A small child in a family is not only joy and happiness, but also a huge responsibility. Responsibility for education, development and, of course, health. A child's sleep is an integral part of his life, and therefore it is worth paying special attention to him.
You have a baby, you are happy and satisfied, but then some time passes, and something changes in your life. The child stops sleeping at night, and it is difficult to keep him awake during the day. What to do if his regime is out of order? Remember, from the very birth you should strive to develop for your baby the regime that will coincide as much as possible with the regime of the whole family. Choose a convenient time for your child's night sleep, it can be from 21:00 to 05:00, or from 23:00 to 07:00, there may be other options, it all depends on your lifestyle. Have you chosen? Let's stick to this time and try not to break it.
The choice of the place of sleep also plays a role. Several options are possible here. The most common location is a crib in the parents' room. Convenient for both mom and baby. Most often it is used in the first year of a baby's life and up to about 3-4 years.
An excellent option for toddlers from one year old and older is a crib in the nursery. The child gets used to responsibility and learns to be independent in his personal space.
There is another option: the child's sleep in the parents' bed, which is practiced by many married couples and often consider this the best option, forgetting about the mass of factors that cannot be attributed to the healthy sleep of the baby.
To keep your child sleeping all night long, control his daytime sleep! It is worth remembering that the average daily need of a child for sleep changes with his growth, the older the child, the less time he needs to sleep properly, and so: at the age of 0 to 3 months, he needs 16-20 hours, from 6 months it is already 14, 5 hours, at 12 months - 13, 5 hours, at 2 years - 13 hours, 4 years - 11, 5 hours, 6 years - 9, 5 hours, 12 years - 8, 5 hours. For example, a 6-month-old child sleeps approximately 14.5 hours a day, so that he sleeps peacefully all night, or rather 8 hours, during the day he needs to sleep no more than 6.5 hours. And do not be afraid to wake the sleepyhead if it exceeds its daily limit, otherwise the night will most likely be sleepless for you.
It is impossible not to say anything about feeding the baby at night, because most often it is at night that all sorts of problems arise, and feeding is one of them. Pediatricians have found that a newborn can wake up 1 to 2 times a night to eat. At the age of 3-6 months, one feeding is enough for him, and after 6 months the child is able to sleep all night without waking up for feeding! And he can wake up for a number of other reasons not related to feeding, or he wants attention, swinging, sucking, just climbing up to his mother's arms. Of course, you can encourage all the whims of your baby, but then you will completely go into an autonomous mode of existence. Therefore, try not to supplement the baby a little in the penultimate feeding, so that immediately before bedtime he has a dense and satisfying meal. But do not overfeed, this can make your tummy ache and, again, your sleep and the baby's sleep will be ruined.
The active lifestyle of the baby will have the best effect on the night's sleep. During the day, it can be outdoor games, walks in the fresh air, exploring the outside world, and in the evening the best activity for the baby is reading fairy tales, watching good cartoons and mom's lullaby. All of these activities are good preparation for a restful night's sleep.
The next three components of a restful night's sleep for your baby are bathing, clean and fresh air in the nursery, and a comfortable and properly made crib.
Bathing in the evening increases the physical fatigue accumulated during the day, and also promotes a good appetite.
Fresh air must be present in the nursery, do not forget to ventilate the room daily and do wet cleaning, the air temperature should be 18-20 degrees, the humidity should be around 50-70%.
Now about the crib. The mattress should be dense and even, it is also not recommended to use pillows under 2 years old, try to choose bed linen from natural fabrics, wash it only with baby powders to avoid skin allergies.
Lastly, choose a quality disposable diaper for your baby. It is the diaper that can qualitatively improve the night's sleep of the child, because a dry bottom, without irritation and redness on the skin, contributes to a calm, healthy sleep.
