How to teach a child to sleep at night. How to put a baby to sleep: useful tips from experienced mothers. Too short rest. What to do

Sooner or later, parents begin to think about how to teach a baby to sleep all night ... Many pediatricians, like the well-known Komarovsky, recommend ...

Lack of sleep in parenting is normal, because baby care continues around the clock. And although this fact is humbly accepted by parents as a given, sooner or later they begin to think about how to teach a baby to sleep through the night.

The child fell asleep in the carrier - mom is exhausted on the couch

All the kids wake up

The sleep of a child, like an adult, consists of several alternating phases. So, in the first 1.5 hours, the baby sleeps soundly, without being distracted even by extraneous sounds and light. This is the so-called deep sleep, when the activity of the body is maximally reduced. After this phase, the baby can toss and turn, make sucking movements, but this is not a reason to run to calm him down. Soon he will move on to the next phase (REM sleep), in which the processes in the body are activated, and the baby sees vivid dreams.

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Each transition to a new phase is accompanied by a short awakening. During the night, both adults and children can wake up about seven times. Only some babies will sleep again, while others will wake up and call their parents.

The whimpers and sobs of a sleeping baby at night are considered normal by doctors and they call this phenomenon “physiological night crying.

How to stop night feedings

What causes a baby to wake up in the middle of the night? First of all, children are awakened by the feeling of hunger. Newborn babies eat every 2 or 3 hours, and night is no exception. By three months, a night break without food can last 4-5 hours, and by six months - up to 6-8 hours. But by itself, a six-month-old baby is unlikely to stop eating at night. Parents will have to make an effort to wean him from such “snacks”. How?

  • Many pediatricians, like the well-known Komarovsky, recommend feeding the baby tightly at night so that he sleeps longer. A good rule, but do not get carried away, because. overeating can have a bad effect on sleep and the general condition of the child.
  • It is better to gradually increase the intervals between nightly meals. For example, every few days for 15-30 minutes. As soon as the baby wakes up, do not rush to immediately offer him food. Try giving him a pacifier or some water.
  • Another way involves a gradual reduction in the amount of food. For example, if you are formula feeding, you can remove 10-20 ml every week, in infants, the meal time is reduced by 1 minute. When you get to the 3-4 minute feed, it can be completely removed.
  • In some cases, it is more convenient to use the late feeding method. Towards the end of the evening, or when it's time for you to sleep, wake the baby up for one last feed. So a well-fed toddler will sleep much longer at the same time as his parents.

Some mothers give compote instead of water. But this is fundamentally the wrong decision. Sweet drinks at night not only cause fermentation in the tummy, but also have a bad effect on the teeth.

Correct Associations

To get your baby to sleep as early as possible at night, avoid falling asleep with a bottle or breastfeed. Of course, this does not apply to newborns. But already from 2 months, finish feeding before the child falls asleep.

Only then will he not associate sleep with food. Come up with other, more convenient and harmless rituals. For example, gentle stroking on the back, songs, reading books.

Many children like to sleep with their favorite toy. You can hold it a little before going to bed, pressing it to yourself. Waking up at night, the baby will feel her mother's smell from her and will not cry.

Don't forget to change the scenery! Subdued light at night, unhurried calm speech of parents will help even newborns to understand that it's time to sleep. So you will avoid situations when the baby "confuses day and night."

During the hours of daytime sleep, it is better to teach the child to sleep in complete silence, otherwise he will shudder at any sound at night.

Harmful rituals

People say that you need to raise a child even when it is placed across the crib. It is hard to imagine that such a young creature is capable of manipulating adults, but sometimes parents themselves, without noticing it, instill in the baby such habits, for which they themselves then pay at night.

Put yourself in the place of a child. Falling asleep on his mother's shoulder under motion sickness and the sweet smell of milk, he wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold bed without a mother, where it smells different and completely lonely.

And so he calls his parents to restore "justice" and return everything as it was. They rock him again, sing lullabies, press him to his chest ... Having received the usual, the little one quickly falls asleep. But the situation repeats itself again and again, because the baby quickly realizes that his crying will not go unnoticed by caring parents.

To avoid such problems, it is better to immediately accustom the little one to fall asleep on its own. At the same time, the situation before going to bed should be the same as it will be at night. Then, when the baby wakes up, he will not worry that everything has changed, and will feel safe.

10 rules from pediatricians

The quality and duration of children's sleep directly depends on the parents, the famous doctor Komarovsky is sure. He suggests following a number of simple rules that will help not only the child, but also the rest of the household to sleep well.


If the child protests

It is worth accustoming the baby to falling asleep on its own, removing night feedings only when you are sure that nothing bothers the baby. Up to 3 months, babies often wake up colic. From the age of 5 months, teething begins, the baby's ears may become inflamed, the neck may hurt.

If you still decide that the time has come, be consistent and convincing. Children very subtly feel the insecurity and doubts of their parents and quickly understand how to manipulate their attention.

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Hearing how a neighbor's boy, who is at least younger than your child, but has not been waking up his mother at night for a long time, do not rush to conclusions. You can't lump all kids under the same brush. Someone is ready to sleep without food even at 2 months, it’s easy for someone to give up snacks by six months, and there are such “lovers” of milk who need food even a year. Your task is not to stop night feedings, but to instill healthy habits in your child - to teach them to fall asleep on their own, observe sleep patterns, and actively spend the day.

Do not be afraid if sometimes the child has to cry, or even scream, protesting against the new rules. Deciding that now there will be no motion sickness, dancing, and other distracting "manoeuvres", be persistent.

Whatever methods and methods you use, they should not cause inconvenience to your family. If you sleep well with a baby in your bed, and don’t even remember how many times your one-year-old baby breastfed, you shouldn’t change something because of some norms and rules. The time will come, your child will grow up and everything will change.

And most importantly, remember that you are not alone. According to scientific data, problems with children's sleep occur in every sixth family, and yet there are no ready-made recipes for accustoming a baby to sleep soundly at night. Love your child and do what your intuition tells you to do!

When did your kids stop waking up at night? Share your secrets in the comments!

As soon as a baby appears in the house, parents can forget about normal sleep. Many are concerned about the question of how long the child will wake up to eat at night. What determines a calm long night's sleep of the baby. In this article, we will try to find answers to questions regarding how to teach a child to sleep through the night.

At what age do babies start sleeping through the night

You can often hear on a walk with young mothers that their child has been sleeping through the night without waking up for six months. Whether so it actually we will understand together. It is worth noting that now we will talk about healthy children who are not bothered by colic, fever, runny nose, diaper rash and teething.

A healthy newborn baby wakes up almost every 2-3 hours to eat both during the day and at night. In order for the child to sleep without waking up, it is necessary to gradually prepare his body for longer breaks between meals.

You can not abruptly wean the baby from night snacks.

Starting from three months, the interval between feedings increases to 3-4 hours. At 6 months, one or two nightly feedings are enough. Closer to the age of nine months, the child begins to eat once a night.

Thus, under normal circumstances, a one-year-old baby can sleep the whole night without waking up.

But these are just statistics and often even one-year-old children wake up to drink milk, formula, water or yogurt.

The number of feedings also depends on whether the baby is on artificial or natural feeding. It has been proven that artificial babies sleep longer and sounder than babies.

While the mother is breastfeeding, the baby, regardless of age, will wake up at night and look for the breast.

Why does the child wake up at night

If nothing bothers him, then he can sleep through the night calmly or wake up to have a snack. If he wakes up very often and cries for no apparent reason and cannot fall asleep, then you need to pay attention to all of the following factors:

  • too active rhythm of the baby's daytime pastime - overexcitation;
  • physical ailments (teeth climbing, runny nose, high fever, colic);
  • the presence of diaper rash and sweating;
  • full diaper;
  • unfavorable microclimate of the room (too high or low temperature, high or low air humidity);
  • noise around (music, conversations, knocking on doors, etc.).

healthy children's sleep is such a dream, when it is sweet and comfortable for everyone - both adults and children!

Komarovsky E. O.

http://articles.komarovskiy.net/10-pravil-zdorovogo-detskogo-sna.html

How to get your baby to sleep through the night

For a productive and comfortable night's sleep, you must follow the basic rules:

  • maintain a constant air temperature in the room;
  • two hours before bedtime, stop active games and tune in to a calm mood;
  • before going to bed, bathe the baby in warm water with chamomile;
  • make a relaxing massage with baby body oil;
  • take care of comfortable, comfortable bed linen and a nightgown;
  • if the weather allows, it is advisable to take a walk in the fresh air before going to bed;
  • correctly compose the daily diet of the baby during the day so that at night he does not feel hungry. But you shouldn’t overfeed either, because at night he will moan and roll over from side to side;
  • do not allow too much sleep during the day. In order to know whether a baby sleeps a lot or not, you need to know the daily need for sleep, depending on its age.

The most important rule is the formed daily routine, which must be observed by all family members without exception. Rebound should be the same for everyone. In the room where the baby sleeps, it is necessary to turn off the lights and turn off all appliances.

Video: how to teach to sleep all night without feeding

The main mistakes that parents make when weaning children from night feedings

Weaning from night feedings is a gradual and patient process. It is impossible to take and stop feeding at night in an instant if his body is used to it and requires it.

The main mistakes that parents make when trying to teach their child to sleep without prolonged awakenings:

  • do not pay attention to night screams and crying, believing that the baby will get tired and fall asleep on his own;
  • trying to replace the mixture with water or juice. Water and juice are incapable of satisfying hunger;
  • throughout the day they try to load the child with all sorts of active games, in the hope that he will be exhausted and sleep better.

What Dr. Komarovsky thinks about night sleep - video

Sleep is the key to an active and healthy child. And parents should create all the conditions for a calm and comfortable sleep of their child, because not so much is needed for this.

With the birth of a newborn baby, almost all young mothers forget about what a restful sleep is. Babies are constantly waking up, crying, looking for a pacifier or mother's breast. In addition, most of the crumbs that were recently born suffer from intestinal colic and other painful sensations associated with the imperfection of the digestive system.

Some time after the birth of a baby, a young mother’s lack of sleep adversely affects her health, mood and well-being, as well as family relationships. To avoid this, it is necessary to teach the newborn baby to sleep all night as soon as possible and to rid him of the bad habit of constantly waking up.

How to teach a baby to sleep through the night?

For young parents who are trying to teach their child to sleep all night, such a well-known method as the Esteville method is suitable. Although for some women it may seem too complicated and aggressive towards the baby, in reality, this is the most effective technique and is preferred by the vast majority of pediatricians.

The tactics of actions of young parents when using should look like this:

  1. Continue doing all the same things that usually help you calm and lull the baby - swing on your hands or on a ball, sing a lullaby, read a fairy tale, and so on. When the baby has already begun to fall asleep, but has not yet had time to fully immerse himself in sleep, put him in the crib. If he cries, take him in your arms, shake him a little and lower him back into the crib. Continue doing this until the baby calms down and can fall asleep on its own. As a rule, such actions on the first night take from 30 minutes to an hour. However, some children begin to react so aggressively to the actions of their parents that are unusual for them, that the process can take up to 3-5 hours. Of course, not all moms and dads have the patience to endure such a test, however, if you really want to teach your baby to sleep all night, you should tune in in advance and under no circumstances deviate from the plan.
  2. Once you have successfully completed the first stage, immediately move on to the second. Now, if the child immediately starts crying after putting him in the crib and cannot calm down, do not take him in your arms, but calmly rock him in the crib, stroking his head and saying kind words at the same time. If the baby becomes hysterical, abandon this venture and return to the first stage again. After you manage to get the baby to sleep using this method, try again to go through the second stage.
  3. After successfully mastering the second stage, proceed to the third - try to put the baby to sleep in exactly the same way, but refuse to stroke. Without touching the body of your child, gradually ensure that he can sleep peacefully in his own bed. In the event of a tantrum, immediately return to the previous steps.
  4. Finally, when you can master the first three steps, move on to laying down the crumbs from a distance. To do this, put the baby in the crib and immediately move to the door of the room, saying kind words. So, gradually, your baby will learn to fall asleep on his own and will no longer feel such a strong need for tactile contact with his mother.

Nighttime wakefulness of a child is one of the most common problems for new parents. Why does your baby often wake up at night, and sometimes does not want to sleep at all? Here are some simple tips you can use to get your little one to sleep through the night:

Try not to deviate from the daily routine. If your child wakes up late in the morning, trying to compensate for the lack of sleep at night, start waking him up a little earlier every day, thus encouraging him to sleep at night - at the same time that the whole family sleeps. So your baby will slowly learn to sleep soundly at night.

For your baby's daytime sleep, it is advisable to choose a well-lit place. This will keep your baby from sleeping for long periods of time, which in turn will help your little one sleep better at night.

If possible, try to increase the number of feedings of the baby in the daytime. That way, he'll get the much-needed nutrition at the time that's most convenient for you. Thanks to this, your baby will wake up less at night.

If your baby is easily distracted from the feeding process, feed him in a quiet and not brightly lit room. So your baby will learn to follow the regimen and, moreover, will be much calmer.

If your baby is breastfeeding, give him the opportunity to drink more milk from the one breast to which you applied it. So your baby can get more fat and nutrient-rich "hind" milk, which is responsible for feeling full. As a result, the number of nighttime feeds may be reduced as your baby wakes up less.

It is advisable to carry your baby in a sling or kangaroo, especially in the early evening hours. Thanks to this, your baby will be in a relaxed state, which will ensure an easy transition to sleep.


Try to maintain an atmosphere of calm and tranquility in the evening so that your child does not get overexcited. If your baby is relaxing in the bath, you can buy it before bedtime. If this excites your baby too much, bathe her at another time.

If your child woke up at night from hunger, feed him in a dark room. Let your little one get used to the fact that the night is for sleep.

If possible, avoid changing diapers at night. Since this process can finally wake up the baby, and then he may not fall asleep.

And don't forget to take care of yourself! Rest at the same time as your baby is sleeping. This is especially important for you when you have a baby who requires so much attention to himself.

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