How to move a baby to sleep at night. Healthy sleep of the newborn and baby. What to do if parents observe the child

Every mother dreams that her baby falls asleep at the same time every night and sleeps all night with a sound angelic sleep. At the same time, ideally, cancel evening whims, “I want to drink, eat, play” and “read Kolobok to me 105 times.” Our friends from the Eksmo publishing house provided the NNmama.ru portal with an exclusive excerpt from the book “Doctor_annamama, I have a question: #how to take care of a child?” , in which Dr. Anna reveals all the secrets of children's sleep.

Sleep Deprivation Signs

• Daytime hyperactivity, fatigue, excessive attachment to mother, absent-mindedness and other daytime disorders;
• Sometimes falls asleep in the evening much earlier than usual;
• Falls asleep in the car every time;
• During the day the child is capricious and irritable;
• Often gets up before 6.00;
• I have to wake up every morning (he doesn't get up on his own).

How to organize children's sleep

The child must learn to fall asleep on his own. Then he, waking up at night, will be able to fall asleep.

1. To teach a child to fall asleep on his own, you must:

Introduce sleep rituals and adhere to the established bedtime routine. The ritual should be short and positive: it should set the child to fall asleep and end in bed in the presence of the parent. A rhyme, a song, a melody, a soft toy, a certain sequence of actions, a pat on the head, etc. will do. Rituals can be introduced from birth and even before birth (try, for example, listening to a certain melody during sleep);

Gradually separate feeding (breast or formula) and falling asleep, while leaving the introduced rituals;

Transfer the child to the crib sleepy, but not sleeping;

Do not leave the room, but stay with the child so that he is calm;

Gradually move out of the child's field of vision as self-falling asleep is established.

2. In the evening, take about 30 minutes to get ready for bed. During this period, all active games stop and a calm, daily repetitive preparation for sleep begins.

3. The child should sleep without movement and shaking (not in a stroller or car).

4. It is necessary to lay the child both during the day and at night:

Into his bed

In darkness and silence.

Let me remind you that the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, is disrupted in the presence of light. Melatonin has many important functions, including it is involved in the functioning of the immune system and in cell renewal, regulates blood pressure, enhances antioxidant protection, stimulates the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, affects the growth and development of brain cells.

5. Exhaustion during the day or chronic lack of sleep impair the quality of sleep. If the child does not get enough sleep, it is necessary to gradually put him to bed earlier and earlier, shifting the time to go to bed by 10-15 minutes a day.

6. With two daily naps, the first should begin before 12.00, the second - before 16.00, and at least four hours should pass between the last daytime and nighttime sleep.

7. The nipple that is given to the baby at night can become one of the bad habits. However, it will serve as an effective assistant when you begin to accustom the child to fall asleep without a breast or a bottle.

8. For normal sound sleep, it is necessary to properly organize the daily routine - the sequence of feedings and periods of wakefulness, as well as provide the child with sufficient physical activity during the day.

9. The decision to sleep together is made by both parents, but they must comply with all safety rules. When sleeping together, self-laying is more difficult to organize, but also quite realistic. Partial joint sleep is possible (the child falls asleep in his crib, and at night the mother takes him to her place).

Rules for safe co-sleeping:

Both parents support co-sleeping;

The mattress should be hard and even, the sheet should be well stretched and fastened;

The blanket is not heavy, there should not be extra pillows;

The bed is strong, the child cannot fall from it (the child sleeps against the wall, or the bed has a side);

Parents sleep in clothes without ribbons and laces, without jewelry and chains, removing long hair; - the child does not sleep under the parents' blanket, but either under his own light blanket, or without it at all (you can use warm pajamas or a sleeping bag);

The child sleeps from the side of the mother (she feels the baby better);

What to do if your baby is not sleeping well? Its development suffers from sleep disturbance, because it is a normal, complete and healthy rest that is very important for a small person.

What is the reason and how to improve the child's sleep, let's figure it out.

Features of children's sleep

• A newborn is almost always asleep, waking up only to eat;
• At a month and a half, the baby is already able to distinguish between day and night;
• And by three months, an understandable mode of dreams and wakefulness appears. It becomes easier for you to plan your day.

Although, of course, it does not look like a pre-pregnant, free life.

Normally, children should sleep for a certain amount of time, which depends on age. Up to three months, a newborn should sleep at least 16-17 hours a day, but from three months to six months -14-15 hours.

After seven months, up to a year, the baby should sleep 13-14 hours. Small deviations in time are considered normal.

Up to three months, the baby's life consists mainly of what he eats, sleeps and communicates with his mother.

Know! Among babies there are those who do not recognize the regime and wake up when they want. At the same time, the child does not care if it is day or night. He woke up - it means he needs attention.

Babies have two phases of sleep - REM and non-REM.

During the fast phase, he dreams and during this period he can move, shudder, sob.

In the first months, the child receives a huge amount of information that is processed during sleep. His dreams reflect the impressions and emotions of the past day, as indicated by sobbing, smacking, whimpering.

Causes of sleep disorders in infants

Many young parents face the problem of restless children's rest. Doctors begin to prescribe various medications for the child and consider this a neurological disorder.

Take your time.

Doctors know little about the peculiarities of infant sleep, but they are always ready to treat a healthy child.

A baby can sleep restlessly if:

1. he has a stomach ache (colic);

The problem of colic and gaziki appears from 2 weeks of age and ends only by 3-4 months. The child at this moment needs your help and support, but it is better not to give medications.

Try to help your baby in natural ways. For more information about them, see the online seminar Soft tummy >>>

1. teeth are being cut;

If the child does not sleep well for a long time, the cause must be sought in an improperly organized daily routine.

1. the child is uncomfortable;

A wet diaper or an urge to go big can make a baby feel intense. He starts whimpering, twitching, blushing, crying. It is important here to stop putting him to sleep and help the baby cope with physiological needs.

1. he is overworked or very agitated;

This already applies to the question of how you spend time with your child. A long walk, a trip to the mall, noisy guests can disrupt a child's sleep for 2-3 days. Try to provide your child with a more relaxed pastime.

1. there is no mother nearby;

For babies up to 4-6 months old, this can be the most important moment. Most often this occurs in children who have had a difficult birth or caesarean section. They are not ready to let you go from themselves even for a minute.

And in a dream and in wakefulness you should be near.

I understand that this is hard to accept, but in order for the child to survive the stress of childbirth, you will have to make such concessions.

1. the weather changes;

Children under one year old, whose fontanel has not yet dragged on, react very strongly to changes in the weather. Rain, wind, magnetic storms, full moon - everything can be accompanied by some failures in the mode.

It is important here not to begin to attribute any error in dreams to natural phenomena, but keeping the lunar calendar on hand was not bad at all.

1. wrong daily routine;

This is the most common reason I have to deal with in individual consultations. The rhythms of a child's sleep change very quickly.

If at 1 month he could not sleep for 40 minutes, and then he had to be swaddled and rocked, then at 2 months the situation changes:

• If you begin to put the child to bed after 40 minutes, then he will resist this;
• You do not understand what is happening, you pump even harder, and the child cries and cries;
• There is only one way out - to keep a table in front of you, with the time of dreams and wakefulness of a child up to a year old and constantly check with it.

Such a table, as well as templates for keeping a baby's sleep diary, you get in the course on correcting sleep Calm sleep of a child from 0 to 6 months >>>.

If the baby is older than 6 months, then the basics of sleep remain the same. It's just that after 6 months, you can already work more actively with sleep habits, such as motion sickness, sleeping outside, sleeping only with the breast.

I give you detailed schemes for teaching a child to fall asleep on his own in the online course How to teach a child to fall asleep and sleep without a breast, nocturnal awakenings and motion sickness >>>.

1. mastering a new skill;

When children learn something new, for example, they begin to crawl, sit or walk, this is considered a certain achievement for them. They experience such moments in their own way, which can also affect the quality of sleep.

How to put a baby to sleep

The basic principle on which the child's sleep and wakefulness regime will be built is the time that the child can spend without sleep and, at the same time, the processes of overexcitation will not go on in his nervous system.

Know! If you guessed the correct time for laying, then the child will fall asleep without crying and will do it in 5-10 minutes. Laying down for more than 20 minutes shows that you have walked the baby too far and he is already in nervous excitement.

Ways to help babies sleep peacefully

How to improve a child's sleep?

• Be sure to follow the regime, which includes bathing and feeding before bedtime;

The child gets used to a certain sequence of actions and he knows what will happen and when. This allows you to relax the child before going to bed and put the calmed baby down.

• You can bathe your baby, for better rest, in chamomile or string, these herbs calm the nervous system;
• Up to 3-4 months of the child, for sleep, you can swaddle. No need to swaddle in a tight way, as was done in Soviet times. No. It is enough to freely wrap the baby in a diaper or you can buy a sleeping bag in which the child calmly moves his arms, but does not climb into his face and does not wake himself up in this way;
• If you, during the sleep of the baby, want to move away from him, leave your bathrobe, T-shirt next to him. Babies sleep better if they smell their mother nearby;
• Create a comfortable temperature in the nursery so that it does not get hot or cold. Optimally about 20-22 degrees. Do not wrap the child for sleep, as babies quickly overheat and this worsens the child’s sleep and well-being;
• At night, feed the baby quietly, without turning on the bright light, but during the day, on the contrary, during feedings, talk and play with him so that he distinguishes the time of sleep.

From the very first day, provide conditions for a comfortable rest for the baby. Do not think that the child himself will begin to follow his rhythms - this is the task of the mother. We are engaged in improving the sleep of babies up to 6 months on the course Calm sleep of a baby from 0 to 6 months >>>

This is an online course, which means it doesn't matter where you live. You will be able to quickly put your baby to bed and get enough sleep.

I hope that with the help of the tips from this article, you will be able to normalize children's sleep.

Sleep is an essential part of a child's life. The quality of sleep directly affects the physical development, emotional state, behavior and mood of the crumbs. Therefore, it is important to ensure a healthy and full sleep for the baby both at night and during the day. Let's find out how to improve the sleep of the child, and how much the baby should sleep.

Sleep guidelines for babies

There are norms that indicate how much a baby should sleep depending on age. However, please note that the indicators are conditional. Since the development of each child is individual, the time may deviate by 1-2 hours up or down.

How to organize a child's sleep

Sleep organization plays an important role in how and how much the baby will sleep. There are certain rules for children's sleep, under which the baby will sleep peacefully. Sleep organization includes the following recommendations:

• The baby should have a firm elastic mattress and a flat pillow. In the first months it is better to do without a pillow at all. Instead, a folded towel is placed under the mattress, or a folded sheet is placed under the head of the baby. When to use a pillow and which pillow to choose for an infant, read;
• Ventilate the room well before going to bed. The room should have a comfortable temperature for the baby, which is 18-22 degrees;
• Change the crib regularly so that the mattress and sheet do not form wrinkles and other irregularities that cause discomfort and disturb sleep;
• Don't forget to change diapers and diapers. The child must be dry and clean during sleep;
• Be sure to feed your baby before bed. Breastfeeding calms the baby, often he falls asleep already during suckling. Do not take the breast until the baby falls asleep or releases the nipple;
• It is important that mom is there. Constant and close contact with the mother has a positive effect on the well-being, physical and psychological state of the child. The baby will calm down and fall asleep sweetly;

• Bathing before evening feeding and going to bed will make the child's sleep calm and deep. Bathe your baby for 10-20 minutes. In the first month, the water temperature should be 36-37 degrees. Then gradually lower the readings by a degree every four days. But up to three months the temperature should not be below 33 degrees! Daily bathing will allow you to maintain hygiene, strengthen the muscles and the system of internal organs. In the absence of allergies in infants, decoctions of chamomile or calendula can be added to the bath. Herbs will strengthen the immune system, prevent the occurrence of colds and help you fall asleep;
• In order for the baby to sleep soundly and not wake up often, in the first months, doctors recommend organizing a joint sleep. How to do it right, and when to teach a child to sleep separately, read;
• It is necessary to swaddle a baby only when he sleeps restlessly and waves his arms strongly. At the same time, swaddling should not be tight! In other cases, swaddling is not necessary;
• After two weeks from the date of birth, the baby can begin to explain the difference between night and day. So, during the day, when the baby is active, turn on the light, play with the child, do not reduce standard noises (TV sound, music, etc.). At night, do not play with the baby, dim the light when feeding.

Remember that breastfeeding is the best way to get your baby to sleep. At the same time, do not rock the child for too long. Children quickly get used to long motion sickness and as a result they cannot learn to fall asleep on their own.

What to do if the baby is naughty, does not sleep well and often wakes up with strong crying? First of all, establish the reason for this behavior. Sleep disturbance in a baby can be associated with colic and pain in the stomach, with the introduction of complementary foods, illness and discomfort.

So that the baby does not suffer from colic, lay the baby on his tummy on a hard surface before feeding, and then hold it upright until he burps. Dill water, baths with decoctions of herbs, light massage of the tummy with circular movements in a clockwise direction will help.

With artificial or mixed feeding, problems can be associated with improperly selected milk formula. Do not supplement unless absolutely necessary! Mixtures can disrupt the functioning of the stomach and cause an allergic reaction in infants. In addition, malnutrition of a nursing mother, animal hair, dust, etc. can cause allergies. Carefully monitor the condition of the baby!

After 4-5 months, the causes of poor sleep often lie in teething. To reduce discomfort, you can use special and safe baby gels.

In addition, the introduction of complementary foods begins at 5-6 months, which can also negatively affect the child's condition. New products can cause food allergies, stool disorders, and abdominal pain. Watch your child's diet carefully. Introduce natural, safe and hypoallergenic foods, start with small portions, and don't try more than one type of food at a time. It takes two days to determine if the baby has an allergy or not.

Sometimes the baby cries because he lacks attention. Shake the child for a short time, talk, tell a story. By six months, the baby should already fall asleep on its own! You don't have to get up at the first call. Wait, and he will calm down himself. However, strong crying that does not stop for more than 10 minutes already speaks of a problem!

Psychologists have found that as early as the age of two, children can start having nightmares, and for no apparent reason. Night terrors, sudden awakenings and restless sleep speak of the baby's anxiety. Only a child psychologist can help you figure this out.

The main causes of sleep disorders

• The baby moves little during wakefulness, leads a little active lifestyle;
• Excitability of nerve cells (bright light in the room, loud music, noise, etc.);
• Discomfort (uncomfortable mattress, wet diaper, hunger, etc.);
• Increased humidity or dryness of the air, uncomfortable room temperature (too hot or, conversely, cold);
• Painful condition (colds and teething, abdominal pain colic, allergies, etc.);
• Increased anxiety and restlessness of the baby.

How to fix a child's sleep

Once you have identified the cause, you need to take action to fix the problem. Try to put the baby to bed at the same time! Don't wake your baby up at night to feed. This disrupts the baby's biological clock. If he gets hungry, he will wake up on his own. Forced breastfeeding can be frightening, causing the baby to not breastfeed.

Habitual bedtime routines that include breastfeeding, bathing, reading a fairy tale will quickly teach your baby to fall asleep on time. In the first months of life, crying is associated with hunger. Breastfeeding a newborn at night is 2-3 times, during the day it can reach up to 14-16 times.

Many pediatricians recommend not to refuse the child and, at the same time, do not limit the duration of application. Every month the number and duration of applications is reduced. After three months, the baby should sleep peacefully for 7-8 hours without feeding.

Feeding at night should be calm and quiet with subdued lights. Night feeding is abandoned already at 10-12 months of life for babies. Daily feeding is carried out vigorously and actively. Talk to your child, sing funny songs and tell rhymes, play.

Do not allow an older child to play in the crib, as the crib should only be used for sleeping. But let your baby sleep with a favorite toy that will give a sense of calm and security.

How to put a baby to sleep

• Teach your child to distinguish between daytime and nighttime sleep. Set a clear sleep pattern;
• Do not let the baby overwork, as overwork only interferes with sleep. As soon as you see that the baby is tired, rubs his eyes and yawns, put him to bed !;
• After three months, begin to gradually establish a bedtime ritual. You can take a bath, read a fairy tale, play a quiet game or sing a lullaby. Use what the baby likes!;
• Follow the sequence of actions of the daily ritual!;
• After 6 months, let the baby fall asleep on his own;
• Wake your baby in the morning if he sleeps longer than expected. It is good if you wake up the child at the same time;
• For children after 1.5-2 years, start the transition from two naps in the afternoon to one daytime nap. However, this transition is difficult, and to make the process easier, alternate days with one and two naps a day. For one nap, put the baby to bed early in the evening;
• For older kids, you can offer an alternative. But choose the options so that they suit you. For example, ask your baby if he wants to go to bed now or in 5 minutes. 5 minutes does not play a special role, and at the same time the child is glad that he himself chose;
• Let the baby choose which toy he will sleep with or which pajamas he will wear.

And a breast. MedAboutMe will tell you how to teach your baby to sleep at night without a break, until the very morning, and how to restore sleep and wakefulness to a child who "confuses" day with night?

The role of parents in developing a good night's sleep for an infant

The formation of sleep as an integral part of the child's daily regimen requires a versatile approach. On the one hand, parents are required to create comfortable conditions for painless falling asleep. On the other hand, the role of performing certain family rituals with the child is important: long evening walks at about the same time, bathing in a bath with extracts of pine needles or herbs (string, chamomile, lavender), singing lullabies. But the most important thing in the matter of laying the baby is a disciplinary approach.

It is in the parental forces to make sure that the baby learns to sleep and sleeps until dawn - until six hours of feeding, if we are talking about a six-month-old baby, for example. At the same time, with the wrong tactics, parents themselves can create a situation where the baby wakes up every two hours and asks for food. And so it can continue until the child reaches a year and even longer. Since the last situation described is not healthy and correct - both from the point of view of the development of the baby, and from the point of view of emotional burnout and loss of strength in the mother - we consider it necessary to stipulate how to get out of this situation.

Newborn: a special approach

Since the baby has been in rather cramped conditions in the mother's stomach for a long period, during the period of adaptation to extrauterine life, this position can be recreated using the Woombie cocoon, a special swaddling envelope or swaddling with a regular diaper. All these devices slightly limit the chaotic movements of the baby with arms and legs, which greatly calms him down. Tested by many moms!

Of course, external conditions are also of great importance: low dustiness of the room where the baby sleeps (lack of soft dust collector toys), a sufficient level of humidity (ideally, a humidifier is turned on), optimal temperature (not higher than 21 degrees) in the room.

If the first two or three months are considered a period of adaptation of the child to external conditions, then questions of discipline and upbringing come into play - yes, such crumbs already fully recognize when you can manipulate your mother. So, what should a mother do in order to subsequently sleep normally at night, and so that night appears in the family?

Dr. Michel Cohen, a pediatrician, gives young mothers the most valuable advice: do not fly to the child at night at the first squeak. And even more so, do not take the crumbs in your arms immediately, without understanding. It is necessary to allow the baby to calm down on his own. “Don't react automatically. This rule should be followed from the first days of the baby's life.

Indeed, before approaching the child, it is worth overpowering yourself and giving a short pause. Firstly, such a tactic will teach the mother over time to distinguish all the shades of baby crying, and she will clearly understand that now he really wants to eat, but he had an unpleasant dream, but as soon as the nightmarish moment ended, the baby calmed down and calmly sleeps on. Pediatricians advise mothers to learn to distinguish between grunting in a dream and crying of a child. In other words, you need to make sure that the child is not sleeping before picking him up.

This little delay makes a huge difference. Mom is still there, she actively listens to the baby and is ready to console him and take the necessary actions to increase comfort. But the interesting thing is that infants calm down faster, even with almost no tears, and in the absence of active intervention!

Another question is that the quivering heart of a mother (or grandmother!) May not withstand even this minimal pause. What happens? Mom takes the baby in her arms out of good intentions, the child finally wakes up. If, in this case, the mother also breastfeeds, a vicious circle is formed when the child gets used to feeding every two hours.

The break is very important!

Meanwhile, the child looked somewhat restless only because of the onset of REM sleep - the baby can turn from side to side, he can laugh, cry, scream, even open his eyes. But he is still sleeping! And if you do not touch the baby, superficial sleep will move into the next phase, deep sleep - breathing will be reduced, the baby will calm down, the arms and legs will relax and he will blissfully fall asleep. Watch your child, give him time. How? Even 15 seconds is enough!

Every second of a child's anxiety causes a lot of anxiety for the mother. And this time may seem endless. But it is worth making an effort on yourself for the good of the whole family. At this time, you can slowly count to yourself, gently shake the cradle.

If the baby does not calm down during this period, even for a minute or two, of course, it is worth looking for reasons elsewhere - maybe it's a wet diaper? Or the baby has cold hands and forehead - then he needs to be covered with an extra blanket, he will warm up and fall asleep. If the baby is worried about colic, you can give simethicone preparations in the recommended dosages (with the permission of the pediatrician) and turn him over on his tummy, placing a warm sheet (for example, preheat with a heating pad).

Analyze, maybe during the day the baby did not eat enough and therefore is now hungry? It's time to feed him! But leave this option as a last resort, especially if the baby is more than three months old. Pediatricians say: feeding at night, about 11-12 hours, and in the morning, about six, is quite enough for full growth and weight gain, provided that lactation is well established.

……So he rested during the day! A small child will "sleep" his prescribed daily allowance. And from the point of view of health, night wakefulness will not bring special harm to him. Another question is that dad or both parents will need to get ready for work in the morning, they will not have the opportunity to sleep during the day. They need the night in terms of rest. In this case, it is definitely necessary to reduce the amount of daytime sleep of the child and significantly increase the physical activity of the baby in the morning and afternoon. Before going to bed, you also need to walk well and eat well, moderately tight. If the problem is not solved by such basic methods, you should contact a pediatrician and, if indicated, a pediatric neurologist.

The restless sleep of the baby not only physically and emotionally exhausts the parents, but also causes considerable concern for the health of the child. Many mothers go to the doctor with complaints that the baby is tossing and turning in his crib and often wakes up. However, such phenomena are typical for most infants and rarely signal the presence of pathologies.

The sleep of an infant is very different from that of an adult. The baby's body needs a lot of time to adjust the circadian rhythms. Uninterrupted sleep is usually achieved only by one and a half to two years of age. The total amount of time a newborn baby spends sleeping is evenly distributed throughout the circadian cycle. Thus, the baby can sleep up to 20 hours a day, waking up every 60-180 minutes.

It happens that during the first six months of life, the baby sleeps well, but subsequently, parents begin to notice that their child shudders in a dream, cries, moves around the crib with his eyes closed and often wakes up. As a rule, such phenomena are associated with the activity of the nervous system of a growing baby, which, during sleep, begins to actively analyze the new experience gained by the child during the previous day. If, after a restless night's sleep, the baby continues to be alert and does not show signs of illness, then he has enough rest and parents should not worry about the baby's well-being.

The total sleep time of a child can be divided into 3 main phases:

• Sleep stage.

At this stage, the child may act up or watch his mother, periodically closing his eyelids. In some children, who are in the borderline state between sleep and wakefulness, their eyes begin to roll (or even get divorced in different directions), which often causes a feeling of great anxiety in the mother. A small child does not yet own the strength of the eye muscles, so this condition is quite normal for a newborn. However, in cases where the rolling of the eyes is accompanied by crying and pronounced anxiety of the baby, or does not go away after three months of life, it is necessary to consult a doctor.

• The phase of superficial (fast) sleep.

At this phase, the maturation of the nervous system and brain structures of the baby occurs. At this time, the baby has irregular breathing and periodic twitching of the eyelids. A child in a dream can smile, shudder, move his eyeballs; at this time it is very easy to wake him up.

• The phase of deep (slow) sleep.

Deep sleep occurs 20-30 minutes after falling asleep. This phase is characterized by measured breathing, immobility of the eyeballs and relaxation of the muscles. During this period, it is quite difficult to wake the child, so the mother can safely shift him to the crib. The duration of deep sleep is no more than an hour, after which the baby’s sleep becomes superficial again.

In infants, the duration of each phase, on average, is about half an hour. At the same time, in infants up to six months, superficial sleep prevails, for which about 80% of rest is allocated. By six months, the duration of light sleep is reduced to 50%, by the age of three - up to 30%, and only by the age of 7-8 years, the duration of this phase begins to correspond to the duration of light sleep in an adult and takes about 20% of the total sleep time.

The most common causes of sleep disturbances in infants include:

• age physiological features;
• emotional overload;
• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
• neurological pathologies;
• lack of a well-organized sleep schedule.

Most often, sleep disorders occur in overly excitable and emotional children. An excess of emotions received, overwork, and an improperly organized daily routine lead to overexcitation of the nervous system, as a result of which the baby cannot fall asleep for a long time and periodically wakes up at night.

Abdominal pain, teething, and clothing that is too tight can also cause your baby to be restless at night. In addition, the quality of children's sleep is largely dependent on the temperature and humidity of the air in the room. Dry warm air contributes to the drying of the nasal mucosa, as a result of which it becomes difficult for the baby to breathe during sleep and he wakes up crying.

If the child’s sleep does not normalize for a long time, and if you suspect that the baby’s anxiety is caused by emotional or physiological disorders, you should seek advice from a pediatrician and a neurologist.

In most cases, the causes of poor sleep in infants are easily eliminated without the participation of doctors and medications. In order to ensure a healthy and sound sleep for your baby, you can use the following recommendations:

• To prevent the baby from waking up from feeling hungry, feed him heavily before putting him to bed. Before feeding, you can go for a walk with your baby: fresh air perfectly stimulates the appetite and makes it easier to fall asleep.
• If your baby is having trouble falling asleep at night due to long daytime sleep, you need to reduce your daytime sleep time.
• In order for the child to relax before going to bed, give him a light massage of the tummy, moving his hand in a clockwise direction.
• Put your baby to bed at the first sign of fatigue.
• At night, ensure that the child is completely silent both when falling asleep and during sleep. In the daytime, teach your baby to fall asleep to soft sounds.
• Do not forget that the child should associate the bed only with sleep. Therefore, you should not feed the baby or play with him in bed.
• Give your child as much rest as possible a few hours before bedtime.
• If you notice that the child becomes relaxed and sleepy after bathing, use five-minute warm baths in the evening. If your baby, on the contrary, becomes more active and vigorous after washing, such procedures should be performed only in the morning and afternoon hours.
• Try not to turn on bright lights at night, even if the child is awake. Install a night light in the room where the baby is resting.
• Make sure that the children's room is not too hot or stuffy. The optimum air temperature in the bedroom is 18-20°C. Be sure to ventilate the room in which the baby sleeps and regularly take measures to humidify the air.
• Put your baby to bed at the same time every day.

When compiling a sleep schedule, parents need to take into account the biological clock of the baby. If the sleep and wake routine organized by adults contradicts the natural needs of the child, it will be extremely difficult for him to fall asleep and wake up at the hours allotted by the parents. This not only contributes to lack of sleep, but also has an extremely negative effect on the immune and nervous systems of the baby, as a result of which serious disorders can form that require long-term treatment. Therefore, before determining the time of sleep for their baby, mom and dad should observe the child for several days: changes in his behavior will tell parents at what time the baby needs to go to bed and get up.

Child health. Sleep apnea