Put the baby to sleep during the day. We put the child to sleep during the day: easily, quickly and without tears. Doctor Komarovsky's advice: how to put a child to sleep

Daytime sleep is very important for the baby. Rest in the afternoon contributes to normal development. But what if a child at 2 years old does not want to sleep during the day? And how does this affect his well-being? The article will discuss the reasons for refusing sleep and the ability to quickly solve this problem.

Why does a child sleep during the day

Experts say that a good afternoon nap increases efficiency and concentration, improves the emotional and mental state of the crumbs. A well-rested child is balanced, calm, entertains himself on his own and does not require the constant presence of an adult next to him. Pediatricians note the benefits of daytime sleep not only for babies, but also for older children. For the prevention of neurological and behavioral problems in children after a year, daily afternoon rest is important.

Many parents make the mistake of thinking that a child who does not sleep during the day will fall asleep easier in the evening. Most often, a different situation occurs: an overexcited baby cannot fall asleep in the evening, and at night it constantly spins and wakes up. This is indicative of fatigue.

It is important to remember that in infancy, babies sleep as much as they need. And starting from the age of 2, their psyche changes a lot. So why does a 2-year-old child not want to sleep during the day? The fact is that from this age, the crumbs have a feeling of anxiety, fear, excitement, so the quality and quantity of sleep is significantly reduced. If he is constantly in a state of lack of sleep, then his ability to learn decreases, the state of the immune system worsens.

One of the main tasks of parents is to properly organize daytime sleep for the baby. This will help him develop well both intellectually and physically.

How many hours should a baby sleep

There are no strict norms in the matter of sleep, the baby independently determines how long he wants to sleep. For some children, a long rest is considered normal, while for others, a short one.

How many hours does a 2 year old baby sleep? So, according to the research of Dr. Komarovsky, there are such norms for the average daily need of children for sleep:

• up to 3 months, the baby should sleep from 16 to 20 hours;
• up to 6 months - at least 14.5 hours;
• from 1 to 2 years - no more than 13.5 hours a day;
• at 2-4 years - at least 13 hours;
• at 4-6 years old - about 11.5 hours a day;
• at 6-12 years old, the daily norm of sleep does not exceed 9.5 hours;
• after 12 years, the child is enough to sleep 8.5 hours a day.

If a baby under 3 years old sleeps less than 12 hours a day, then most often he compensates for insufficient daytime sleep at night. Experts draw the attention of young parents that if the baby has not slept for a long time, but remains calm, inquisitive, cheerful, then there are individual norms for him.

Usually, newborns sleep from one feeding to the next. And the older they get, the less rest. First, the baby begins to wake up after dinner, and sleeps no more than 17 hours a day. Then the child goes to 2-time daytime sleep.

Each age has its own characteristics. The sleep pattern of a child at 2 years old changes, and he sleeps only 1 time, and the duration of such sleep does not exceed 3 hours. Closer to 3-4 years, he can completely abandon daytime sleep. However, some children retain the need for afternoon rest until the age of 6-7 years. And pediatricians advise preschoolers up to this age to rest during the day.

What to do if the child does not want to sleep during the day

Daily routine, food, clothes, walks greatly affect the quality of a baby's sleep. In order for the baby to go to sleep with pleasure, you need to establish the correct sleep pattern at 2 years old, and parents also need to provide:

1. Proper and balanced nutrition.
2. Constant walks and games in the fresh air.
3. Regular wet cleaning in the children's room.
4. Comfortable, clean and soft bed.

Usually, children who have their own schedule do not have whims about daytime sleep. They are used to going to eat, play, sleep at a certain time. Of course, you do not need to be too careful to observe the daily routine. If the child looks tired before the due date, then it is better to put him to bed and not wait for the right time. However, if he is still playing or watching the last cartoon before going to bed, then you should not interrupt the process and drag him to bed by force. It is better to let him finish what he started and calmly go to rest.

Parents should not put the baby back to sleep if he woke up early. Also, do not wake him up if the time allotted for daytime sleep has already ended. It is better to pay more attention to the condition and well-being of the child than to the clock.

Reasons for not taking naps

Not all two-year-olds have a need for daytime sleep. Therefore, if the child sleeps soundly at night, he has sufficient physical activity and tantrums do not occur, then he does not need an afternoon nap. Instead, at this time you can play calm games, lie down and read an interesting book.

There are times when parents notice that the lack of daytime sleep leads to poor health of the crumbs. Therefore, the answer to the question of what to do if a child at 2 years old does not want to sleep during the day will be a recommendation to study the most common causes and ways to solve them.

Only the most common causes are listed here. Sometimes the baby refuses sleep due to insufficient physical activity. Therefore, you should carefully study the daily routine of the child. This will help determine what should be excluded from it and what should be added.

How to put your baby to sleep without tantrums

Do not spend a lot of effort on laying the child. A few proven ways to put a 2-year-old to sleep during the day:

• Parents need to create comfortable and calm conditions in the sleeping room. Nothing should scare the baby.
• Before going to bed, you need to read good non-terrible fairy tales, children's poems or sing a lullaby.
• Some babies are soothed by a gentle, light pat on the back or head.
• The parent can lie down next to the child, citing fatigue, and ask him not to make noise.

The kid, wanting not to wake an adult, will be able to fall asleep next to him. Such methods should work within the first half hour. If laying is delayed, then parents need to urgently change tactics and not insist on their own.

Effect of daytime sleep on nighttime

If a child does not sleep during the day, this does not mean that he will not sleep well at night. The main thing is to follow a few rules:

• Parents should not play noisy and active games with the child before a night's rest.
• It is better to avoid watching cartoons before going to bed.
• A leisurely walk in the evening, swimming, a good fairy tale will help you fall asleep soundly. Fairy tale therapy will help for a good sleep. It will help not only to realize the child of all the events of the past day, but also to fall asleep faster.

And what about kindergarten mode?

Many parents force their child to sleep just because the kindergarten has its own regime. Even if a child at 2 years old does not want to sleep during the day, then you should not scare him with a children's educational institution.

He should know that there is exciting, fun and interesting. And the educator in the first place is his friend, not the warden. Most often, children are easily included in this mode and with pleasure go to bed, eat and play with their peers.

How to captivate a child instead of daytime sleep

Instead of daytime, you can offer quiet and calm games. For example, sculpting and drawing do an excellent job of restoring the nervous system.

Also, the parent can offer the baby to lie down on the bed together and read their favorite fairy tales, poems or stories.

Conclusion

Parents need to be patient and take into account the individual needs of their baby. So, if the baby does not want to sleep during the day and looks all the same cheerful, joyful, then you should not force him to go to bed. For such a child, a night's rest is enough.

Putting a baby to sleep, especially without breastfeeding, can be quite difficult. But daytime sleep is necessary and important for the baby. It has a positive effect on mental development and develops memory. It has been proven that sleeping during daylight hours improves information absorption and increases reaction time by 16%. Let's figure out how much a baby should sleep, and how to put a baby to sleep during the day.

• Motion sickness is suitable for small children up to a year. Pediatricians recommend giving up motion sickness as early as 3-4 months. By six months, the baby should already fall asleep on its own. How to teach a baby to fall asleep on its own, read the link;
• Falling asleep at the breast and feeding at bedtime is the best way to fall asleep an infant up to a year and older;
• The sequence of actions and the developed mode. It is important to put the baby to bed at the same time. Soon the body will get used to the regime, and the child himself will want to sleep by a certain hour. At the same time, it is important to observe certain rituals. For example, bathe, feed or wash the baby before bedtime;
• A warm, relaxing bath will soothe your baby and set them up for sleep. If desired, you can add infusions of chamomile, string or calendula to the water if the baby is not allergic to these plants. But keep in mind that for some children, the bath has an exciting effect;
• Be sure to change your baby into pajamas before going to bed. This will set the child in the right mood. He must understand that it is time for sleep. Let it be a fun pajamas with your favorite characters or heroes. The baby should like things that are associated with sleep;

• White noise. Small children quickly fall asleep to monotonous low sounds, such as rustling, hissing, water noise, etc. Use such sounds, but turn them on barely audibly so that they do not wake up a sleeping or sleeping baby;
• pediatricians recommend organizing for children under one year old. Co-sleeping helps your child fall asleep more easily. It provides a feeling of comfort and safety for the baby. However, by the age of two or three, children need to be taught to sleep in a separate bed;
• Create a comfortable sleeping environment. There should be fresh air in the room, so ventilate the room every time before going to bed. The comfortable temperature for the baby is 18-22 degrees. Close the curtains, turn off the TV or music, you can only use white noise. But do not cover the bed with a canopy from the light, it will not bring the desired effect, but will only collect dust. Don't forget to change your diaper! It is important that the bed is also comfortable. A comfortable mattress, a soft blanket, natural hypoallergenic linen will ensure a calm and healthy sleep for your baby;
• Make a cozy nest for a newborn. A blanket rolled around the baby like a cocoon will create coziness and give a sense of security to the baby. Do not use tight swaddling! The baby must move freely. Easy loose swaddling provides a feeling of comfort and security, keeps the nervous system in a positive state;
• Maintain a gap between daytime and nighttime sleep of 5-6 hours. 1-1.5 hours before bedtime, do not carry out active actions and outdoor games, as they can overexcite the baby, and he will not want to calm down and go to bed. It is better to bathe the baby in a warm bath, play calm games, read or make a light relaxing massage. How to properly massage the baby, read.

What to do if the baby does not want to sleep

But how to put a child to sleep during the day, if you use all the methods, and none helped. Do not get angry or yell at the baby if he does not want to sleep. Child psychologists do not recommend giving ultimatums or threatening the baby, for example, if he does not sleep, he will not watch a cartoon. Do not make the child's sleep associated with something bad. Be patient and develop a regime, gradually the baby's body will get used to it.

Do not teach your baby to fall asleep while walking with a stroller or driving a car. Children quickly get used to this method of motion sickness and in the future will not fall asleep well at home.

Rocking and lullabies help the baby fall asleep, but such methods should be abandoned after three to four months. Babies should fall asleep on their own by six months of age. But do not forget about the manifestation of love and care for the baby! Be sure to hug and kiss your baby before bed.

In the first three to five months, the baby is often disturbed. Discomfort prevents children from falling asleep. To reduce pain, massage the tummy with circular movements in a clockwise direction. A warm ironed diaper attached to the tummy will also help. Be sure to monitor the nutrition of the nursing mother and keep the baby in an upright position after each feeding for two to three minutes so that he burps.

Another cause of restless sleep can be teething. appear at 5-6 months. For some babies, the process begins as early as 3-4 months, for some - only at 7. Special teethers or baby gels will help relieve pain.

Do not get up to the child at the first call. Wait until he calms himself down. If he woke up due to an external stimulus (noise, phone call, etc.), do not rush to approach him. If he does not get enough sleep, then soon he will calm down and fall asleep on his own. Do not force the child to sleep if he woke up, but slept less than the allotted time. Perhaps the baby just got enough sleep, and on this day half an hour of sleep is enough for him, not two.

As many parents testify, a sleeping baby is not only a nice picture, but also some free time.

To wait for that joyful moment when the child finally closes his eyes, mommy rocks him in a stroller, and walks on tiptoe, and sings songs, and he smiles sweetly or, even worse, cries loudly.

And yet, there are several curious techniques that will help put the child to sleep in just a minute.

The ingenious trick, demonstrated by Australian father Nathan Dylo, appealed to many parents who dream of quickly putting their child to bed.

In the posted video, a three-month-old baby falls asleep in just 42 seconds thanks to the “wiggle” of a napkin over his face.

Such a quick reaction occurs due to repetitive movements and features of the child's psyche. The parent waves a paper napkin over the baby's eyes, thereby forcing the baby to focus on the subject.

Neuropsychologists claim that such actions can tire anyone, even the most excited little one. By the way, instead of a napkin, you can take a clean handkerchief.

However, such a trick will only work for babies no older than two to three months. The older the child, the less time and effort he will need to focus on a particular object.

Head stroking

A video demonstrating how to put a child to bed very quickly has already collected more than 200,000 views on the worldwide web. The audience is captivated by the simplicity of the technique - mommy strokes the baby on the head, almost in a minute makes him close his eyes.

A newborn child, especially a premature one, vitally needs maternal touches, through them her warmth, care and tenderness are transmitted to him. It is only important to ensure that the hands are warm, dry, and the nails should first be cut short.

There are other interesting methods to quickly put a newborn baby to sleep. For example, some people will be put to sleep by carefully cleaning their ears with a piece of cotton wool or simulating such an action. Another child will fall asleep if mommy carefully trims his toenails or just touches his toes.

A popular pediatrician seeks to make life easier for parents with simple recommendations.

The limited afternoon sleep helps to comply with the regimen and allows you to increase the long night.

Of course, a newborn should not be woken up, but from the age of six months, the baby will have enough two to three hours to restore the expended strength. But if the child does not want to sleep during the day, then you should not worry or force him.

Some babies do not need an afternoon nap at all due to physiological characteristics.

Rule #5: Feeding Optimization

Babies may respond differently to breastfeeding. Some crumbs, after eating, fall asleep remarkably and very quickly, while others, on the contrary, become more active, cheer up and are not averse to playing with their beloved mother.

Parents should observe the child and clarify how he behaves in such situations, since they are already formed during the neonatal period.

By determining the features of falling asleep after the mother's breast, you can better organize the regimen of a newborn baby.

If he quickly goes to bed after eating, then dinner must be made as satisfying as possible. The baby will eat and fall asleep all night, the same applies to daytime sleep.

Rule #6

In order for a night's sleep to be strong and long, it is important to saturate the children's day with various impressions. Focusing on the well-being and mood of the little one, try to captivate him with a variety of activities, among which are:

The strength of a night's sleep is directly dependent on the saturation of the day. In addition, multiple positive impressions ensure the normal development of the child, which is extremely necessary during the neonatal period.

The nervous system of a little man requires constant emotions and information content, so organize the daytime correctly, without overloading the child's psyche, and there will be no difficulty falling asleep.

Rule number 7. Freshness of the air

Specialists make special demands on the temperature in the children's room.

So, Komarovsky advises parents to provide the following conditions for sleep - no higher than +18 and air humidity of about 60%.

Healthy and prolonged sleep requires free nasal breathing. With an excessively dry microclimate in the children's room, the sinuses instantly dry up, the child begins to sneeze, it is difficult for him to breathe.

Of course, such a state does not lead to anything good, so the child in a stuffy room slowly falls asleep, sleeps anxiously and often wakes up.

But the optimal temperature indicators contribute to hardening, which strengthens children's health.

Rule number 8. Evening bath

Water procedures contribute not only to the necessary hygiene, but also to the establishment of the necessary emotional balance. Bathing and pouring water reduces fatigue, relaxes the child.

So the doctor believes that the use of disposable diapers is justified. But during the day, parents can use either a diaper or reusable diapers, since after dinner the child sleeps much less, so you can always change them.

Most children are extremely sensitive to physical discomfort, and you can ensure maximum comfort with the help of high-quality diapers. This will allow both you and the little man to sleep for a long time.

And the absence of frequent waking guarantees the normal well-being of all household members.

And finally, it is worth understanding that there is simply no single correct solution to the accumulated difficulties.

The methods presented above for quickly laying down a baby are not always effective, since one child is sensitive to stroking, while the other only becomes more active from this.

Many mothers are faced with the problem of the child's unwillingness to sleep at the prescribed 9 pm. And this happens more often not in 1 year, but in 3-4 years and beyond. What to do?

Maybe adjust to his daily routine, and put him to bed at 11 p.m.? In no case! Do not forget that he will go to kindergarten in the morning, after 6 years, school will begin. After all, he will not come to the second lesson all 10-11 years of school, because he has such a daily routine!

What to do? How to put a child to sleep?

As our grandmothers taught - it is necessary to accustom the child to the regime. Our ancestors for centuries developed the most reasonable daily routine, and it is reflected in proverbs and sayings. “Who gets up early, God gives him” - do you know this? Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the child for bed early in the morning.

1) Get up no later than seven

2) Charging

3) Hearty breakfast

4) Morning walk (for example, we have a garden in a neighboring yard, so we go around it 3 times in the morning to take a longer walk with mom)

5) Evening walk is obligatory. At the same time, the child should not sit on a swing or spit seeds on a bench next to you. Best of all - if he plays catch-up, drive football, run and jump.

6) At 7 pm - dinner. Try to give your child less sweets and meats for dinner, although it is difficult to refuse cookies and a couple of sweets for a little sweet tooth.

7) After dinner, there should be no frisky outdoor games. The child has already thrown out all his energy on the street, and now it's time for him to calm down. You can read a book with him, watch a cartoon, or teach poetry.

8) And from 8 pm preparation for sleep begins. It is desirable that this hour before going to bed you also have constant rituals of falling asleep. With us, for example, at 8 pm the baby goes for a swim, then brushes his teeth, puts on his pajamas and sits down to watch Good Night Kids. On weekends, when this program is not on the program, we watch Luntik or Smeshariki. After the cartoon, we have an obligatory cup of warm milk with honey - milk with honey calms and strengthens the baby's immune system, which means it makes him healthier.

9) Then we go to bed and read a fairy tale that the child chooses. After reading the fairy tale, we put the book to “sleep” on the shelf, and the baby closes his eyes. He is always in a hurry to fall asleep, because a cockerel and a bunny from his favorite fairy tale “Zayushka’s hut” are already waiting for him in a dream for pies with tea.

Naturally, if a child falls asleep at 9 pm, he himself gets up at 6 am and wakes up his parents - a real cockerel. This is how our sleep process is built, and we do not know problems with falling asleep.

If it is quite acceptable and even useful for a baby to sleep with their parents, then it is time for a baby in the second and even more so in the third year of life to sleep separately. If the family lives in the same room, it is necessary to put up a screen separating the parents' area from the child's sleeping area.

Start by moving to a crib. Install it close to your bed and lower the wall. Let the baby sleep next to you, but no longer on the parental territory. The "cuddle toy" will help you a lot in relocation. First year of life. Regularly put it between you and the baby, gradually pushing the child into the space of his bed. The first thing the baby should get used to is the lack of direct physical contact with the mother.

It's best to start moving in during the daytime, because chances are you don't always sleep together during the daytime. After a few days or even weeks (especially not in a hurry), lift the wall of the crib. After a while, hang the walls of the crib with a thick cloth. When the child gets used to his separate nest, you can safely transport his crib to the nursery. This is the longest, but also the most painless option for the baby to move. In addition, while in the crib, the baby will not be able to get out at night and resort to you. If he wakes up and cries, in no case do not take him back to you. Remember, young children develop habits very quickly. It is enough to allow something as an exception once, and this exception immediately becomes the rule. You have only one way out: to have patience, strength and every time to sit next to the crib or take the child back to the nursery, without making any exceptions. Gently but persistently explain to the baby that mom and dad sleep separately, and the kids sleep separately. It is very important that you are calm and friendly.

It also happens - the mother will lie down next to the child, fall asleep, and no longer want to get up, she would have slept until the morning. Don't be tempted! Otherwise, you yourself will not notice how the husband will remain in the bedroom, and you will move to the nursery. Tell yourself: “Stop! I am not only a mother, but also a wife, ”and return to your room. Get ready for the fact that the baby will come running to you many more times - when you have a terrible dream, when a thunderstorm roars outside the window, etc., perhaps more than once a night. Whatever happens, return the child to his room, sit next to him and wait until he falls asleep again.

Getting used to a new place can take a long time. And yet, if you decide that it is time for the child to sleep in his room, be consistent. Give up and allow him "for a while" to return to you - the next time resettlement will require twice as much effort from you. Give up again - three times more. Do not expect that sooner or later the child himself will want to sleep alone. This happens, of course, but much more often I have to work with children who, having reached school age, and even after graduating from elementary school, continue to sleep with their mothers.

Resettlement should begin when the situation in the family is most stable. From the child and so will require great emotional effort to get used to the new conditions. Try to make sure that these experiences do not overlap with any other stresses. In no case should the resettlement be carried out if the child is sick, if he has just gone to kindergarten, if the mother goes to work, if grief has happened in the family, for example, the death of a close relative.

How to put a child to sleep?

Set a daily routine for your child and follow it strictly. Time of sleep, meals, walks, etc. should be fixed and obligatory for execution by all family members. Don't let 20 extra minutes of sleep during your daytime nap, this will inevitably shift your evening's bedtime.

Enter the double warning rule. About 20 minutes before it's time to go to bed, tell your baby, "You're going to bed soon. It's time to end the game and put away the toys." Five minutes later, the second warning: “It's getting late. It's time to put away the toys." When the agreed 20 minutes pass, you already without further ado begin to clean up everything in its place. For the child, this will not be a surprise, because you warned him.

Turn getting ready for bed into a ritual. At this age, ritualization reduces the level of resistance to the maximum. If the same actions are performed day after day and in the same order, the child gets used to them and begins to perform automatically. They put the dolls in their places, put the cars in the garage, went to the toilet. Next - a shower or bath, spreading the bed. All this baby is doing with you. Perhaps you have your own special rituals, such as reading a book before bed.

It happens that it is difficult for a child to fall asleep alone in the nursery. If he is already used to sleeping in his own crib, and now you are transferring him to a separate room, sit next to him on a chair or in an armchair and wait until he falls asleep. Do not communicate with him, it is better to read or do needlework. If he still slept with you not only in the same room, but also in the same bed, then it’s better not to sit down, but to lie down next to you, as you have done so far. In general, the more constant in the environment, the easier it is for the child to get used to the new rules. Let it be the same bedding, pillow, blanket. Be sure to put an old, favorite “comforter toy” in the crib.

After sitting in the nursery for a while, play an audio fairy tale recorded in your voice to the child and say: “I will go out for five minutes and come back. I need to take the pot off the stove." Come out and come back again. The child must be sure that you will definitely come to him. Every day, under some pretext, leave the room, gradually increasing the time of your absence. Gradually, the baby will get used to being alone and falling asleep, listening to your voice. A week or a week and a half will pass, and one day you will feel that you can say: “Well, good night. Listen to the fairy tale,” and do not add: “I’ll be right back.” The kid may ask: “Are you coming back?” "I'll come and visit you again." After a while, you will actually come back to make sure everything is in order. Most likely, the child will already be asleep.

For some children, the presence of a mother does not calm, but, on the contrary, excites. They have long wanted to sleep, but the desire to communicate is stronger. In this case, it would be better if mom leaves the room and leaves an audio recording of the fairy tale in her performance.

As soon as the baby is in bed, he remembers that he forgot to do the most important thing. And it starts: “I'm thirsty”, “I need to go to the toilet”, “read me a fairy tale” ... And so on ad infinitum. It is clear that in fact he is simply trying with all his might to delay sleep time. If he asks for a drink, place a drinking mug next to the crib. "I'm thirsty." - "Mug on the bedside table." If the baby calls you again, go into the room, but do not turn on the light, do not start long conversations, do not lose your temper. Speak very briefly, in a calm voice.

Do not give your child reasons to think that going to bed, he misses something interesting and important. He needs to know that you are tired and are also going to sleep. Dim the lights in the apartment, turn off the TV, talk in a low voice so as not to disturb the child. I do not urge to completely rebuild the rhythm of life of the whole family for the sake of the baby. Going to bed at 8 pm is very inconvenient, especially if family members are only going home by this time. Try to find a middle ground. Suppose night sleep can be postponed to 10 o'clock in the evening, but then the morning rise and the time of daytime sleep should also be moved.

If your little one is having trouble sleeping, try taking him out for a walk before bed. It is best to entrust this to dad. Then the crumbs will have the opportunity to spend some time with their father, whom he has been waiting for all day.

What styling mistakes should be avoided?

In my opinion, it is impossible to act with children by revolutionary methods. Education should not break the psyche of the baby, this is a progressive evolutionary movement. If we need to introduce some changes into his life - to accustom him to something or to wean him from something - we need to think over a plan of action in advance. Gradually, step by step, you will achieve your goal much faster than categorical prohibitions and requirements.

Of course, you can go the other way - just tell the baby: "Now you sleep alone, period." And pay no attention to his cries. Most likely, you will be able to "break" it. After 5-7 days, he will stop crying and start falling asleep alone. But at what cost? Yes, he will reconcile himself and understand that it is useless to call, that his parents abandoned him and there is nowhere to wait for help. And every night he will fall asleep with a feeling of loneliness, abandonment, uselessness. I have no scientific evidence that anxiety increases in children who are brought up in these ways. But I'm sure it is.

In no case should you put the child to bed at the peak of the conflict. This is how you grow neurosis. The baby should not fall asleep in tears. All conflicts must be settled before sleep.

You can not scare "babyka" and other monsters. This is, of course, a very easy way to deal with a toddler. After all, children believe what we tell them. Frightened by horror stories, the child obediently lies, afraid to move. But does he sleep at the same time, and if so, does he have nightmares? It’s easy to scare, but it will be extremely difficult to treat fears that will subsequently develop in a child. Take care of his mental health. It is much more important than momentary problems associated with falling asleep.

"I'm afraid"

By the middle of the third year, children have more fears. This is fine. If resettlement to the nursery falls precisely at this age, then the baby asks not to leave him alone and says: “I'm afraid.” And yet, this does not mean that fear drives the baby to his parents, and not a simple habit of sleeping with them in the same room. How do you know if he's really scared or not?

If a child comes running to you and starts talking, jumping, somersaulting, it means only one thing: he still doesn’t want to sleep, and he will gladly spend half an hour in your bed. Move the time of going to bed and give him this treasured half an hour. Say, "OK, let's roll together. And then we'll go to your room and you'll sleep."

A child who is really scared behaves differently. First of all, he cries. He clings to you not with joy, but seeking protection. And he does not feel any desire to somersault in your bed. He is not at all happy at the moment.

Fears in children under three years old can be very different. The kid may be afraid of loneliness, darkness, just feel inexplicable anxiety. If he ran to you in a fright, do not ask: “Who scared you?”, “What were you afraid of?”. Questions like these only stimulate his imagination. Take his hand and go back to the children's room together. Put the baby in bed, sit or put some of his favorite toys next to him: “Let's put your knight here, he will protect you. Look how brave he is."

Make sure the room is not completely dark. You can light a night light, but it is better to turn on the light in the corridor so that the light comes from under the door. Better yet, just don't close the door tightly. Then the baby will not feel lonely, cut off from the outside world.

Sleep preparation routine... for children over one year old

There is no doubt that a well-planned bedtime routine is the key to good sleep. But such a procedure does not come from nowhere. A little preparation is needed, and it begins ... in the morning.

Step 1: Set your baby up for a good night's sleep... throughout the day

It is hardly surprising that the main reason for all the battles before bed is the need for toddlers to break boundaries, especially if they are lively and energetic or stubborn children. And if the child is very tired during the day, he can become completely wild (naughty, stubborn and self-willed). (And, of course, we also become more grouchy and intolerant in this case!) This is why bedtime is the worst time to fight ... This problem needs to be solved in the daytime.

First of all, you must follow the obvious rules for your child to be healthy and active:

• make sure that the child is more in the sun and plays in the fresh air;
• feed him healthy foods (minimize sugar, avoid caffeine, artificial colors and flavors, and include fiber-rich foods in the diet to avoid constipation);
• make sure that the child sleeps well during the day, but not for too long, so that fatigue accumulates in the evening.

In addition to this, you need to build a relationship with your child during the day so that he will naturally want to cooperate with you in the evening. For this purpose, you need to use the "Happiest Baby" method, plus a few more in order to:

• let the child feel like a winner;
• teach him patience;
• make him an expert at bedtime through indirect lessons and a special book.

Let the child feel like a winner As I mentioned, our little friends often feel like losers in everything! They are weaker and slower than us, cannot reach high-lying objects and do not speak as well as everyone else.

That's why your little one likes to splash in puddles, raising a cloud of spray, or say "Boo!" and see your frightened expression. And that's another reason why the baby may resist again and again when you set some boundaries... Maybe he just wants to win a few rounds!

But there is also good news. If you play giveaway ten times a day, you will help the baby feel strong, fast and smart ... and he will automatically contact you. In just a few days!

• Use the fast food rule and "baby" language when your child is upset so they know you understand and respect their feelings, even if you don't agree with them (see above).
• Comment on all the good things the child does. (Caution: Don't overdo it, give less praise instead. For example, instead of shouting for joy, calmly say, "Hmm... you got your toys together pretty quickly today.")
• To increase the value of praise and show how much you appreciate your baby's actions, "gossip" about what you liked, or use hand marks and star cards (see above).
• Give your child a choice (“I know you’re having fun, but we really should be leaving. Do you want to stay for another two minutes or should we leave right now?”).

Train his patience

If you force your baby to wait five times a day, and also occasionally practice magical breathing, you will help your little caveman become more patient and restrained, which means that he will calm down faster before bed.

Make him a bedtime expert

Children hate sermons. They are much more likely to do what they see than what they are told to do. So, instead of giving a lecture, teach the little one a lesson in an indirect way.

I have already talked about this concept above, but I want to explain it a little more because I think it can be very effective when raising young children. We all jealously guard the “front door” to our minds, rejecting all messages that seem too mentoring to us ... . and even praise if it is excessive or insincere! Nevertheless, all of us (children and adults) have great confidence in what we manage to overhear - in other words, in the information that comes to us indirectly.

Here are three interesting ways to show your child that you need to be kinder and more compliant, but in an indirect way - so that the baby does not feel like he is being pressured: "gossip", playing with dolls and fairy tales.

“Gossip” (this method is described above) means having your child overhear you whisper to someone in secret about his actions that you want to encourage (or, conversely, minimize).

Your child is constantly eavesdropping on your conversations with others, so use this opportunity to pass on small messages that will encourage the behavior you want or minimize what you don't like. If you talk five or ten times a day in secret with someone, giving a positive or negative assessment of the actions of your child, in less than a week you will notice a change! Say something like:

• Imagine, dad, when it was nap time, Rosie came up to me and laid down next to me just three seconds after I called her! So fast! She is definitely growing up!
• Can you imagine, grandma, Marnie kissed all her dolls, then hugged the bear, took a couple of deep breaths and exhalations, and then fell asleep very quickly.

Another way to indirectly convey messages to your gnome is to play with dolls.

Playing with dolls (various varieties) is easy and fun, and young children are often more likely to listen to their doll's advice than their mother's!

Your little one will love to switch roles while playing with dolls (or toy animals). First, for example, the child can speak as a bear cub (“Ah, ah, I don’t want to go to bed!”), And then you switch roles, and he will act as a mother bear (“Okay, let's play two more minutes. But then you'll have to brush your teeth, all right?").

Another option for indirect influence is to use fairy tales that you have invented. They must have hidden lessons. Children love to listen to fairy tales - over and over again - and because of this, the messages hidden in them are slowly absorbed, which means that you do not have to saw the child or threaten him.

So pick a time during the day, snuggle up somewhere with your little one and tell him a story in which Billy the Rabbit (it's better that the characters are animals, not people) tries to quickly put on pajamas so that he has time to read books, or going to bed early to have a cool dream about what a superhero he is!

And to make it more fun, you can safely add a couple of funny details to the story to make the fairy tale more memorable. "And then she brushed her teeth... and kissed her pet worm, wishing him good night!"

Make a bedtime book!

Another way to reduce your child's resistance before bed is to sit down and read his personal book about going to bed together, and this should be done every day.

Here's how to make such a book.

Take your little one to the store to pick out stickers, and buy thick colored paper, a hole punch, and a binder (so you can add and remove sheets as you wish). When you get home, work together on the cover of your new book.

Inside the book, on the first and last pages, draw a happy face and write: "Four Rules for a Happy Sleep." Come up with your own rules. Below are some good options:

• Happy, clean hands.
• We clean, we clean our teeth.
• Great in pajamas!
• I feel very comfortable in my bed.

Take pictures over the next few days: capture yourself shopping for special bedding; your star map; dinner; games before bedtime (with dimmed lights); the process of putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, turning on white noise; heart-to-heart conversation before going to bed; prayers; kisses from mom and dad; how do you turn off the light; how your mischievous sleeps and how he wakes up happy with the birds.

Also take pictures of other family members (including pets) getting to bed and sleeping. And in addition, paste in the book funny pictures related to sleep that you find in magazines, and even scribbles of your baby.

Under each photo or drawing, put small captions, for example:

• Maya brushes her teeth.
• Dad and Theo are reading funny stories... and they're having fun!
• Twyla's eyes feel good and close.

Finally, find some nature pictures. Perhaps you will like a sun-drenched sky, or a moonlit night, or some sleeping animals...

Read this book with your baby throughout the day and ask: “What next?” until the child remembers all the actions in the prescribed order. From time to time, ask him to help you remember all four rules. If the baby begins to look through his book every day, in the evening he will be more accommodating.

Finally, this bedtime book will be another memento from your child's early childhood!

Step 2: Develop the right sleep routine

If you don't already have your usual bedtime rituals, now is the time to do so. Here's where to start.

Bedtime Rituals (30-60 minutes)

To hint to your baby that bedtime is approaching, do the following:

• dim the lights in the house;
• choose quiet and calm activities (avoid noisy and active games);
• turn off the TV;
• turn on white noise in the background;
• give your baby medicine if he is teething (but check with your doctor first).

Directly putting to bed (20-30 minutes) Each family has its own procedure for preparing for bed. The main thing is to make sure that all rituals are pleasant, soothing, consistent and performed with love.

Philadelphia researchers found that parents who followed a three-step routine to prepare for sleep (bath, massage, and gentle hugs/singing a lullaby) saw results in as little as two weeks. Their children (aged seven months to three years) began to fall asleep faster ... and sleep longer!

And as an added bonus, at night, the little ones were less likely to call their parents, get out of the crib, or get up from the regular bed.

In addition to bath and massage, there are other effective rituals.

When it's time for bed, don't do anything that might make your baby resist. For example, instead of asking, "Are you ready to go to bed?", exclaim enthusiastically, "Okay, that's it! Time to sleep!" Gesture it's time for bed and start counting down before you sing the song you usually sing at bedtime. (Come up with a short song or ditty with the words “Time to sleep!” or “Time to go to bed!”. You can use some familiar tune as a basis: for example, the song “Happy Birthday to You.”)

When you sing, use simple gestures to show that “it’s time for bed”: for example, you can put two palms together and lower your head on them.

Right before you start the usual laying procedure, create ideal conditions in the room! I suggest the following:

• dim the light;
• keep the room cool (ideal temperature 19-22 ° C);
• Warm bedding (use a heating pad or a bag of wheat grains that heat up in the microwave, but remove them from the bed when you put the baby there);
• use a pleasant smell (drip lavender oil on a mattress or headboard);
• turn on a small night light;
• hang up a dream catcher* or a picture of mom and dad so they can "protect" your precious baby all night long.

All children love to say goodnight to their toys. Prayers, lullabies and bedtime stories are also great sleep rituals, and a pacifier and a last sip of water will shorten the path to dreamland.

Offer your baby water, or mint tea, or decaffeinated chamomile tea, but don't give juices or sugary drinks before bed that cause cavities. Also, limit breastfeeding or bottle feeding before bed, and finish with it half an hour before bedtime, because milk and infant formula also create bacteria, which then have to be treated for cavities.

Favorite things, like a soft blanket or a teddy bear, can be great sleep aids. Think of them as stepping stones on the path to adulthood and independence. These loyal friends are called “attention shifters” because they give children courage, help them separate from mom and dad and make the transition to the big world.

If your little one doesn't have a pet, choose something soft and cuddly for him to carry around all day. In a few weeks, the baby himself may show interest in this little thing - associating the toy with your gentle hugs - and this will mark the beginning of a strong friendship.

Make sure your favorite toy doesn't have any loose parts or buttons that your child could choke on. And make sure you have one more exactly the same thing in stock - in case the first one gets lost or needs to be washed. Never take your baby's pet away as punishment. This will not make him behave better, but on the contrary, it can cause resentment and insecurity.

And do not forget about the good old attribute of falling asleep - white noise.

But as your little one's mind gets more active, you may find that softer sounds don't work and you need a harsher noise, like the one on the Happiest Baby CDs. It includes a special set of sounds, including those heard by the baby in the womb or the sound of rain, and combines high hissing sounds and low rumbling sounds.

White noise is better than a teddy bear as a sleep attribute because it's easy to replace if you lose the disc, and it's easier to wean from it later on.

Here are some more wonderful ideas for getting ready for bed:

• warm bath (in dim light);
• massage using coconut oil or cocoa butter (stroke the child on the forehead in the direction from the eyebrows up to the hairline, each movement slightly opening the eyes ... from this, the baby, on the contrary, will want to close them);
• spray some "magic spray" around the room - crazy at first glance, but it actually works.

And last but not least, my favorite of the Happiest Baby method is the ritual of falling asleep - a heart-to-heart talk before bed.

A heart-to-heart conversation before bed: the power of positive thoughts

One of the biggest rewards in parenting is being able to cuddle with your gnome before he falls asleep. Gentle rocking, light massages, and humming lullabies are great ways to show your love to him at the end of a long, tiring day.

And another wonderful way to end the day is a method called "Heart-to-Heart Talk before bed."

In the last minutes before falling asleep, your child's mind is open, he is like a small sponge, absorbing your words full of love. A heart-to-heart talk before bed allows you to use this opportunity to fill your mischievous mind with gratitude for all the wonderful things that happened today, as well as strengthen his faith in the good things he can do and experience tomorrow.

Here's how to apply this method with children ages one and older:

• Lay the baby down and sit next to him.
• In a soft and calm tone, list the good deeds and funny situations that happened to him today.
• If you put marks on your child's hand, count them and try to remember together what he earned them for.
• Think about tomorrow and list the events that can happen and the good deeds that the baby can do (“I won’t be surprised if tomorrow you climb to the very top of the slide. You can also help the teacher collect all the cubes!”).