Baby does not sleep well at night, what should I do? Parents often ask this question at a pediatrician's appointment, especially immediately after birth. If the baby very often is naughty, wakes up and starts screaming at night, then this is an occasion to consult a doctor.
This can be a rather difficult problem, therefore, do not disregard it. Therefore, parents must definitely find out what is the reason for their baby's restless behavior.
What is sleep for?
Children sleep quite a lot, especially immediately after birth. Small breaks for infants are needed only for snacks. Scientists are of the opinion that during wakefulness in the human body certain substances accumulate, provoking fatigue and unproductive brain activity. A full night's rest is required to neutralize and destroy them.
Only after this the brain gets the opportunity to work further in normal mode. The baby's body lives according to its special biological rhythms. The occurrence of the desire to sleep, the duration of rest and its depth is influenced by many different factors, namely:
- weather;
- biological rhythms;
- lifestyle;
- the presence of disease.
Most pediatricians are of the opinion that children should not be forced to sleep when they do not want to. The longer the family has been preparing and going to bed, the more problems there are. For the child to sleep well and calmly, he must spend enough energy and get tired.
For newborns, you need to properly organize the daily routine. However, nothing can be imposed on the baby, since from a very early age it is already a person with his desires and needs.
Sleep Norms for Baby
To understand that the baby sleeps little, you need to know exactly the main features of the baby. A newborn is called a baby up to a month. It is very important to know and understand exactly in order to determine the age characteristics and needs of the baby.
It is believed that a child up to a month should sleep about 20 hours a day. Then gradually the need for sleep decreases. The baby must sleep day and night. The duration of sleep in children may vary slightly.
A baby in 1-3 months should sleep 18 hours a day, in 6-12 months the sleep lasts 14-15 hours. During the day, the baby sleeps 2 times for 2 hours, and at night - 10-11 hours. Despite all these norms, you need be guided by the individual needs of the baby. If a small child sleeps much less than other children and at the same time feels normal, then do not worry.
However, it happens that the baby does not sleep well at night, tosses and turns, cries and shudders. It is very important to determine for what reason this is happening, and also try to fix the existing problem as quickly as possible.
Often you can understand why a baby does not sleep well at night, an attentive mother can do it herself, if she, of course, was preparing for the birth of a child and attended courses. To do this, you need to analyze all the available factors that can affect the baby’s sleep. Otherwise, you need to seek help from specialists.
Causes of sleep disturbance in a newborn
Many parents wonder why the baby does not sleep well at night and what to do about it. Some children are uneasy at night, can wake up and then fall asleep for a long time, arranging tantrums. Parents are very worried if the newborn has trouble sleeping. If the child does not sleep well at night and often wakes up, then this may be due to such reasons as:
- the baby is hungry;
- uncomfortable conditions;
- the diaper is full or incorrect;
- stomach ache;
- loud noises around the child;
- problems with the skin.
Basically, a similar problem arises because the child is hungry. The baby does not eat up if the milk is not very fatty or not enough. It is important to analyze the entire feeding process and review nutrition.
If the baby does not sleep well day and night, then the problem may be uncomfortable conditions in the room. Before laying the baby, the room must be aired. During the heating season, it is recommended to use an air freshener. The optimal parameters are considered to be a temperature of 20 degrees and a humidity of 50%. It is better to dress the child warmer, but leave the window open.
Mom should definitely pay attention to whether the baby’s gas leaves normally and what kind of chair he has. Feces may occur after each feeding. If the gaziki do not leave normally, then the child cries and squeezes the legs. Pediatricians advise parents with colic to do a light massage of the tummy, making movements in a clockwise direction.
If all these reasons are excluded, and the baby does not sleep at night and during the day behaves uneasily, then you need to show the baby to the pediatrician. He will direct to a neurologist to identify possible pathologies.
Bad sleep in a child up to a year
Children definitely need a full night's sleep, as it gives strength and helps to recover after an active and eventful day. If problems are observed, it is very important to determine why the baby does not sleep well at night, and to correct the existing violations. In particular, provoking factors can be such as:
- age-related changes;
- wrong lifestyle;
- temperament of the baby;
- discomfort during sleep;
- feeling unwell.
It happens that an infant at 2 months sleeps poorly at night, and this may be due to age-related changes. This is due to the fact that in babies mostly superficial sleep prevails. In addition, babies need night feeding, which also affects anxiety.
The child’s temperament has a great influence, since active children sleep much worse than calm ones. They need much more time to prepare for bed and the process of falling asleep is more difficult. The baby needs special attention and the presence of an adult, even during sleep. With age, such a child becomes more impressionable and often has nightmares.
If the baby at 6 months of age does not sleep well at night, this may be due to the process of teething, which causes considerable discomfort. A sedentary lifestyle, very rare walks, can provoke a problem. The child can be active as much as he wants during the day, so that he sleeps peacefully at night.
Children, especially boys, react quite sharply to changing weather conditions. The main anxiety factors include mild malaise after vaccination, illness, and weakness. Negatively affect the baby’s sleep can even change the usual environment for him, moving to a new apartment. Usually, such a condition passes literally in a few days, and the child’s sleep immediately normalizes.
Psychological problems
Kids quite normally fall asleep to the noise of a working TV, soft music, conversations. However, a sharp enough sound or a very bright light can lead to sleep disturbance. To make the child more comfortable sleeping, you can darken the room with curtains.
When a baby at 3 months old does not sleep well at night, this may be due to the emotional state of her mother. Excessive activity, bad mood and nervousness are transmitted to the baby. During pregnancy, the baby becomes accustomed to hearing the sound of the mother's heart. Childbirth is stress not only for a woman, but also for a baby. In a completely new environment for him, he does not hear the beating of his mother’s heart and begins to experience a feeling of loneliness.
Therefore, you need to talk with the baby as often as possible, hold it in your hands, fall asleep next to it to feel protected. After a while, the child will get used to the new state, calm down and begin to fall asleep normally at night.
Physiological problems
If the baby does not sleep well day and night, then this may be due to pain, discomfort and discomfort. The most common causes are:
- intestinal colic;
- motion sickness;
- discomfort provoked by a wet diaper, overheating, cold.
Excessive gas formation often causes colic. During crying or in the process of feeding the baby captures too much air. Gases gradually accumulate in the intestines and provoke severe pain. The difficulty with the normal discharge of gases is provoked by the fact that the gastrointestinal tract has not yet fully formed. Very often, children wake up from discomfort at night and start screaming.
It is quite possible to understand that anxiety is provoked by intestinal colic, by the behavior of the baby. His tummy is tense, the child tightens his legs and cries. Usually colic begins to torment the baby at 3 weeks of age and ends at about 3 months. Parents should help the baby survive this period. When breastfeeding, mother needs to abandon the consumption of products that provoke increased gas formation. During feeding, it is important to ensure that the baby does not swallow excess air. After eating, you need to hold the baby in a column until he burps the accumulated air. If colic has already appeared, then massage or a warm diaper attached to the tummy helps very well.
Discomfort caused by a prolonged stay in the diaper, cold, overheating can lead to the fact that the baby sleeps badly at 4 months at night. With overheating, the skin begins to redden. The fact that the baby is frozen can be understood simply by touching his cheeks. If they are cold, then you need to shelter the child or dress warmer.
A prolonged stay in a wet diaper can cause severe irritation of the skin and even diaper rash. The skin of the newborn is very thin and delicate. It is best not to allow diapers to be used all the time. It is recommended that you use a diaper periodically.
Diaper rash is accompanied by burning, itching and gives the baby significant discomfort. After each washing of the child, the skin must be dried, not to allow strong wrapping, conduct air baths.
Many parents cradle a child before bed, but pediatricians do not recommend this. The baby's vestibular apparatus is not yet fully formed, so during motion sickness he can feel like on a carousel, which makes him cry even more. It can be very bad for him.
Wrong atmosphere
Comfortable for the baby is considered a temperature of 18-22 degrees. If the room is very hot, you need to ventilate the room as often as possible. The bed should be placed away from the window and heating appliances.
After birth, the baby is not yet aware of the difference between day and night. In order for him to quickly join the daily regimen, you need to create the child with all the necessary laying conditions that will help him understand this difference. In the afternoon you need to lull the baby in the darkness. At night you need to ensure the maximum possible darkness of the room.
Increased activity will prevent the child from falling asleep normally. The baby will not react to background noises, but if a lot of people are constantly next to him and they are talking, then there will be no normal sleep.
The effect of disease on sleep
Regardless of the age of the baby, a full sleep in a child is considered one of the most important diagnostic criteria for his health. An attentive mother literally immediately by changing the behavior of her baby will be able to determine his well-being. If the baby began to sleep poorly at night, then this may be a sign of poor health. The following deviations are considered significant:
- an unexpected awakening in the middle of the night with crying - signs of neurological problems and other pathologies;
- the desire to sleep at a time unusual for the baby is the first symptoms of an infectious disease;
- lethargy and drowsiness - manifestations of intoxication, dehydration, high fever.
All these signs require increased attention and care of parents. The baby needs to measure the temperature, call a doctor. If it is impossible to fulfill all medical requirements, if the child refuses to take medication, hospitalization is required.
During the course of any disease, especially with acute viral infections, do not forget to create the most comfortable conditions for the baby in the children's room. To prevent constant drying of the mucus in the nose and respiratory organs, regular ventilation of the room is required. If this is not done, then the baby will sleep very poorly and runs the risk of getting a bacterial complication.
During the acute course of the disease, the regimen of the day of the crumbs can vary significantly. This means a shift and increase in the duration of the usual rest period. Restoring your previous sleep regimen is considered a good sign of recovery.
How to speed up falling asleep
If the baby sleeps badly for 5 months at night, then you need to develop your own approach to lulling the baby. It is important to develop the rituals of laying the child, as well as accustom him to the regime of the day. After some time, the baby will want to sleep at certain hours. It is best to work out the following sequence: feeding, bathing, sleeping.
Well relaxes and soothes bathing in a warm bath with the addition of decoctions of herbs. If the child is concerned about colic, then you can give him dill water or massage the tummy. So that the child does not interfere with himself, you can swaddle him at night. The room is darkened and sing a lullaby or just talk to the baby in a quiet and calm voice. Experienced mothers recommend repeating the same words or phrases. The same actions sooner or later will form the habit of falling asleep. It is also necessary to remember the temperature regime.
Getting used to falling asleep requires a lot of time. It must be borne in mind that each child has his own character. During laying, do not strongly accustom the baby to the hands. Better just lie down next to him, pet, talk.
How to ensure a normal sleep
When the baby does not sleep well at night, absolutely all parents want to know what to do, since they are very worried about this problem. If a serious pathology was not found in the child, then special treatment is not required. In this case, the parents themselves can take care of their baby’s dream.
What to do, the baby does not sleep well at night? Priorities must first be set. A healthy child should sleep at the same hours as the rest of the family. It is also necessary to ensure well-being in the home. If the mother gets tired of the constant lack of sleep of the baby, then she can not fully care for him and do housework.
It is important to adhere to the optimal regimen. It should be convenient for both the child and parents. How much a child needs to be laid depends on his lifestyle and biological rhythms. The adopted schedule must be followed.
Not the best option to sleep with your child. It is best if he will rest in a separate bed in the bedroom with his parents. There is no need to be afraid to wake a sleepy baby during the day if he sleeps for a very long time, since then the child will not allow normal sleep at night.
It is important to optimize the feeding regimen. Children react differently to the process of eating food. Some want to sleep after eating, while others want to play. In the first case, the child in the evening needs to be fed tightly and satisfyingly. If the baby plays after eating, then you do not need to feed him much.
If the baby at 8 months old does not sleep well at night, then you should try to actively use it all day. The child should be busy all the time while awake. Breasts also need new information and communication. Be sure to spend some time outdoors. In bad weather, you need to walk on the street for at least half an hour.
At home, it is important to create the most comfortable sleeping conditions. The air in the bedroom must be fresh. There should be no dust accumulators and heaters.
The mattress in the child should be even, dense and moderately stiff. A pillow up to 2 years is not needed. You can just slightly raise the head of the crib. Breasts under the head put a folded diaper several times. Do not wrap the baby much. Better to wear warm pajamas.
Following these simple rules will allow the whole family to sleep peacefully throughout the night.
Pediatric Tips
Not everyone knows what to do: the baby does not sleep well at night. Komarovsky recommends initially to find out the cause of the problem and only then eliminate it.
Some parents turn to pediatricians with worries about the change in sleep in the baby. A baby at about 9 months of age may start to startle, sob, or laugh. Doctors consider this the norm, because the child perceives a lot of information and tries to analyze it during sleep.
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Experts recommend replacing active games before going to bed to replace with calmer activities with the baby, for example, reading fairy tales. Massage is also recommended. Smooth movements of mother's hands will help to relax and calm down.
When a baby does not sleep well at night, all parents should know what to do. It is very important to normalize the sleep regimen, and if there are any problems with the baby, then consult a doctor immediately.