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Sleeping baby is extremely important for its development. During this period, the baby's body is gaining new strength, the psyche is resting from the received impressions. And most importantly, it is in a dream that the child grows most intensively. Therefore, it is extremely important for parents to organize the conditions for a good rest for the baby.
How much does a newborn baby sleep?
Sleep time during the day is very individual. Therefore, if your baby does not fit into the middle frame, do not worry. The main thing is that these deviations from the norm do not have a negative impact on the well-being of the crumbs and members of his family.
In general, the duration of sleep per day in infants is:
- 17-20 hours - up to 2 months;
- 12-16 hours - up to 6 months;
- 12 hours - up to 1 year.
This time the baby independently divides into several parts. Crumbs at the age of one month may well sleep all day and night, waking up just to have a bite. And in the daily routine of older kids there is time for games and relaxation. So, a five-month-old baby can go to bed 4 times a day: 1 time at night and 3 times in the afternoon. At the same time, morning and evening sleep will be very short (about 40 minutes or hours), and daytime sleep can last up to 2-3 hours.
When the child grows up to 8-9 months, he is likely to sleep already 2 times during the day for 1.5-2 hours. And after a year will be able to switch to a one-day nap.
Why the baby is not sleeping
There are many reasons why babies do not sleep day or night. In principle, if the child is cheerful, cheerful and does not cause trouble to his mother by his behavior, you can not lay him down according to the general schedule. Perhaps it is for your baby at three months old that it is enough to nap once for a couple of hours to calmly hold out until the evening and sleep well all night until morning.
Another thing is how to understand why the child does not sleep when he clearly wants to sleep? Or wakes up literally a couple of minutes after you put him to bed? To do this, it is important to evaluate the sleeping conditions that you created for him.
- Air parameters in the children's room. The optimum temperature for baby's sleep is 18-20 ° C, and humidity is 50-70%. As a rule, parents who have purchased an air conditioner and a humidifier for a children's room do not have a question about how much a newborn baby sleeps.
- Clothing. Determine which diapers are better for your baby, and choose those in which he will be dry and comfortable. Dress the baby warmly. When the room is cool and the clothes are warm, his sleep will be deep and calm.
- Pose for sleep. Toddlers up to four months usually do not roll over in a dream, while an uncomfortable posture can cause premature awakening. Try laying the baby on the tummy: this is the most physiological position for the child. In addition, sleeping on the tummy allows gaziks to easily exit the baby’s intestines and will not be disturbed colic.
At the age of six months, the baby begins to worry about teething teeth, so his sleep pattern may be impaired. Unfortunately, there is no one true way to help the baby at this moment and ease his condition. Special cooling gels help someone, teasing toys help someone. However, do not worry in advance that sleep problems will surely arise. There are lucky ones whose teeth come out absolutely imperceptibly. Maybe you will be among them?
How to ensure a long night's sleep
If you have a small child, this does not mean that you must not sleep at night and not experience anything in this life except fatigue. The kid has mixed up day and night and you are already worried, not how much a newborn baby sleeps, but how to teach him to sleep on time? This is entirely possible, but will require patience from you and other family members.
- Maximize your baby’s wakefulness until nighttime sleep. He is acting up at 9 pm, whimpers and asks to sleep? Do not stack it if you know from experience that the child will wake up at 12 and have fun until the morning. Yes, it will be bad and sad for all of you to watch the vagaries of the crumbs for another 2 hours. But gather your will into a fist, and at 23.00 arrange for the child to bathe (preferably with a swim in the cool water of an adult bath), then feed him tightly and put him to bed. Be sure that after such an evening the child will sleep "without hind legs" until 6 in the morning. And with it, you and your husband.
- Be a baby in the afternoon. There is nothing wrong with interrupting a child’s sleep other than upset grandma. Form the mode of wakefulness and rest of the baby in a way that is convenient not only for him, but also for other family members.
And yet, try to initially accustom the baby to falling asleep not in his arms, but in his crib. Of course, this is difficult for babies who usually fall asleep under their mother’s breasts during lunch or dinner. But the sooner you identify the rules for falling asleep, the easier it will be for your child to accept and abide by them in the future.