At six months, the child no longer looks like a newborn baby. In the first six months of his life, he gains more than twice as much weight, learns to roll over, tries to crawl and tries to sit. Baby's Day is becoming more diverse. He begins to be actively interested in others, learns to express his emotions, develops new skills. For a child to develop normally, he needs a special regimen. Children at 6 months should be provided with full sleep, walks, hygiene procedures, proper nutrition, as well as massage, developmental games and exercises.
Food
So what do you need to know about this? The main food for the baby in half a year should be breast milk. He can receive it on schedule or on demand. But it should be borne in mind that the nutritional value of this product cannot satisfy the baby's needs at this stage of life. Therefore, you should gradually begin to lure the child with new products. For artificers, complementary foods by decision with a pediatrician can be tried to enter a couple of months earlier. The regimen of a 6-month-old baby, as well as artificers, should include 5-6 meals a day. It is optimal if 4 hours pass between meals. If the baby receives milk on demand, the number of feeds can be increased.
With a good rate of weight gain and the absence of a negative reaction to a new food, you can completely replace one feeding with breast milk to complementary foods. For complementary foods, nutrition in the form of mashed potatoes or juices, as well as special baby cereals, curds and yogurt, is best suited. These products should be selected under the strict supervision of a doctor, taking into account the individual details of the child.
What can I give to eat?
What should be the diet of a child at 6 months? Let's dwell on this in more detail. Until the end of the 7th month, cereals, juices, vegetable and fruit purees should be included in the diet. Porridge can be both on milk and without it. At the age of six months, buckwheat, corn, oat, and rice groats are best absorbed. It is better not to include ingredients with rice in the diet if the child is prone to constipation. The same goes for banana puree. You can add pear or peach puree to the porridge, as well as grated apples. If the child tolerates dairy products well, it is worth trying to pour 3-5 ml of fresh cream into the dish.
As for fruits and vegetables, it is better to start with apple, potato, pear puree. After a few weeks, the child can start giving pumpkins, carrots, bell peppers, prunes, bananas, apricots. Experts recommend adding a little vegetable oil to the vegetable puree. If before reaching the age of six months the child already received complementary foods in the form of vegetable and fruit purees, then you can offer crumbs products from veal, beef and chicken. At the same time, meat can be given as a separate dish, or mixed with vegetables and cereals. The yolk is introduced into the baby’s diet at the age of 6 months. A day is enough to use a quarter of the yolk.
Sleep
A newborn baby is awake in a total of no more than a quarter of a day. As it grows, the activity time by 6 months increases to 8-9 hours. The day's routine of a child at 6 months should be set aside for a night’s sleep. A child can wake up at night 1-2 times to eat. This is especially true for those children who eat breast milk. Artists are advised to eat cottage cheese or porridge at night. These products provide a feeling of fullness for a long time. After this, the child can oversleep for 9 hours without a break.
Daytime rest
What you need to know about this? The regimen of an infant's day of 6 months must necessarily include daytime sleep. Children of this age, depending on the degree of physical activity, excitability and temperament, can sleep 2-3 times for one and a half to two hours. Pediatricians recommend laying the baby to sleep at the same time every day, performing the same actions in a certain order before going to bed. This will help parents avoid various problems when falling asleep.
It should also be borne in mind that periodically , sleep and wakefulness may change. For example, if earlier he slept three times during the day, then with time two will be enough. If the duration of the third dream is reduced to 40 minutes, the child is reluctant to fit in and can stay awake for three hours without vagaries and overwork, which means he is ready to switch to a double sleep. Therefore, the mode of the child at 6 months by the hour will be very different depending on certain factors.
Waking periods
The regimen of children of 6 months differs from an earlier age in long periods of activity. At this age, the baby wants to have a more fun time, so the daily routine should include outdoor walks, games, gymnastics and massage.
Toys
Let's dwell on this in more detail. At this age, children especially enjoy playing while sitting in the playpen, on the highchair or on the developmental mat. They are able to spend a lot of time doing this. The main condition is that the toys that you offer the baby must be safe and designed for his age. In addition, they tend to contribute to its development. At six months, children play well with bright objects from different materials. Rubber balls, fabric cubes, plastic pyramids and various interactive toys are best suited.
In active games that can excite the baby, it is better not to play later than one and a half hours before bedtime. Emotional and physical excitement can prevent a child from falling asleep.
Outdoor activities
The regimen of a child of 6 months on artificial and breastfeeding must necessarily include walks. In the warm season, you can walk twice a day for 2.5 hours. At the same time, try to pay attention to the child around the objects surrounding him, show him birds, cats, dogs. Also, let the baby touch the leaves and smell the flowers. In the cold season, if the weather allows, try to go out at least once a day. Ventilate the apartment more often.
Physical exercise
So what are they for? The regimen of children of 6 months must necessarily include a simple exercise and massage. This will contribute to the proper development of the child, strengthen muscles, improve coordination. Before you begin such exercises, be sure to consult with a pediatrician. He will help you choose the best set of exercises. It is best for the first time to do gymnastics under the supervision of a specialist. He will check the correctness of the exercises.
Schedule
The regimen of a child at 6 months of age by breastfeeding or artificial feeding should be selected individually, based on the characteristics of family life. The main condition is that the schedule should be comfortable for the baby and satisfy all his needs. Below is the regimen for a six-month-old baby with a three-day sleep in the afternoon:
- 7:00 - awakening, washing;
- 7:10 - 7:30 - eating;
- 7:30 - 9:00 - games and exercises;
- 9:00 - 11:00 - the first dream;
- 11:00 - feeding;
- 11:00 - 13:00 - walks in the fresh air;
- 13:00 - 15:00 - second dream;
- 15:00 - feeding;
- 15:00 - 17:00 - walks in the fresh air;
- 17:00 - 19:00 - the third dream;
- 19:00 - feeding;
- 19:00 - 20:30 - communication with parents, quiet games;
- 20:30 - evening hygiene procedures;
- 21:00 - night sleep;
- 23:00 - a snack.
If it is enough for the child to sleep twice a day, then it is best to allocate for sleep time intervals from 10 to 12:30 and from 16 to 18:30. Resting at night may be longer. Sleeping at 6 months is of great importance. He will provide him with proper development, well-being and normal appetite.
Hygiene procedures
This aspect should be given special attention. The daily routine of a child of 6 months necessarily includes hygiene procedures. These include a morning toilet, washing after each bowel movement, and evening bathing.
The complex of hygienic procedures should include washing, caring for the ears, eyes, cavity. This stage is important not only to maintain the health of the child, but also to form useful habits. It is necessary to clean the crumb cavity even before the first teeth erupt. This will help prevent the development of pathogens. For this purpose, it is best to use special napkin-shaped napkins impregnated with a cleanser. The use of such napkins will help prevent the development of stomatitis, caries, baby thrush. They are completely safe, so you can use them for sanitizing the oral cavity from the first days of life.
After each diaper change, the baby needs to be washed. This is best done under a warm shower. You can also do with a simple sanitary napkin. After washing, leave the baby naked for a while. Air baths are the best prevention of diaper rash.
Evening swimming
The regimen of children of 6 months must include an evening bathing ritual. It is best done one hour before bedtime. The optimal value of water temperature for water procedures is 37 degrees. You can also use special herbal decoctions and bath products. Given that at this age the child is already sitting well, the procedure is interesting and fun.
Recommendations of pediatricians
What should you focus on in the first place? It is not necessary to strictly follow the daily schedule of a six-month-old child. If necessary, you can make certain adjustments to it. The main thing is to create a comfortable environment for the child and himself. After all, who else but the mother should know the features of all physiological processes and changes in the behavior of the baby. For example, if up to six months a child could stay awake for two hours, then as they grow older this time may increase. Over time, the baby begins to sleep less and play more. This should also be taken into account when drawing up the daily routine.
As for the night's sleep, then at the age under discussion, the child can already oversleep up to 7 hours without waking up. The regimen of a 6-month-old baby on artificial feeding may generally include a 9-hour night's sleep. Such children usually eat porridge for dinner, which allows them to oversleep for a long time without breaks at night feeding. At the same time, parents have the opportunity to sleep.
Most babies six months of age still need a three-day rest. However, only two periods of rest during the day may already be sufficient for active children. If you see that the child is in good health, and he does not show signs of fatigue, then you should not force him to lay. If adults insist on their own, the baby may well declare his disagreement, starting to cry and be capricious.
The main sign of a healthy sleep in your child is easy falling asleep without additional stimulation and motion sickness. From the age of six months, you can gradually accustom the child to sleep in his own bed.
Conclusion
In this review, we examined in detail what should be the daily routine of a six-month-old child. The regimen should be selected strictly individually, taking into account the characteristics of the baby. For example, artificers are quite capable of sleeping peacefully all night without awakening to feed. Breastfeeding children generally wake up at night a couple of times to eat. The total number of meals per day should be 5-6 times. Since at this age children can gradually be given complementary foods, special attention should be paid to the choice of menu.
Daytime sleep depends on the activity and temperament of the child. Usually a baby needs three times a day rest, but there are babies who just need to sleep twice a day. A special place in the regime of the day should be played by games, walks, physical exercises and hygienic procedures.