What can be the regime of a three-month-old baby? And is he needed at all? The daily routine is needed for both the baby and its parents. It is useful and convenient: the crumbs are always full, dry and clean, develops in accordance with age, and the mother can efficiently organize her day. Follow a certain regime can (and should) start with a three-month-old baby.
Why you need to follow the routine
The regimen for a three-month-old baby is not the whim of the parents, who will find it more convenient to feed and put the baby to bed by the hour, but a real concern for his health. Its observance will protect the baby or the artificial person from the development of allergies. Children who are fed according to a certain schedule are less likely to have problems with the digestive system and metabolic processes. Difficult periods (teething, disease, etc.) will be much easier.
Parents are also very comfortable to know what time to do gymnastics with their child, when to go for a walk or put the baby to bed. You can organize the day so that you have time to cook dinner, go to the store for shopping, do the cleaning. The schedule is optimal, it includes time for physical and intellectual development. Time can be planned so that dad, grandparents, brothers and sisters participate in the upbringing and care of the baby. The child will feel loved and will receive positive emotions from communication with all family members.
The daily regimen of a three-month-old baby is a guarantee of the development of crumbs according to age indicators. The kid will spend enough time in the fresh air, will always be fed, clean and dry, rested. The schedule should be convenient not only for the child himself, but also for parents and for the family as a whole. If there is a desire to feed the baby on demand - why not do it if living in such a rhythm is convenient for the whole family. If not, you should draw up an individual routine, but move on to it gradually and correctly.
Indicative schedule
Approximate daily regimen for a three-month baby:
- 6:00 - awakening;
- 6: 00-7: 30 - morning procedures: hygiene, exercise, massage, feeding, walking or waking;
- 9: 00-9: 30 - the first dream;
- 9: 00-11: 00 - wakefulness, feeding, developing activities and walking;
- 11: 00-13: 00 - daytime sleep (it is better for the child to sleep in the air);
- 13: 00-15: 00 - feeding and activity: massage, games, developing activities;
- 15: 00-16: 30 - the third dream:
- 16: 30-18: 00 - feeding, communication with dad;
- 18: 00-21: 00 - feeding and relaxing games before going to bed, bathing and evening toilet;
- 21: 30: 6: 00 - feeding and a night's sleep;
- 23:30 or 2:00 - night feeding (if the child has not refused it).
But each person is individual, so doctors can only give advice, and parents themselves choose the optimal daily routine, taking into account the characteristics of the baby and the needs of the family.
Three-month baby sleep
A person spends about a third of his life in night dreams, which averages eight hours a day. Newborns sleep much more - about fifteen hours a day. Which are divided into five to six unequal gaps. The sleep regime of a three-month-old child includes the longest night rest, which lasts about eight hours. During the day for normal development, the baby also needs to rest approximately every two hours of wakefulness.
The described variant of the regimen of the day of a three-month-old child is the norm variant. But in reality, babies often cannot fall asleep in the evening and afternoon, often wake up at night, sleep uneasily. Parents are able to help their baby sleep soundly at the right time.
How to speed up falling asleep baby?
In order for the child to fall asleep well, he needs to play enough, actively move, get new emotions, but in moderation. Thirty minutes before bedtime, the baby needs to be reassured by verse, fairy tale, song, favorite toy, light massage, water procedures. When bathing in the evening, restless children can add herbal decoctions or safe essential oils to the water, and soothing tea during the day. This will take effect!
The daily routine of a three-month-old baby breastfeeding can be completely subordinate to feedings. After applying to the chest, when saturated, the baby falls asleep very quickly and firmly. The fact is that breast milk contains hormones that calm the nervous system. But just as quickly, the baby wakes up, because breast milk is absorbed faster and easier than the mixture.
There is a problem - the child begins to associate breasts and sleep, which causes a lot of trouble to parents. Therefore, you need to try to separate sleep and feeding from the age of two months: for example, feed and put to sleep in different rooms. But the dummy helps the artificers to calm down quickly.
Very useful sleep in the fresh air. On a walk or on a balcony with open windows, babies fall asleep very well. But the baby must be well-dressed. They have a beneficial effect on the nervous system and help to lay the baby quiet classical (or any instrumental) music, the sounds of nature, and some children prefer white noise.
Original rituals will help the three-month-old child follow the regimen. A warm bath every day before bedtime or a favorite toy nearby can be a signal for going to bed. And if the child sleeps restlessly, waves his arms and legs, wakes up from his own movements or is frightened of them, then it is better not to swaddle him tightly and stay close while falling asleep.
Feeding babies and artificers
Breastfeeding a newborn is applied to the breast as often as he asks. This is important for the formation of lactation in the mother, the sucking reflex in the baby, maintaining his calm. A more active growing baby is transferred to a diet.
A three-month-old child needs to be controlled so that he eats up, but does not receive too much food. Excessive nutrition leads to allergic reactions, diathesis, and digestive problems. Many pediatricians believe that a baby's rashes come from adding a mom to a new product in her diet. As a rule, reducing the number of feedings quickly helps get rid of redness.
The volume of milk consumed by a three-month-old baby per day should be approximately 900 ml. The baby is applied to the chest at least six times a day, approximately every 3 hours. The daily regimen of a three-month-old baby on artificial feeding is slightly different between meals. Pediatricians advise feeding such babies six times with an interval of four hours, because the digestion time of the adapted milk mixture is slightly longer than the mother’s milk.
Breasts need to receive pure boiled water only in hot weather. It is better for the baby to drink from a spoon so that he does not give up his chest. In addition, the baby, accustomed to a spoon, will be easier to switch to complementary foods.
When feeding with milk mixtures, water should be given to the baby from the first days of life. You need to buy a special one, which is sold in pharmacies. In three months you can add natural apple juice to the water (but not more than a teaspoon). The liquid is offered to the artificer in a bottle between meals. Usually a three-month-old baby drinks from 100 to 200 ml of water per day.
For troubled babies or children who have digestive problems, you can give special children's teas: soothing (chamomile) or improving the digestive system (fennel). Such teas are sold in pharmacies. The package must have a corresponding mark ("from the first days of life", for example).
Walking with a three month old baby
A three-month-old child needs daily walks once or twice a day. It is better to walk in squares and green parks, where there are no sharp sounds, and the air is cleaner than near roads. Insufficient supply of oxygen to the blood leads to drowsiness, fatigue, pain.
The duration of the walks depends on the weather and how the baby tolerates this part of the regime. A three-month-old child can walk at a temperature not lower than -15 degrees Celsius in the winter and not higher than 40 degrees in the summer. Not the best weather conditions for walking - strong wind and rain.
In the fresh air, the baby may not sleep, but examine birds, plants, people and houses. Emotional and curious grown up children tend to study the world around them, so they need to be picked up more often and shown what might be of interest. The crumb may like to walk in a sling or ergo-backpack in warm weather, but the device should be safe and age-appropriate.
If the child prefers to sleep while walking, it is worth finding a quiet place. Hearing in infants is very sensitive, so it is better to lower the visor of the stroller and move to a deserted place. Flat noise of cars in the distance will not do much harm, but loud laughter in the playgrounds can wake the baby. In the summer, while sleeping on the street, you must use a mosquito net.
Features of wakefulness
The regimen of a three-month-old breast-fed or artificial baby is already longer in waking hours than before. The baby has not been sleeping for about nine hours. During this period, parents conduct a morning toilet and other hygiene procedures, play, do massage and feed the baby several times.
Three-month-old baby is active for about 2-3 hours in a row. At this time, he explores the world around him, himself and his abilities through communication with his mother and relatives, movements of his arms and legs, looking at everything that comes into view. The child responds to the actions of familiar people with lively facial expressions and walks. The baby cries loudly or begins to worry with strangers or if something bothers him.
A three-month-old baby reacts to the movement of objects and sounds by turning his head. Some children may roll over to their side or tummy. In this position, the radius of objects available for study increases. Toddlers love to look at pens for a long time, moving their fingers, or watch toys suspended at eye level, but so that they can be reached.
Great interest in a child at this age is caused by rattles. Very soon, the baby will understand the relationship between their own movements and the sounds that the rattle enclosed in the hand makes. Facial expression also needs training. Parents can build faces, and the child will try to repeat. Positive emotions will certainly cause the game “cuckoo”.
Already in three months you can begin to read fairy tales, consider colorful pictures in books, explore the world with the help of tactile sensations. Some parents show a little simple educational cartoons. To ensure timely emotional and mental development, it is advisable to often pick up the child in his arms, bring to various things and call them.
Hygienic procedures and gymnastics
The regimen of a three-month-old baby on artificial feeding or breastfeeding provides for hygienic procedures. Waking up the baby in the morning, wash, change the diaper. The face is wiped with a sponge or a piece of cotton dipped in warm water. For each eye you need to take a separate cotton pad. The eyes are wiped only with boiled water or a decoction of chamomile. You need to change the diaper every time the baby gets it dirty. After washing, a special moisturizer or powder is applied to the skin under the diaper (depending on the type of skin).
Children are bathed most often in the evening, but if the procedure causes a lot of discontent or invigorates, then it is better to spend it in the morning. You can purchase a special bath, stand or bathing circle. Such devices will facilitate the procedure and allow the child to be in the water without the help of parents. But you can never leave the baby unattended when he bathes.
With the baby’s soap they bathe twice a week, it is enough to wash your hair once. You can not bathe a tired and capricious baby at all, but postpone the procedure to the next day or later. It is useful to add decoctions of medicinal herbs to the bath water: chamomile, calendula, string, plantain, sage. Lavender, needles or mint will help soothe the baby before going to bed.
In the morning, they perform gymnastics, and for pain in the abdomen - a special massage. Charging should take at least twenty minutes. Exercises consist of limb movements (flexion, extension), turning on the tummy. The last exercise is important for strengthening the muscles of the neck, arms and back, which subsequently affects the ability of the crumbs to crawl. For the normal development of the hip joints, the baby is gently pushed apart and bent by the knees.
Opinion of Dr. Komarovsky
For a three-month-old child, the regimen, according to a famous pediatrician, is mandatory. A clear schedule is usually perceived as something bad, a system of prohibitions and restrictions. A regime is not a biological need, but a mechanism that facilitates the fulfillment of social functions. So, the pediatrician believes that the child needs to be adapted to the interests of the family so that his health does not suffer, and the parents remain happy.
Inverted mode. Decision
Some parents are faced with such a violation of the regime of a three-month-old baby - during the day the baby sleeps soundly, and at night begins to stay awake. In this case, the local pediatrician will appoint a soothing decoction, and parents need to try to establish the correct routine. The cause of the problem should be established. Intestinal colic, pain, fever may prevent the baby from sleeping well at night. In this case, you need to consult a pediatrician. During the day you need to wake up the baby (this is contrary to accepted moral principles, but will help to establish the correct routine), and in the evening engage in calm games so as not to overexcite the nervous system.
How to establish compliance with the routine?
The regime of a three-month-old baby on mixed feeding, breastfeeding or artificial can be established on its own. Then parents need to analyze the natural routine of the baby and stick to it in the future, if it suits the whole family. If the child sleeps every day, is awake and eats at different times - it is necessary to establish a regimen.
Throughout the day, it is advisable to organize activities so that the baby spends time actively. The issue of compliance with the regime should be especially strictly observed in the sleep and wake schedule. If the baby sleeps during the day more than the prescribed time, you should gently wake him up. During night awakenings, you do not need to turn on the light, talk loudly. Parents should make it clear to the baby that they need to sleep at this time of day. The last feeding should ideally be at 23:00 or 00:00, so that the baby does not wake up in the morning from hunger.