It's no secret that a good rest is the key to health. After all, it helps to restore strength and energize to do new things. And what about the children? Healthy sleep for them is first of all a correct and harmonious development. But in order for it to be such, one must adhere to the regime. But what should be the sleep mode of a child up to a year, is described in this article.
Features of baby sleep
Sleep is the most important part of a baby’s life, because after birth, during the first year, a child spends a lot of time sleeping. A healthy sleep provides him with the correct physical, mental and emotional development.
In the first year of a child’s life, it is important to instill in him the right habits and observe the regime of the day, which includes daytime and nighttime sleep, and the period of wakefulness, and feeding time. That is, the daily routine at this age reflects the most basic needs of the child.
The first two months after birth, the baby sleeps 20 hours a day. At first, no regimen is needed, let the child sleep for the first month of his life as much as he needs. But from three months it is already possible to develop and adhere to the sleep and wakefulness of a child up to a year. After all, at this time, the child spends more time outside of sleep.
The sleep pattern of a child up to a year depends on the amount of his feedings. If everything is in order with health, then on average such a baby will need seven feedings per day, six of which will be during the day and one feeding at night. The interval between feedings is approximately 3 hours.
In the period from 1 to 3 months, the baby sleeps 17-18 hours (11 hours at night and 4 times during the day, 1.5-2 hours each).
A child’s sleep from 3 months to six months is 16-17 hours a day. Night sleep is reduced to 10 hours, and without feeding the baby can oversleep for about 6-8 hours. Daytime sleep remains unchanged.
At this age, the child is transferred to six-fold feeding. That is, during the day, the baby will eat 5 times, and at night - 1. The time between meals is increased by half an hour. By the way, at this age it is useful to begin to teach a child to eat with a spoon.
From 6 to 9 months, the baby sleeps three times during the day, all the same for 1.5-2 hours. Activates your baby between sleep periods of about 2-2.5 hours. The baby eats already 5 times with an interval of 4 hours. Usually at this time, the baby is fed for the last time late in the evening, and the baby sleeps 8 hours without feeding.
In the period from 9 months to a year, the child’s sleep regimen is reduced to 2 times a day for 2.5-3 hours. The wakeful period is 3.5-4 hours. The feeding regimen remains the same. For a good daytime routine, a baby of 1 year recommends daily walks. It is better to carry them out 2 times a day for 1.5-2 hours. The baby can also sleep while walking outdoors.
Sleep rates
The table of sleep patterns for children up to a year and older (see below) significantly simplifies the life of parents. Thus, based on this table, they can study the sleep standards of infants and older children. And also plan for your child a sleep regimen of up to a year for months.
Age | The norm of daytime sleep | The norm of night sleep | Daily rate |
1-2 months | 7-9 hours | 8-10 hours | 16-18 hours |
3-4 months | 6-7 hours | 10-11 hours | 16-17 hours |
5-6 months | 4-5 hours | 9-10 hours | 14-15 hours |
7-8 months | 4 hours | 9-10 hours | 13-14 hours |
9-10 months | 3-4 hours | 9-10 hours | 12-13 hours |
11-12 months | 2-3 hours | 9-10 hours | 12-13 hours |
1-1.5 years | 2-3 hours | 9-10 hours | 12-13 hours |
2-3 years | 1.5-2 hours | 9-10 hours | 11-12 hours |
But do not forget that each child is individual and these indicators are conditional. Do not torment your child, adjusting it to the specified numbers. On the contrary, parents need to adapt to the rhythm of the baby. Therefore, the sleep mode of a child up to a year by the hour can vary by 1-2 units up or down, and this will be absolutely normal.
Do not forget that a child’s sleep can be disturbed for various reasons. For example, due to colic or teething.
Recommendations for organizing children's sleep
In order for the child’s sleep mode at 1 year not to be disturbed and fixed, it is necessary to follow the rules of children's sleep. Then your baby will sleep soundly and calmly, and accordingly, develop correctly. Yes, and parents from this will only be easier and calmer. So, here are these recommendations:
- Properly organized place to sleep. In the first months, the child should sleep without a pillow, in the future you can buy the so-called butterfly pillow. Some place a rolled diaper under the head or mattress, but you can do without it. It is recommended to use an elastic mattress so as not to distort the child’s posture. By the way, the pillow is initially absent for the same reason. A coconut-filled mattress is best suited.
- The right temperature. Ventilate the room before putting your baby to bed, but don’t dampen it. The optimum temperature is 18-22 degrees.
- Rearrange the crib. The place to sleep the child should be flat and dense, without various folds and depressions. They can cause the baby discomfort and disrupt his sleep.
- Hygiene before bedtime. The child should sleep, being dry and clean. Therefore, do not forget to change the diaper and diaper of your baby during the time.
- Feeding before bedtime. A well-fed child will sleep harder and longer. Therefore, be sure to feed your child before you put him to bed. Breasts often fall asleep already during feeding. Wait until the baby releases your nipple itself, because having taken it prematurely, you can disturb its still deep sleep and cause concern.
- Bodily contact. If possible, do not leave the child during sleep, especially during the first 2-3 months. When the baby feels close by you, he will sleep more calmly and the process of awakening will not injure him.
- Bathing. This procedure helps to adjust the baby to sleep, especially if soothing decoctions of herbs such as chamomile or calendula are added to the bath. Water temperature should be 36-37 degrees in the first month. Then it is recommended to reduce it by 1 degree every week. However, until the baby is 3-4 months old, the temperature should not be lower than 33 degrees! Duration of bathing - 10-20 minutes. At first, the baby may resist this procedure, but soon he will understand that it precedes feeding and sleep.
- Swaddling. If the child sleeps calmly, then this is not necessary. But if the baby strongly waves his hands and expresses general concern, then you can swaddle him, but in no case tight! This may bother the child even more.
- Day and night. At first, the baby does not navigate the time of day, because he is constantly sleeping. But after a month after birth, you can begin to distinguish between these concepts. During wakefulness during the day, turn on the light, play with the crumbs, do not reduce the sound of the TV or music. But at night, on the contrary, the light should be dimmed, and the games left for the daytime.
- Motion sickness. Do not swing the baby for too long before going to bed. Children get used to it very quickly, and then weaning them off can be problematic.
Sleep disturbance
Up to a year, the child’s sleep pattern may be violated for certain reasons. This can occur due to colic and abdominal pain, feeding, illness or fears of the child.
To combat colic, you can put the baby on a hard surface before the feeding process. After eating, it is advisable to keep the child in a column until he burps. Also proven remedies for colic are dill water, baths with decoctions of herbs and light massage in the abdomen.
If the baby is on artificial feeding, then the cause of sleep disturbance may lie in the improperly selected mixture. It can upset the stomach and cause allergies. If you can do without an additional mixture, then this crumb will only benefit your baby. After all, feeding a baby with breast milk does not cause such problems with the baby’s gastrointestinal tract. Of course, if the mother eats properly and does not eat allergenic foods.
Violations in the sleep mode of a child up to a year in months can occur for various reasons. For example, a child at 4-5 months old can sleep poorly because his teeth are being cut. Teethers or special products in the form of gels, which are sold in a pharmacy, will come to the rescue in this situation. However, before buying such funds, it is better to consult a pediatric therapist.
It is also necessary to be careful with the introduction of complementary foods. About six months later, the baby begins to try to give new products for him. Two days are enough to reveal whether the child has an allergy to this product or not. Do not give more than one product at a time, give in small portions and remember that the food should be natural.
Another factor in poor baby sleep is lack of attention. Try to shake the child for a short time, he should calm down and fall asleep. But if you can’t calm the baby for more than 10-15 minutes, then the reason is not in the lack of attention. By the way, at about six months, the baby can already fall asleep on its own.
Two years of sleep disturbance can be caused by nightmares. If you notice that your baby is constantly restlessly sleeping, it is best to contact a child psychologist. It will help to find out the causes of increased anxiety and eliminate them.
Other causes of sleep disturbance
In addition to the above factors, the child’s sleep pattern after 1 year can also be violated for the following reasons:
- Your child leads a sedentary lifestyle.
- Something excites his nervous system (bright light, loud conversations, TV sound).
- Something gives the child discomfort (hungry, uncomfortable bed, wet diapers).
- Dry or, on the contrary, too humid indoor air.
- Unsuitable temperature (cold or hot).
- Feeling unwell.
- Anxiety and anxiety crumbs, nightly fears.
How to normalize the regime?
What to do if your child is one year old and his sleep pattern has gone astray? Need to fix it. Here are some suggestions on how to do this:
- Watch the baby. For convenience, it is better to write down what time of day or night the baby prefers to fall asleep, and at what time to wake up. So you will understand what kind of sleep rhythm your baby wants.
- Make a plan. It is better to observe during the week. Then plan when and how much you will put your child to bed. Do not forget that for every age there are norms, try to adhere to them.
- Stick to your plan. But if your baby sleeps more than the prescribed time, do not wake him. Thus, you can disrupt the formation of crumb biorhythms.
- Rebuild the day. It is necessary to include your sleep mode. Try to put your baby to bed after feeding or walking. Most children experience drowsiness just at this time. If your child likes to sleep in the fresh air, while walking, then the time allotted for sleep and stay in the fresh air can be combined.
- Night feedings. From six months, the child needs to be fed at night only 1 time. If he is already used to frequent nightly feeding, then it is necessary to reduce it to 1-2 times.
- Calm, only calm. On the eve of how to put your child to bed, play calm games with him, read a fairy tale, or just chat. The main thing is not to activate the baby before bedtime.
- Ritual preparation for bedtime. You can come up with your own ritual of certain actions that will precede a night's sleep. For example, relaxing games, swimming, massage, feeding, sleeping.
- Patience. In order for the crumb to become a habit, at least 2-3 weeks must pass. This period can be quite difficult for both you and your baby. But you need to be patient, because in the future you will say to yourself "thank you".
What changes after a year?
It is worth noting that some parents prefer to do without a child’s sleep regimen after a year. They believe that their child must decide when to sleep, when to play, and when to eat. However, this is not the right move in raising children. Such permissiveness can lead to licentiousness of the child and spoil him. Sleep and wakefulness is necessary in order to instill certain habits and discipline.
Those parents who are of the opinion that the child should sleep during the day, prefer to put him at 12: 30-13: 00, after lunch. In this case, it is advisable to feed the baby with a light soup in order to ensure a light and healthy afternoon nap.
The duration of daytime sleep should be 1.5-2 hours. In no case do not allow the child to sleep for 3-4 hours in the afternoon. After such a long day's sleep, the child may feel unwell and mood. However, a dream that lasts 30 minutes will not bring any benefit to the child.
The child's sleep regimen in a year and a half
In fact, it is no different from the regime of a one-year-old child. He should also sleep once a day for 1.5-2 hours. If your kid still refuses such a regimen, then you need to hurry to teach him to him, especially if in the near future you plan to attend kindergarten.
By the way, everyone knows that in kindergartens, daytime sleep continues until the very oldest preschool age. It lasts from 13:00 to 15:00. You can rely on this time interval to make a sleep schedule for your child. In this case, it will be even easier for him to adapt in kindergarten.
4 days sleep
In this case, the question is not so much in the length of daytime sleep, but in its availability. After all, the child is already old enough, can he do without sleep during the day? The sleep mode of a child of 4 years old depends only on you and your child.
At this age, many children continue to sleep during the day, but 5-6-year-old babies prefer to abandon it. Even if your child is still sleeping during the day, the duration of such a dream is significantly shortened. Mostly they sleep an hour and a half.
Daytime sleep depends on how busy their day was. If the children are exhausted, they can oversleep for 2 hours. But at the same time, they calmly respond to the absence of daytime sleep. That is, at 3-6 years old children need it from time to time. The presence of daytime sleep will also depend on the time of raising the children and the quality of their night's rest.
It is worth noting that if you give up daytime sleep too early, this can adversely affect the child’s nervous system. Unreasonable tantrums and moods may appear. Therefore, at this age you can safely listen to your child. He himself will tell you whether he still needs a daytime dream or not.
You can also determine the need for daytime sleep by simply observing your child. If during the day a good, steady mood prevails, there are no incomprehensible bursts and emotional outbursts, as well as rises in the morning are given with ease, then you can refuse to rest in the afternoon.
What does Dr. Komarovsky say?
Dr. Komarovsky about the sleep pattern of a child at 2 years old says that the laying procedure is complicated and you need to be prepared for this. If a younger child can be laid by following certain recommendations and rituals, then after 2 years the kids become trickier. Here, all the well-known tricks are used: now to eat, then to drink, then to go to the toilet.
But here you can correct the situation. For example, interest your child in a dream. Tell us that in a dream the characters of his favorite cartoon or fairy tale will come to him. Or come up with an interesting activity that you can do after sleep.
You can also use soothing music. For example, music for relaxation will perfectly set the child to sleep. Especially if you combine it with a dim light in the bedroom.
Also try to keep your baby’s wakeful time active and interesting. Then the child will happily want to rest during the day.
Dr. Komarovsky on the regimen of the day in a child
A well-known pediatrician speaks very well about the presence of a sleep and wakefulness regime for a child. A clear daily routine will only be useful to the baby.
The doctor recommends planning your child’s daily routine. You, as a mother, know better what will be good for your child. Therefore, you can not listen to the comments of grandmothers and aunts and feel free to break stereotypes.
Only you can manage the rhythm of your family’s life and act in a way that suits you. This will help to avoid unnecessary quarrels and conflicts between family members.
Do not think that if you force a child to do what he does not want at the moment, you will be a bad mother and your baby will suffer. In fact, you only make your child better by accustoming him to order and mode. In addition, children quickly get used to changing conditions, especially if loving parents are nearby.