noise, long periods of wakefulness, and new people around. Your baby finds it difficult to process all the new information and needs quiet time to calm down and relax.
• Confusion of day and night. During pregnancy, the baby's sleep rhythms are closely related to the mother's movements. When she is awake and moving, her movements lull the baby to sleep. And when she goes to rest, the baby often wakes up and is ready to play. Babies also rely on their mother's hormones, especially melatonin, to help them sleep. After birth, the baby has to adapt and rely on its own internal clock, which “tells” it when to sleep and when to stay awake. But the newborn's circadian rhythms have not yet been formed. Therefore, the baby can sleep more during the day than at night.
• Health problems: colic, allergies, dermatitis, colds.

Why does the baby not sleep (3-6 months)

1. Sleep regression at 4 months. This is the most significant regression. The child develops circadian rhythms and begins to sleep according to an adult scenario. During regression, the baby often wakes up at night and cannot fall back to sleep. Sleep regression can begin at 3.5 months or, conversely, a little later than 4 months. It lasts from two to four weeks.
2. Nutrition. Does hunger cause frequent waking up at night? By 4 months, the baby may have formed the habit of eating and sleeping, if before that the mother gave the breast or a bottle every time to make him fall asleep, and fed him until he fell asleep. And if you form a habit in your child of eating often at night, it really awakens him to wake up to eat. However, this does not mean that the baby is hungry at night. He doesn't know how to fall asleep any other way.
3. Inappropriate routine that causes fatigue to accumulate. For example, with too short naps during the day, not enough naps during the day, staying awake too long and leaving late at night. With chronic excess, the level of the stress hormone cortisol inevitably rises in a child, which has a cumulative effect. Due to the action of cortisol and its partner adrenaline, the sleep cycle is shortened, and the child begins to sleep mostly superficially. Gradually, if the mother does not work under overwork, the child enters the phase of superficial sleep and wakes up without going into deep sleep. Over time, the baby sleeps only superficially. And sleep of 20 minutes, no more, which is also gradually reduced. As a result, the child stops sleeping at night, often wakes up and sleeps only on the chest, while rocking or with a pacifier in his mouth.
4. Teething. The child's first teeth appear. In the acute period in the first 2-3 days, when the pain is especially severe. At the same time, there will be other symptoms - the baby will put everything in his mouth, you will see increased salivation.
5. External factors. After 3 months, sleeping conditions greatly affect the baby's sleep, especially if the baby is sensitive.

6-12 months

• Problems with the regime. By 6 months, a predictable routine should already appear with 3 naps during the day, getting up at 7:00-7:30 in the morning and going to bed until 20:00. But if the baby sleeps poorly during the day and goes out late at night, then due to accumulated fatigue he will sleep poorly at night and wake up often.
• Nedogul. This factor is less likely to affect night awakenings. But it happens that a mother, afraid of overtiring her child, puts her to bed too early. An untired baby takes a long time to fall asleep and “walks” at night. Sleeplessness also happens if the child sleeps too much during the day.
• Inability to fall asleep on your own. At 6-12 months, most children, if they are not overtired and do not have sleep associations, are able to fall asleep on their own. They no longer need their mother’s help, as they did in the first months of life. But often a child has a habit of falling asleep while being fed, rocked, with a pacifier in his mouth, with his mother next to him. At night, waking up between sleep cycles, the child will ask for help to fall asleep too.
• Period of growth spurt, mastering a new skill. This is not the main reason for frequent night awakenings. No developmental leap can seriously affect a child's sleep. Only for a few days. If you see that after mastering a new skill the child has stopped sleeping, it is worth checking other factors.
• Sleep conditions are now especially important for quality rest. The child actively explores the world around him and is easily distracted. Therefore, if the room is too bright, he will be distracted by the objects around him. Temperatures that are too high or too low will make it difficult to fall asleep, as will air that is too dry, which can make breathing difficult.
• Physical discomfort. The child may wake up due to an overfilled diaper, uncomfortable sleep clothes, or if he sleeps under the blanket, keeps throwing it off and wakes up from the cold in the morning.

1-2 years

1. Switching to one nap too early. At 10-12 months, children have a period when they refuse a second nap. Mom doesn’t insist and switches to one nap. But physically, the child’s body is not yet ready for long periods of wakefulness. By the evening, fatigue accumulates, the child takes a long time to fall asleep and wakes up at night.
2. Daytime sleep ends too late. The child's brain regards sleep after 17:00 as nighttime. And if you decide to put your baby to bed for his second nap late, for example at 5:00-6:00 pm for an hour or two, he will wake up crying and then go to bed very late at night. If your baby consistently takes naps after 4 pm, it will be difficult for him to sleep 12 hours straight at night.
3. Something or someone wakes the child up at night. After a year, if the child can fall asleep on his own, he can sleep in a separate room. He may be sensitive to outside noise and would rather sleep alone in the room. You should only transfer your child to another room after consulting a pediatrician.
4. Teething, ear infections, digestive problems, and a stuffy nose cause frequent awakenings.
5. Too early transfer to a crib without sides. Until 2.5-3 years old, a child is not yet able to control his emotions in order to stay in bed without physical boundaries. If you transfer to an “adult” crib too early, you may encounter nightly “festivities”, the child’s trips to the parents’ room.

2-4 years

• Fatigue and nervous overexcitation. At this age, children begin to attend developmental classes and kindergarten. As a rule, problems arise with daytime sleep - the baby refuses to sleep or falls asleep too late during the day. New impressions and knowledge overstimulate the child’s nervous system and, with a lack of rest during the day, lead to light sleep at night.
• Fears, separation anxiety, stress. These factors appear if your baby is going through a difficult time in life: the addition of a second child, potty training, a new nanny, or the start of kindergarten can cause separation anxiety during the day and restless sleep at night. Nightmares may also appear during this period.
• Inability to fall asleep on your own. This is your case if, after completing breastfeeding, the child does not sleep better, or if he wakes up at night to drink compote and cannot fall asleep without you.
• Checking the boundaries of what is permitted. The child actively expresses his “I” and tests the boundaries of what is permitted. Often when it comes to sleep. Another fairy tale, another trip to the potty, another little kefir. The bedtime takes longer, and at night there are awakenings to check if mom is nearby.
• Active speech acquisition. Like the previous skills that the baby has mastered, mastering speaking also affects sleep. Your baby's brain is active and literally wakes him up to practice a new skill.

How long does a child sleep

• From birth to 3 months - 16 - 20 hours a day;
• 6 months - 14.5 hours;
• 12 months - 13.5 hours;
• 2 years - 13 hours;
• 4 years - 11.5 hours;
• 6 years - 9.5 hours;
• 12 years - 8.5 hours.

How long should a child sleep during the day?

Considering that 8 hours are spent on daytime sleep, the duration of daytime sleep is:

From birth to 3 months - 8 - 14 hours;

How long does a child sleep in:

• 1 month - on average 11 hours during the day and 8 hours at night;
• 6 months - 6.5 hours;
• 12 months - 5.5 hours;
• 2 years - 5 hours;
• 4 years - 3.5 hours;
• 6 years - 1.5 hours;
• From 12 years of age - no nap required.

How long does it take to fall asleep

It takes time to fall asleep - from a few seconds to 20-30 minutes. These are the bedtime norms for adults and children.

If the time to fall asleep extends beyond 30 minutes, then this condition is called difficulty falling asleep.

How to prepare your child for bed

Please note that the duration of night sleep will be 8 hours: optimally from 10 pm to 6 am or from 11 pm to 7 am. Therefore, every evening we plan time and distribute activities, systematically leading to sleep. Calm rather than exciting games in the evening are encouraged. When dad or mom comes home from work, which means an emotional outburst, no later than 1 hour before going to bed. Warm (at a temperature of 37.5 - 38 ° C), soothing hygienic bath before bed for 5-15 minutes, as an important daily ritual before bed.

Can a baby sleep with mom?

For children from birth to 3 years old, the most reasonable thing is to sleep in a crib, located in the parents' bedroom at arm's length from the mother.

Some babies after 1 year can easily sleep in a children's room, separate from their parents' bedroom. For most children, sleeping in a separate bedroom is comfortable from 2 to 3 years old.

Ideally going to bed looks like this:

The parents put the baby in the crib, read a fairy tale, or sing a lullaby, or calmly talk about good things, and leave the room. And looking into the room after 5-10 minutes, they observe the baby sleeping peacefully.

Most doctors do not recommend co-sleeping in a parent's bed.

Under these conditions, the mother does not rest completely, but tension and anxiety remain. There are also tragic cases where an exhausted mother, in deep uncontrollable sleep, covered the child with her body, which led to the suffocation of the baby. There is even a popular term for this phenomenon, “fell asleep.” And in my medical practice there was such a tragic incident. It is important to instill in a child from early childhood the skill of falling asleep and sleeping alone in his own bed.

Sleeping in a crib

Parents often ask the doctor: “How to teach a child to fall asleep at 1–3 months?” We answer: “We teach you a daily routine from an early age.”

How to create a daily routine for children from infancy

Correctly distribute the intervals between sleep and wakefulness, using information about age-related sleep needs.

Create a daily routine through external actions: when the child wakes up, you need to change the conditions.

And it becomes clear to the child that a period of wakefulness has begun.

Our actions during waking hours:

• we lift the child out of bed, wash, change clothes;
• feed;
• turn on the lights, increase the sound level (we talk louder and more emotionally, turn on the music);
• we play, engage in active activities, go for a walk, swim;
• We leave the child alone for a while so that he can lie down and play on his own.

How does a child understand that he should fall asleep?

We wait for the moment according to the regime when the baby is tired enough. Moreover, if he was not active enough motorly, and his waking time is over, then he is overtired emotionally, but not physically tired. This makes it difficult to go to sleep.

Task: for healthy sleep, it is necessary to create sufficient motor activity while awake - massage, walk, bathing, active crawling, exercise, exercise therapy, feeding.

If, while awake, the baby is held in his arms most of the time, rocked a little, and passed one by one to other family members, then only the adults will become physically tired.

Our actions during bedtime:

• wash or bathe, change clothes;
• sometimes (not always) we feed;
• put to bed;
• we stop playing;
• dim the lights, lower the sound level (quieter, less emotional, talk calmly, drawn out and affectionately, turn off the music, TV and other extraneous sounds);
• you can rock for a short time in your arms, in a crib, in a stroller;
• you can create conditions for sleeping in the fresh air (outside in a stroller, on a loggia in a crib);
• don't forget to ventilate the room.

It is important to ensure that the air in your child's bedroom is moist and cool.

• Frequent ventilation. If it’s cold outside, then ventilate the empty room. If there is no draft, then you can sleep with the windows slightly open.
• Heating regulators optimize the room temperature. Simple techniques are known - covering excessively hot batteries using wet diapers.
• Daily wet cleaning is ideal.
• Optimal humidity will be created by special air humidifiers. You can measure air parameters using a hygrometer and thermometer.

The recommended optimal air temperature for sleeping in a children's room is 16 - 20 °C.

The optimal relative humidity in the bedroom is 50 - 70%.

If our actions before bed are of the same, stereotypical nature, then the child creates a bedtime ritual. He quickly gets used to this sequence of events and falls asleep quickly and deeply.

If the child has not been awake enough time, or is not physically tired, or is emotionally overtired, then in order to fall asleep, he cries for a long time and loudly before going to bed. He may worry every time he falls asleep. This is already part of his bedtime ritual. He cannot sleep without crying, providing a release, an outlet for unspent energy.

This bedtime option is difficult for the baby and parents. You can avoid sleep disturbances only by following these instructions, understanding the physiology of sleep and the need for a rational regimen.

Why does the child not sleep at all at night and cry?

0-3 months

• The baby is going through the so-called “ purple cry ” . The apogee of crying occurs at 6-8 weeks of a child’s life. The crying may be sudden and unpredictable, as if the baby is crying in pain. The tears last for hours, especially in the evening and at night. As a result, the baby does not sleep at night.
• Colic, allergies, dermatitis.
• Excessive fatigue.

4 months-2 years

• New skills. The child is actively trying to practice a new skill. During light sleep, the baby thinks about a new skill and begins to try it: crawling, standing up, etc. As a result, he wakes up. It `s naturally. If your baby cannot fall asleep on his own, you will need to put him down again.
• The child is cold or hot, he slept in an uncomfortable position. The baby experiences physical discomfort (cold/hot, rested his arm/leg while sleeping. He can eliminate it himself if he can move, or the mother can eliminate it if the baby does not yet have motor skills.
• Frequent awakenings at night in the middle of sleep and crying are a sign of accumulated fatigue in the baby. The child may also shake his head and tremble.
• Requesting help if the child cannot fall asleep on his own. Most often, the baby forms an association between feeding/rocking/pacifier/mother nearby—sleep. His brain thinks that it is impossible to fall asleep any other way, and it is impossible. As a result, the tired child cries for help.
• Nightmares. Typically, nightmares may be closer to 2 years of age. Until this age, the child does not know that he needs to be afraid. All fears are formed in children under 2 years of age in response to their mother’s reaction.

Secondary sleep disorders

Secondary disorders are much more common than primary ones and are characterized by normal polysomnography data. Disturbed sleep patterns are often temporary, but can cause serious problems in the family if they continue for a long time. The most common secondary sleep disorder is night awakenings and reluctance to fall asleep at the appointed time, which is most often observed in children just starting to walk and in general in the preschool period. Although 95% of newborns cry after waking up at night and require parental attention to fall back to sleep, by the age of one year, 60 to 70% of children can actually fall back to sleep on their own. The concept of sleep associations is important. A child who goes to bed awake and learns to fall asleep using comfortable measures is usually able to self-soothe if he suddenly wakes up in the middle of the night. Conversely, a child who falls asleep with the help of a parent, such as rocking or simply physical presence, may have difficulty falling asleep independently after waking up in the night. In such cases, parents can be advised to change behavior, stop rocking the child, etc., wait longer than usual when the child cries after waking up, until the child gradually learns to calm down and fall asleep on his own.

What to do if your child has trouble sleeping at night?

What to do if a child does not sleep at any age:

• Make sure your child is healthy. The pediatrician observing your baby will help you with this.
• Create suitable sleeping conditions: - The temperature should be no more than 18-21 degrees in winter and no more than 23-25 ​​degrees in summer. Avoid overheating your baby. Dress your baby according to the room temperature.
  — Maintain optimal humidity of at least 50%.

  - Darken the room during all sleeps with curtains that do not let in sunlight. It is important that there is no gap between the curtains and the window, and that no electronic devices should be lit in the room. If your baby sleeps in a stroller, also use a special curtain over it or cover the stroller with a diaper.

• Spend the time 30-60 minutes before bedtime in quiet games. Finger games, puzzles, cutting, modeling, and drawing are suitable here. Depending on the age of the child.
• Move active activities to the first half of the day - trips to the doctor, massage, developmental activities.
• Introduce a bedtime ritual that will help your baby get ready for sleep.
• Be consistent in your actions. It will take time for your baby and you to get used to a new routine or sleep habits. Remember this and continue.

0-3 months

Organize a place to sleep that your baby will later associate with rest. It could be:

• Adult bed for co-sleeping.
• A crib that is attached to the parent's bed with one wall down.
• Separate cot in the parents' room. In each case, the place to sleep must comply with safety regulations. You should not put your baby in the crib while he is awake to play. It is also necessary to place the child on his back, and not on his side or stomach. The American Pediatrics Association recommends this position as the safest for infant sleep.

Learn to recognize the signs of fatigue. This will help you prevent your baby from becoming overtired. Common signs of fatigue in newborns:

• yawn;
• clenching fists;
• thumb sucking;
• distant look.

Start putting your baby to bed as soon as you see these signs.

Keep track of your waking hours. Typically, in the first months, babies can stay awake no more than the time of their previous sleep.

Use different styling methods and alternate them. For example, for one nap you rock it to sleep, for the second you feed it, and for the third you put the baby in the stroller to sleep. Perform a short ritual before bed.

Teach your baby to distinguish between day and night. While awake, open the curtains, take the baby out into the light, and do not muffle the noise. In the evening, turn off the overhead lights and reduce your activity. This will help adjust your baby's internal clock so that he sleeps longer at night.

Use white noise and swaddle your baby so that he does not wake himself up with his arms and legs during sleep and does not wake up from extraneous sounds.

3-6 months

Reduce fatigue. From 3 months, shift bedtime to earlier, so that by 4 months the baby begins to fall asleep between 18:00-20:00. Also try to gradually get up in the morning no later than 7:30. Switching to a physiological regime at 4 months will help avoid frequent night awakenings in the future.

Don't skip naps, but don't let your baby sleep too much during the day. Use the recommended sleep guidelines for each age as a guide.

When waking up at night, try to use a minimum of lighting, do not talk to the child unless necessary. This way he will understand that he still needs to sleep, and will fall asleep faster after feeding.

As your baby gets older, reduce the number of night feedings to avoid developing the habit of waking up to feed. By 6 months, babies are ready to eat every 4-5 hours and are able to sleep for longer periods of time.

Around 4-6 months we will notice that the baby is trying to fall asleep on his own. Help your baby: put him in his crib while he is not yet completely asleep. At night, at the first rustling sound, wait a minute or two and only then go to calm the child. However, if your baby already has a habit of waking up and asking outside help to fall asleep, this may not work.

If the baby sleeps only on the chest, you rock him day and night, awakenings are too frequent, then it is worth teaching the child the skill of falling asleep independently. The skill is taught from 4 months.

Don't know how to teach your baby to fall asleep independently? Join the online course on SZ and your child will sleep through the night in less than a month. Find out more on the website.

6-12 months

From this age, a fairly predictable routine with 3 naps a day should already appear. Maintain a consistent daily routine so your baby's body knows when to sleep.

Finish your last nap of the day before 5 p.m. and do not take it for more than 45 minutes in a three-nap routine. If the baby sleeps twice, both sleeps should be at least 1 hour each.

If your baby often wakes up in the morning to feed and then does not fall asleep, try changing the feeding schedule. For example, if your baby falls asleep after feeding at 19:00 and wakes up to eat at 2 in the morning, try waking him up at 23:00. Then put your baby to sleep until feeding at 6am.

If there are too many feedings and the child wakes up not because of hunger, but out of habit, and cannot fall asleep on his own, it is worth teaching the baby the skill of falling asleep independently using one of the methods.

Does the baby wake up and try to crawl, stand up in the crib and roll over? Actively practice a new skill while awake so that your baby quickly masters the new capabilities of his body.

Offer your child a toy to sleep on. It will become a positive association. Choose a medium-sized toy, without small parts.

1-2 years

Avoid overtiring your child. Baby still needs early bedtime and two naps until 15-18 months. You shouldn’t wait for your baby to show you when he wants to sleep. At this age, napping during the day should already be done by the hour. For example, if you wake up at 7:00, they will start at 9:30/10:00 and 13:30/14:00. Avoid staying awake for too long before heading out into the night.

Avoid watching cartoons and playing on your phone in the afternoon.

Do not transfer your baby to a crib without sides. If he starts waking up at night and tries to get out:

• lower the bottom of the crib as low as possible;
• increase the sides of the crib;
• change the mattress to a thinner one;
• Use a sleeping bag to sleep in, which will limit your baby's movements.

2-4 years

Maintain a daily bedtime routine.

Take a nap during the day and end it before 4:00 p.m. Stick to an early bedtime. Night sleep should begin no later than 20:30.

If your baby is afraid of the dark, try using a lamp with a dim, warm light. But not a projector with stars.

At night when he wakes up, calmly get up and put him back down with minimal interaction.

Explain to your baby the rules of nighttime sleep:

• everyone sleeps in their own beds
• we don't play at night
• We read one book while going to bed, go to the potty before going to bed

How to teach a child to fall asleep after waking up at night?

1. Wait a few minutes before approaching your child and soothing him. Let him try to fall asleep on his own.

2. When waking up at night, be as quiet as possible; if possible, do not use light.

3. If the baby does not fall asleep on his own, stroke his tummy, shush him, but do not take him out of the crib.

4. If the child is used to falling asleep during rocking, reduce their amplitude so that he gradually gets used to falling asleep in a static position.

5. Does the baby fall asleep only during feeding? Feed him and put him in his crib, soothing him with stroking.

Dysbacteriosis

Another important reason that guarantees restless sleep in infants is an imbalance of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. After a series of tests, a diagnosis of dysbacteriosis is made. The doctor will not only prescribe treatment, but will also help identify the cause of such an unpleasant disease.

Causes:

• improperly adjusted feeding;
• consequences of taking antibiotics.

With proper organization of breastfeeding, dysbiosis practically does not occur in children, unless there is a history of antibiotic use by the mother or baby, and also if there were no episodes of supplementary feeding or supplementation with foreign formulas, water, or other liquids.

Breast milk is an ideal, balanced environment that contains both nutrients and bacteria that ensure proper absorption of food. If necessary, a trained doctor will talk about the rules of breastfeeding recommended by WHO according to the natural biorhythm of the baby.

Artificial nutrition is also developed in such a way that it contains all the necessary substances and a complex of important bacteria. But a specific diet is not always suitable for a child; you have to go through options and take additional medications to improve digestion.

Causes

• binge eating;
• changing the type of food;
• early or incorrect complementary feeding.

Symptoms

The baby sleeps poorly and little; when he wakes up, he may scream for a long time and not fall asleep all night. He falls asleep during the day, most likely from fatigue, and periodically whimpers in his sleep, his sleep is short and restless. May refuse the breast or bottle, or arch. Does not calm down from the usual activities that helped with colic.

A characteristic sign is green, loose stool with an abundance of mucus and undigested milk clots.

The most important signal about the normalization of the condition is the child’s established normal sleep.

Mistakes that parents make when organizing their child's night sleep

• They wait until the baby wants to sleep and put him to bed too late.
• They let the baby play until the last moment and then abruptly begin to move on to putting him to bed.
• They don't always perform a ritual before bed.
• The last hour before bedtime is spent with the baby in active games.
• Allow your child to watch cartoons before bed.
• They do not create suitable conditions for sleep and hope that the child will sleep in light and noise.

When do you need specialist help if your child has trouble sleeping at night?

Symptoms for which you should definitely seek help

The baby does not sleep at all at night and sleeps during the day.

The baby refuses to eat during the day and hangs on his chest all night.

Going to bed at night lasts an hour and a half and is accompanied by tears, protests and hysterics.

The child wakes up too often for his age, cries when he wakes up and wakes up cranky in the morning.

You observe symptoms in your baby such as: hyperactivity, tremors of the limbs, slow growth and development, constant drowsiness, apnea, snoring, nightmares.

The child stopped sleeping after 4 months and the old ways of putting him to sleep do not help.

You notice that the baby does not get out of his hands during the day and has lost interest in games.

A child over 4 months sleeps no more than 20-30 minutes during the day in one nap; you cannot prolong dreams.