Home Audience 2 Why does a one-year-old child sleep poorly at night: the main reasons. What to do if your child does not sleep well at night or during the day

Why does a one-year-old child sleep poorly at night: the main reasons. What to do if your child does not sleep well at night or during the day

Feeling great child is a guarantee of peace of mind for parents. As soon as problems with the baby’s health arise, for no apparent reason, parents begin to panic. Fever, runny nose and others visible diseases easy to cure, but what to do if the child does not sleep well at night? Contact a neurologist or look for the cause in something else.

Why does my child sleep poorly at night?

Adequate sleep is necessary not only for adults, but also for children. It gives strength, makes it possible to recover after a busy day, to comprehend everything that happened during the day. If an adult cannot fall asleep, then any sleeping pill or sedative will help him. Childhood insomnia cannot be cured by medicine, but factors that influence restless sleep must be found.
There are several reasons restless sleep baby, which we will talk about below.

Age-related changes

Infants sleep much worse than children over a year old. All this is explained by the fact that in infants shallow sleep prevails over deep sleep. In addition, babies need night feeding, which also affects restless sleep.

Some children, starting at one year old, sleep all night without waking up. From one and a half to approximately three years of age, children develop more adult reasoning and fears that influence night sleep.

Baby's temperament

Active children sleep much worse than calm children. They need more time to prepare for bed, more time to fall asleep, they need attention and the presence of an adult nearby even in their sleep. With age, sleep problems are due to the fact that the child is too impressionable and often has nightmares.

Unhealthy lifestyle

Rare walks in the fresh air sedentary lifestyle life has an adverse effect on the baby's sleep. A child should be active as much as he needs, and parents have no right to limit his aspirations if they want to sleep peacefully at night.

Feeling uncomfortable in the sleeping area

Babies under three months cannot retain body heat on their own. Therefore, parents wrap him up warmly, regardless of the time of year. The baby is hot, but he is unable to get rid of warm clothes, because of this he cries and sleeps poorly. Or maybe the room in which there is a draft or is too stuffy is to blame? Even dust or floors that have been washed for a long time affect the baby’s night dreams.

Well-being

Children, especially boys, react sharply to weather changes. Teeth are coming out feeling unwell due to vaccination, an approaching illness, weakness are factors in the baby’s restless sleep.

Life innovations

This could be a change in familiar surroundings, moving to new apartment, new furniture, that is, a departure from the usual, in which the baby felt safe. Usually this condition goes away after a few days, and the child’s sleep returns to normal.

Video: Komarovsky about a child’s poor sleep

What to do if your child doesn't sleep well at night

You can improve your baby's sleep at night if you follow our recommendations:

In some cases, the parents are the cause of the baby's restless sleep. Therefore, you should also pay attention to your behavior. If there are frequent quarrels in families, then there is nothing strange in the fact that the child does not sleep well at night. Children perceive the emotional situation in the family more acutely. For this reason, it is necessary to work to ensure that there is as little screaming in the house as possible.

Why does a child wake up very often, what prevents him from sleeping, what should be the sleep schedule for a child under 2 years old? We will try to answer these and many other questions.

Not a single married couple can raise a son or daughter without encountering the main problems of the child’s development. Every parent goes through this sooner or later.

But not everyone knows how to behave in a given situation. For example, what to do if a child does not sleep well at night, often wakes up and cries? Not everyone knows that they need to look for the causes of this problem, and not try to treat the manifestations.

A child’s poor sleep should most likely be taken for granted. Even many experts at the University of Notre Dame in the USA confirm this fact. However, Russian neurologists often classify restlessness during sleep even in a 3-month-old child as a neurological disorder.

Who to believe? Should you rely on modern medicine or try to experimentally determine what worries your little one during sleep?

Restless sleep of a child is a common occurrence

What is it like: proper sleep for a child?

In the first months of life, the baby's sleep is intermittent. In the period from 1 to 1.5 years, children tend to wake up very often both at night and during the day. Some mothers believe that their baby wakes up because he is hungry and really wants to eat. Research shows that babies breastfeeding They wake up at night as often as artificial babies.

From a physiological point of view, a baby’s sleep should not be long. This is explained by the fact that in the womb the baby simply alternated activity and sleep at certain time intervals, he did not control sleep, he did not distinguish between the changes in the phases of sleep and wakefulness. Therefore, after birth, he needs time to adapt to the new regime.

Until 3-4 months, the baby sleeps 18-20 hours a day. At the same time, he does not have a clear boundary between day and night. He wakes up only because he is hungry or something is bothering him. The sleep pattern is intermittent. At night the child sleeps for 3-4 hours, during the day - from 40 minutes to 2 hours. Many parents are frightened by this sleep rhythm, but this is just their fears; such a regime is a physiologically justified phenomenon.

The duration of sleep depends on the age of the child

Like an adult, a baby’s sleep is divided into certain phases:

stage of falling asleep
REM sleep
light sleep
slow sleep
deep sleep

The difference between a child and an adult is time. If for a baby the duration of each sleep phase is approximately 20-30 minutes, then for an adult the time increases to 2 hours. In the first months of life, about 60-80% of sleep is REM sleep. From the age of 6 months, shallow sleep makes up almost 50% of all sleep, and closer to 3 years - about 30%. In an adult, shallow sleep averages 20%.

How does the baby fall asleep?

The baby's sleep begins with the superficial phase. At this time, the toddler’s eyes are closed, movements are occasionally visible eyeballs, the eyelids tremble, breathing is irregular, smiles and winces can be observed.

During this period of time, babies not only see dreams, their brain analyzes and assimilates previously received information (information while awake), on the basis of which skills are formed. If the baby is disturbed by something during the shallow phase of sleep, he can easily wake up.

Falling asleep occurs in several stages

After 15-20 minutes of sleep, the child enters the slow sleep phase. At this time, the breathing rhythm becomes less frequent, the heart rate decreases, muscles relax and fists unclench, and some babies begin to sweat. During this period of sleep, it is very difficult to wake up a child.

This is the most appropriate moment to put the baby in the crib if he has fallen asleep in the arms of his parent. If you rush and try to put the baby to bed a little earlier, you can wake him up, and this can already lead to sleep disturbances.

Causes of child anxiety during sleep

In fact, there are many reasons why a child may be disturbed or disturbed during sleep. And each baby has them individually. Experts identified the most significant stimuli and tried to combine them into separate thematic groups.

Specifics of a child's temperament

If you have a baby “with increased needs,” as the American scientist William Cerza put it, then he always needs a special approach, starting from birth, regardless of age. Such children quickly “wind up” and “cool down” for a long time, they spend a lot of time in the arms of their parents, they are very demanding of environmental conditions.

These babies have the most serious sleep problems. They are unable to relax and fall asleep on their own and need help from their parents.

How to fight?

Such children are capable of exhausting their parents at night for many months. The best option to solve this problem is co-sleeping. It is better for parents to purchase a joint 3-person bed and a crib with a removable side panel so that it can be moved closely to the parent’s bed.

If this is not possible, then you need to be patient. You need to monitor your baby so that during the day he spends as much energy as possible, is active, but at the same time, so that he does not get overexcited. With such kids you need to walk in the fresh air as much as possible, go to the pool, and do gymnastics. Before going to bed, it is recommended to bathe the child in water with a diluted infusion of motherwort or pine needles.

It is better to put particularly impressionable and excitable children to sleep in the same room with their parents. And from the age of 3, it is advisable to accustom them to their own separate room.

The atmosphere inside the home and family

There are cases when the cause of sleep disturbance in children is an unfavorable atmosphere within the home or family. Kids are able to feel the mood of their parents and loved ones. A child always worries if he feels that there is an aggravated situation in the family with conflicts and other troubles. He will not always show it, but he will always feel and worry about it.

An unfavorable home environment can affect your baby's sleep

If quarrels and scandals often grow in the family, grievances and reproaches arise between parents, then this, of course, will, in the slightest way, affect the child. Because of this, the baby may wake up at night and cry.

How to fight?

You need to restrain yourself, or at least not sort things out in front of your children.

For a while, this can give the baby some peace of mind. However, over time, he will be able to identify hypocrisy and falsehood. Therefore, the resolution of disputes and quarrels should not be delayed too much; they should be resolved as they arise, and at the same time try to do it in such a way that the child does not know or see these dramatic scenes.

We must remember that all children want attention, care and affection from their parents. Putting your baby to bed can be combined with activities various kinds and directions. For example, you can teach your baby to read books before bed. The child will develop the habit of always going to bed after listening to fairy tales. Over time, he will get used to this regime. Reading books can also be replaced with bathing, massage, educational games, etc.

Older children love to just lie with their parents, talk about something, share their emotions and experiences. Such conversations promote relaxation, both physical and mental, and help the baby fall asleep faster. The most important thing is that after such conversations the child does not have any negative feelings (anger, fear, resentment, hostility).

If there are any conflict situations in the family, then it is advisable to resolve them before the time when the baby should go to bed. For example, in the morning. If you cannot do this, then it is better to postpone the unpleasant conversation to the next day, to morning time. This will protect the child from another acute problem- occurrence of nightmares.

Nightmares in children

In children aged 3-6 years, the most common cause of sleep disturbance is the appearance of nightmares. All children see horror films in their dreams, there are no exceptions. However, for most children such dreams are irregular, but there are also isolated cases when nightmares become main reason children's sleep disorders.

Child cannot sleep peacefully due to nightmares

The brain of a growing child is designed in such a way that he is able to perceive a lot around him and do several things at the same time. While watching children's cartoons or any other children's programs, the child remembers not only everything that happens on the screen. He also records what is happening around him and behind him.

Those. He will also remember all the negative scenes in the cartoon, all the negativity that can form around him. Often, after seeing and hearing, children often wake up at night, cry, and cannot sleep for a long time.

How to fight?

Nightmares are enough serious problem, which is most often a consequence of psychological stress or some hidden chronic disease.

Many parents do not give desired value childhood fears and nightmares. They consider this an age-related phenomenon that will definitely go away on its own. However, this is a very dangerous misconception. Constantly ignoring children's fears can lead to the development nervous breakdowns and severe psychoses in children.

In the future, it will not be possible to deal with fears without the help of specialists. In some cases, it may even be necessary to use potent medications.

Age characteristics of children

Some believe that babies in the first months of life sleep soundly, often and quite a lot. In fact, the baby’s sleep pattern is uncontrollable, and far from the same as that of its adults. In babies, shallow sleep prevails over deep sleep.

After waking up during light sleep, some babies can fall asleep on their own, but most require assistance. Children under 6-12 months constantly need to breastfeed, and this is also considered the cause of frequent awakenings at night.

Some young families do not experience this problem. However, this is not yet a reason to completely relax. As practice shows, the second more difficult period is the age of the child from 1-1.5 years. The baby has this period fears appear, fantastic characters may appear in his imagination, he may begin to be afraid of the dark. Because of this, even a child who did not make his parents worry in his first year of life may have trouble sleeping at night.

How to fight?

The solution to this problem is quite simple - from the first days of the baby’s life you need to practice co-sleeping with the child. This approach is relevant until the baby is 2-2.5 years old.

Sleep better and more peacefully with your parents

This is a proven fact when infant sleeps with his parents - he wakes up and cries much less often at night. In such an environment, he more easily survives his first encounters with nightmares and fears.

The main thing is not to leave the baby alone with her problem, because she is still so small that she can cope with it on her own. A child should not be left alone crying in a crib, thinking that it will calm down later on its own. He definitely needs help so that the child falls asleep in complete peace.

Throughout the day, you need to provide your baby with maximum tactile contact. This will help the child become calmer and not worry about all sorts of trifles.

When we are talking about an older child who is not able to overcome his fears on his own, then you need to talk to him, find out what exactly is bothering him. You can even help with a simple banal lamp turned on and left overnight.

It is also worth noting that at this age children attach a lot of attention all sorts of rituals. They believe, for example, that with the help of some bizarre “banishing a horror story from the closet”, this horror story will really disappear, and will not frighten you at night. It is better at the very beginning, at the stage of the problem’s inception, to help your baby overcome these fears, so that later it does not turn into something bigger and more terrible.

Wrong lifestyle of a child

When a toddler has problems sleeping at night, one of the reasons for this may be his low activity during daylight hours. Perhaps it seems to parents that during an hour and a half walk the baby spends enough energy to get tired. This opinion is erroneous, since during these 1.5 hours a mother or father can be much more tired than a child (watching the child, carrying him in his arms, pushing a stroller, etc.).

Children are very mobile and active in their first years of life. Some kids may not get tired even after racing around the yard with other children for hours.

How to fight?

In order for a child to expend more energy, so that he gets tired faster, you need to keep him busy with sports, dancing, aerobics, playing outdoor games with them more often, spending more time in the fresh air, making him forget about things like the computer and TV.

But don’t get too carried away - this is still a child. Although he is more active, you do not need to completely exhaust your baby so that he falls off his feet.

Baby's well-being

If an adult has a headache or stomach ache at night, then naturally he will wake up. The kids still have more reasons to wake up in pain. While children are teething, they sleep very poorly. And not because they were not tired enough, but because of pain in the first year or two, this picture is observed in most families. This is already more similar to dental diseases.

Dental diseases are problems that do not involve disorders of the nervous system. If your baby has gastrointestinal colic or spasms, then you should not expect a quiet, restful sleep from the child.

Most common cause a persistent disorder in children in the first year of life is rickets - a disorder of phosphate-calcium metabolism due to a lack of vitamin D. Rickets manifests itself as neuro-reflex excitability, anxiety, fearfulness, irritability and deterioration of sleep.

Children often startle when falling asleep. Their sweating increases during feeding and during sleep; they sweat most profusely hairy part heads.

How to fight?

To eliminate dental problems, you should definitely consult your pediatrician. In most cases, you can quickly eliminate the cause of the ailment, or simply relieve the pain. However, it is better to entrust this matter to specialists.

IN modern medicine there are many painkillers and antipyretics, gels to reduce pain in the gums, etc.

Disruption of daily routine

An incorrect daily routine can also cause significant disruptions in a child’s sleep pattern. If a child sleeps a lot during the day, then, of course, it will be almost impossible to put him to bed at night. The solution to this problem is quite simple, but it will require a lot of patience and a lot of parental time.

Parents should prepare for their little one correct routine day and try not to deviate from it. Sleep with in an active way life should alternate in such a way that most of the sleep time falls precisely at night. The less the child sleeps during the day, the better sleep he will have at night.

Don't forget about physical activity. If a baby tramples a certain distance with his feet before going to bed, his sleep will be much deeper, and it will not be easy to wake him up with ordinary rustles and steps.

However, you need to remember that in the afternoon it is not advisable to overload nervous system child different active games, and even more so in stressful situations. Due to the overabundance of emotions received, the child’s nervous system will be greatly overloaded, so it will be possible to forget about a sweet dream.

The child needs to be taught the correct routine

Accustoming to the new regime should be uniform and take place without haste. Although the child’s body quickly perceives and adapts to new living conditions, there is still no need to rush things too much. So that the baby can gradually adapt to the new regime, every day you need to shift your bedtime by 15-20 minutes. So, the child will learn to go to bed unnoticed, for example, at 21:00, if previously he went to bed no earlier than 23:00.

Nocturnal enuresis

Bedwetting ( nocturnal enuresis) is also very common among parents with young children. Enuresis is classified as primary and secondary.

Primary enuresis is classified as when the baby has never been “dry” in his crib. Secondary enuresis occurs after the baby was previously able to restrain urination, but then similar disorders began in his body.

In enuretic children, a decrease in capacity is observed bladder. Parents also note that it is much more difficult to wake up such children during sleep than others.

Before the first visit to the doctor, parents always try to take at least some measures. This includes limiting fluid intake before bedtime, waking up the child in the middle of the night, obligatory visits to the toilet before bedtime, etc. Some doctors, in addition to treatment, prescribe for such children a special method called “Restraint Training.”

Classification of sleep disorders

There are no unambiguous classifications regarding sleep disorders. The most suitable classification option for today can be considered the statements of American scientists. In their opinion, sleep disorders in children are divided into 2 types:

primary disorders
secondary disorders

The first group includes violations that are not accompanied by related problems, i.e. such violations occur without any obvious external and internal reasons at the baby's.

TO secondary violations These include situations in which sleep disturbances are one of the symptoms of illness. Those. sleep disorder occurs due to emotional overload, intestinal or stomach diseases, allergies, infectious and other diseases. Children often develop damage to the nervous system that interferes with sleep coordination.

Sleep disturbance in a child is a problem for parents

Experts divide sleep disorders into short-term ones, those that go away within a few days, and long-term ones.. The latter disorders in some children have been observed for several months or even years.

Breastfed children often experience behavioral insomnia, in which the child takes a long time to fall asleep, but his sleep is short and restless. Usually, babies 3-4 months old, if something wakes them up, after eliminating the disturbing factor, they can quickly fall asleep again. Children with insomnia, who, as a rule, are characterized by increased excitability and excitement, then cannot fall asleep without their parents, conversation, lulling...

They simply need long periods of lying down, rocking, and the presence of adults. Such procedures and rituals often take about 30-40 minutes. After which the baby falls asleep. It is very important that during sleep such children have as little irritants around as possible that could disturb their sleep.

This disorder is often found in children who have been overtired for the whole day, who have had an oversaturation of emotions throughout the day. In the first half of the night (until 1-3 am) they can wake up from the slightest noise, even from ordinary steps around the apartment. Parents should never ignore such problems, although this is the most common cause of these violations.

How to teach your child to sleep on his own at night?

As psychologists say, in order to accustom a child to independent sleep, no therapeutic measures no need to take action. A good balance is needed between love and frustration (the situation where desires do not match the available possibilities). This will help avoid psychological trauma and excessive suffering for the baby.

To instill in a child normal mode sleep, and also try to correct the mistake of not sleeping properly at night, frustration should be an integral element of the whole process. However, frustration should be moderate, its impact should be uniform and increasing.

Naturally, for some children, Spock's recommendations when crying child It’s better to leave him crying and not pay attention to him; they may not be suitable from the point of view of the parents’ ideology. However, for some children this level of frustration is very effective. Perhaps this way the baby will learn to calm himself down and fall asleep on his own.

- certain frequency– it is necessary to observe the frequency of actions when putting the baby to bed; it is necessary that both mom and dad are involved in these processes;

- confidence– parents must be completely confident (or at least outwardly demonstrate their confidence), this also calms the baby very well;

- familiar place– in order for the child not to worry, he needs to be put to bed in a familiar place, with familiar toys and objects;

- frequency of occurrence– when a child cries, parents should approach the baby at a certain frequency, thereby showing and instilling in him confidence and feelings of love and care.

Physician Edward Estiville, in his book Sleep Well, outlined detailed instructions, which contains a table of times when and with what frequency parents should approach to a crying child. This book has already helped many inexperienced parents who did not know how to cope with their capricious baby.

What folk remedies can be used to treat sleep disorders in a child?

Many parents, faced with the problem of increased excitability of the nervous system and sleep disturbances in their child, immediately rush to the pharmacy, where they are offered various sedatives. Is this the right decision? Of course not.

Under no circumstances should this be done - this may lead to negative influence for the entire body of the child. Sometimes this leads, on the contrary, to an unpredictable, opposite result. All this because everything pharmacological preparations It should only be given to a child with a doctor’s permission.

IN folk medicine There are absolutely safe mild drugs that bring faster and positive result. Such drugs do not have side effects, they do not cause any side effects in the child’s body. However, it is best to discuss their use with your pediatrician, since some children may have individual intolerance to one or another therapeutic component.

Valerian root infusion

To prepare the infusion you will need 1 teaspoon of dry valerian root, 200 ml of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar. The root is thoroughly crushed, poured with boiling water, sugar is added, the lid is tightly closed and infused for about 2 hours.

After filtering, the infusion of valerian root is taken in ½ cup. It is advisable to give the infusion to the baby after any stressful situations, after a busy emotional day. You should not give the infusion to your child for more than 5 days, so as not to develop an addictive effect.

Chamomile decoction

For chamomile decoction you will need 1 tablespoon pharmaceutical chamomile, 200 ml water and 2 tablespoons sugar. Chamomile is placed in an enamel bowl, filled with water and brought to a boil over low heat. After boiling for 5 minutes, sugar is added and left to steep for about 2 hours.

About half an hour before bedtime, the child should be given half a glass of chamomile decoction. Usually the course of treatment is 1 week. After consumption chamomile infusion The baby should fully restore healthy, sound sleep.

Pumpkin decoction with honey

A good remedy for calming and restoring sleep in a child is a decoction of pumpkin with honey. It is prepared as follows: pour 200 g of chopped pumpkin into 1 glass of water, add 1 tablespoon of honey. The pumpkin is boiled for 15-20 minutes, after which the broth is cooled and another 1 tablespoon of honey is added.

Therapeutic baths

When a child has excessive irritability, difficulty falling asleep, tearfulness, frequent awakenings during sleep, then medicinal baths can help him.

You can prepare a bath with the addition of a decoction of valerian root. For the decoction you will need 3 tablespoons of valerian root. The root is poured into 1 liter of water and boiled for 1 hour. After filtering, the root is added to the bath at the rate of 100 ml of decoction per 10 liters of water. It is advisable to bathe your child in such water before going to bed. However, you need to remember that long baths can give the opposite result - the activity and vigor of the baby.

Doctors, who have received sleep research tools since the mid-20th century, claim that more than half of modern children have sleep problems, and this number is constantly growing in our prosperous “disoriented” times.

What can a mother who is falling over from lack of sleep give her child?

What can a mother who is collapsing from lack of sleep give her child? There is no strength for active educational games, the house is neglected, the tense psychological situation in the family leads to reduction breast milk, the baby does not eat enough, does not get tired during the day and wakes up crying all night, and the next morning everything starts all over again. “Well, he’ll outgrow it! - they convince themselves alone, shifting responsibility for what is happening to the innocent child. “Clear mode! Go to bed and let him scream!” - others bring up forgotten methods of ignoring the child’s condition.

And there are also unscrupulous researchers who claim that women are naturally able to sleep in fits and starts without harm to themselves. Selfish fathers read the comments of scientists, and then sincerely wonder why they are not considered “real” family members: “Did you bring money? There is food on the table, the TV in the hall is free.”

Even the dog, the family pet, supports the exhausted mother with silent sympathy. And the head of the family “according to the state” is supposed to, together with the mother and baby, look for ways out of the situation that has arisen. The baby also feels better and looks healthier when he sleeps safely for the prescribed amount of time. Our task is to eliminate possible ailments and help him master this difficult task.

Why does my child sleep poorly?

What can prevent the baby from sleeping peacefully at this time and giving the mother the opportunity to fully rest for his own good?

“Children’s” problems: your baby turned out to be a “night owl”, which means that it will be late for him to go to bed. You will try in vain to force him to lie down; he, reacting to your irritation and despair, will scream until he wants to sleep.

Unfortunately, biological rhythm the child does not depend on parental attitudes. And the healthy habit of getting up early only works in some cases, regardless of the age of those tested. That is, getting up at 6 am and starting to work can get used to, but scientists testify: physiological processes in the body remain inhibited until the “natural” time of awakening.

And if a night owl child goes to parents who are early risers, they will have to find a compromise: active time in the “general” middle of the day, mandatory naps for the mother, quiet games in the morning and evening.

Isn't this combination of interests of all family members similar to the daily routine so disliked by modern mothers? Alas, psychologists testify that the first generation of those whom their parents freed from the regime at one time, giving seemingly unconditional love and protection from stress, approached their 20s with a number of behavioral and psychological problems. Life has again confirmed the obvious postulate: it is good in moderation and in place.

“Adult” problems: colic, gas, teething, baby illness, confused day and night - here insomnia is understandable, and the need for help is obvious. But after six months these problems are solved. And after each of these disruptions, family life returns to normal again, taking into account the interests of all its members.

If, in addition to sleep disturbances in a child of the first year of life, other regulatory disorders are added (changes in muscle tone, increased excitability), it is worth consulting a neurologist. In such cases, the diagnosis is sometimes made perinatal lesion nervous system" and appropriate treatment is selected.

But in this case, the doctor will answer the parents’ questions. How to respond to sleep disturbances if the baby is healthy?

I dreamed about something

Parents are often concerned about whining or crying in their sleep, or when their baby wakes up at night. What to do: if you haven’t gone to bed yet, quietly approach, touch, stroke without speaking, and move away again. If the whining wakes you up, you should listen, and if there are no demanding notes in it, it will soon subside. If the baby does wake up, put him to bed in the usual way, without engaging in conversation with him or trying to distract him with play. Your task is not to “calm down”, increasing the load on the baby’s nervous system, but to give him the opportunity to calm down on his own.

The ability to self-soothe by the age of 1 year already develops in 60-70% of children. With panicky attention and fussy behavior of parents, the skill of self-soothing is artificially delayed, and initially natural awakenings develop into sleep disorders.

Leave passionate hugs and passionate declarations of parental love until the morning. It always only increases the baby’s anxiety - does that mean there is something to save from? Replace it with the belief “You are fine.”

At night, everyone is calm, everyone is fine, everyone is sleeping - this is confirmed by your measured, even breathing, to which the baby will willingly adapt, smooth movements, muted light in a bluish-green tones.

The so-called “ white noise", the sound of a waterfall, the singing of birds - sounds that affect the subconscious and indicate that "there is no danger nearby - after all, the birds are singing calmly." There are many such forgotten “helpers” stored in our genetic memory. However, on particularly stressful days, tea with valerian or motherwort for the mother and a bath with herbs will not harm the child.

Methods for improving baby's sleep

Demand creates supply, and today a number of special techniques have been developed for establishing a peaceful sleep and good sleep at healthy babies: this is the Esteville method, and the Ferber method, and “Silent Night”, and even “100 simple ways put the child to sleep" by Svetlana Bernard.

Let us note right away that all of them are recommended only to parents who are confident in the need for such practice for themselves and their child. All of them require a thoughtful approach to application and consideration of the characteristics of your child and family traditions. And none of the methods came without harsh criticism from mothers who were “passionate” about parenting.

Recommendation: Read the suggestions contained in a particular method. Write down on a piece of paper your problems and proposals for solving them that you agree with. Invite your spouse to do the same. Together(!), determine ways to improve sleep that are right for the three of you. And stick to them relentlessly for at least a month or two. After all, fixing something broken is always difficult, and only endurance, patience and reasonable love help here. And may sweet dreams and days full of energy be your reward.

Little children are little troubles... What should you do if your child is already three years old and doesn’t sleep well?

What difficulties do parents of older children face?

Let's first outline the range of issues that parents of grown-up children face. Children are very different, but the situations are very similar:

7. For a child to sleep well at night, there must be physically active during the day. Go for a walk, give your baby the opportunity to splash out his energy.

8. What time do you put your child to bed? Night sleep should average 11 hours (link to sleep standards), so early bedtime is essential.

9. Daytime nap required on average up to 4 years. Keep this right healthy habit for as long as possible. Remember that a child who does not sleep during the day can easily become overtired by the time he sleeps at night. And this can greatly affect the quality of your night's sleep and the child will have difficulty sleeping at night. Parents often complain that the child himself refused nap very early. In most cases, it happens that we adults ourselves perceive daytime sleep as an obstacle to our plans, forgetting that darkness, silence, and previous rituals of preparing for bed are necessary for sleep. The child cannot quickly transition from wakefulness to sleep. Even if the baby refuses to sleep, it is necessary to organize a “quiet hour”, during which quiet activities are needed - lie down, read a familiar fairy tale, listen to quiet relaxing music.

It's time to draw conclusions! A lot depends on the optimism, consistency and organization of parents. Our children are our best teachers.

Restless children's sleep at night is a problem that all parents face. Why, why does he cry, constantly ask to be held and does not allow mom and dad to sleep? There are many reasons for violating the rest regime, and not all of them require immediate appeal to the doctor. Let's figure out when you need to make an appointment with a specialist, and what parents can handle themselves.

The main achievements of a child at 1 year 5 months are walking upright, communicating with speech and directed object-based activity. The latter implies the ability to carry something in your hands, pull or push objects, and lift your legs to the next step. It’s not bad if the child can already do the following:

build a pyramid from 2-5 cubes;
eat on your own;
undress, at least partially;
imitate the actions of parents.

At this age, children copy what adults do: “talk” on the phone, watch TV, leaf through books and magazines. Dr. E. Komarovsky especially emphasizes that at 1.5 years the child no longer just has to say “give me,” but say “give me, mom.” Let vocabulary He is still small, but the baby understands much more than he can speak.

Sleep disorders in children aged 1.5 years

Everyone has heard the common statement: a child grows while he sleeps. This is 100% true for babies aged 0-7 years. During the rest period, the hormone somatropin is produced, which is responsible for the growth of the entire body. A decrease in the amount of sleep leads to insufficient formation of the element, and as a result, a whole list of deviations may appear:

retardation in intellectual development;
decrease in mental abilities;
slowing down of brain thought processes;
delayed reaction;
communication problems and much more.

If a child of one and a half years old does not sleep well at night, constantly wakes up and cannot fall back to sleep for a long time, this is a signal to contact a pediatrician.

The concept of sleep norms at this age

Normal sleep includes sufficient duration and productivity of night's rest, after which a person regains his strength, feels cheerful and energetic. For early childhood medicine establishes the following standards:

From the age of six months, a baby needs 14 hours of sleep, of which 8-10 are at night.
Babies over 12 months old need 13 hours of sleep to grow and develop normally, 9-10 of them at night.
At 18-24 months, children should sleep approximately 12 hours, of which 8-10 are at night.

Manifestations of violations

At night, a child may not only have trouble sleeping, but also toss and turn restlessly, bend over, and jerk his leg. In such a situation, parents may also observe the following phenomena:

strong shaking;
urinary incontinence;
holding your breath.

Startling is usually not a pathological sleep phenomenon, like leg jerking. These are physiological movements that occur when falling asleep. The fact is that until 18-20 months, the baby’s sleep is superficial, the baby often wakes up and falls asleep again, without completely waking up.

Important to know! Frequent repeated startlings in children with a severe perinatal history may be a sign of epilepsy.

Night terrors are expressed in nervous excitement that occurs suddenly. The symptom appears from 1.5 to 8 years, more often in boys. Impressionable children suffer from fears, they cry, start screaming, rolling on the bed, calling for their mother. If the fear appeared once and lasted no more than 2 minutes, there is no reason for concern, but if the attack occurs frequently or lasts for a long time, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Most often, night terrors are resistant to treatment and go away on their own by the age of 9-10 years. Sometimes the phenomenon becomes a response to a strong daytime fright.

Prerequisites

If 1-2 nights is normal, you don’t need to worry too much; you should sound the alarm after 4 or more nights of insomnia. There are several reasons for restless, disturbed rest:

There are plenty of reasons why a child may not be able to rest; the main thing is not to miss the onset of the illness and help the baby in time.

Options for solving the problem

Depending on the causes of insomnia, there are several solutions. The main thing is not to panic and calmly identify and eliminate the factors that prevent you from getting enough sleep. If the child does not have a fever, does not have diarrhea, or is not teething, look around the room: heat, dryness, high humidity, too cold air or the moon shining on the window - all this can cause concern.

Sedatives

This group can be divided into two types of drugs: medicinal and folk. The first include:

"Glycine" is a mild sedative that is not addictive.
"Persen" is a safe drug for children that can be given from 12 months.
"Phenibut" is a medicine with wide range impact.

Important to know! It is strictly forbidden to give medications without prior discussion with the pediatrician. All medicines always have side effects, affecting development, emotional background baby.

The second group is folk and herbal medicines; it is quite extensive. This includes essential oils, herbal teas, pharmaceutical compositions:

All dosage forms- this is the last measure of reassurance, which is used when there is no effect from other options for solving the problem.

Compliance with regulations

Very important factor for the healthy development of a child - sleep patterns. Here are some tips for parents to take note of:

Set priorities as soon as the baby arrives at home. You will have to try, but determine the time for the whole family to sleep. Undoubtedly, small child will wake up from hunger, but the time frame for going to bed during the day and night, as well as waking up from rest, should not shift.
Determine a place to sleep. Doctors believe that until the age of 3, children should sleep in their own small crib, even if it is in their parents’ room.
Maintain a strict daytime sleep schedule. Of course, while the child is resting, mommy has time to do a lot of things, but an “extra half hour” during the day can result in an hour or two of wakefulness at night. Therefore, wake up without regret. There is a time allotted for sleep, you need to stick to it.

Sufficient physical activity

What to do with a one and a half year old baby? Perhaps this is the age when a child is already learning about the world, but cannot yet run far. Parents only need to think about what exactly will be interesting to the child: walks, outdoor games, pyramids, various bags of balls, small and large sound toys. At 1.5-2 years old, the baby intensively absorbs everything new, learns to recognize smells, shapes, colors, imitates adults and takes part in any games with pleasure.

Staying outdoors

How long should walks take? As much as possible. An hour and a half nap outside in the park is much better than a room at home. If you can’t go out for a walk, take the stroller out onto the balcony, but protect it from the sun, wind, and rain.

Emotional balance

In order for your child to fall asleep well in the evening, you need to create a calm atmosphere 30-60 minutes before bathing. None quick games, wild fun. Read, play pyramid, eat something healthy and tasty, give your baby a massage - simple tips, helping to stabilize the child’s emotions.

At this age, the child is taught to eat for common table, combining the menu in such a way that the baby receives enough vitamins and foods that are easy to chew and drink. In order to ensure normal sleep, the child needs to eat often, about five times a day, but in small portions. The last dinner is 30-40 minutes before swimming, and the snack should consist of light foods that are quickly digested. This could be bifidok, kefir, a little cottage cheese, yogurt, egg dishes, boiled vegetables. It is strictly forbidden to offer fruits, meat, or cereals - the former begin to ferment, the latter are poorly digested, and cereals have a high glycemic index.

Depending on individual characteristics, at 1.5-2 years old, a child should drink 750-1100 ml of water per day.

Eliminating health problems

If the baby does not sleep for 3-5 nights in a row, immediately consult a doctor! Only a pediatrician will identify a health problem and determine the cause of insomnia. In the case when the baby begins to cry, throws itself from side to side in the crib, without waking up at night or waking up screaming, in sweat, the reason may lie in diseases of the genitourinary, cardiovascular, and endocrine systems.

Creating comfortable conditions for a child's sleep

Except sufficient level silence, darkness, children need fresh air, cleanliness and comfortable-feeling linen. Pediatricians advise adhering to the following parameters: room temperature +18..+20 C, humidity 50-70%. It is necessary to install valves on heating radiators to regulate the heating level.

Co-sleeping with parents: benefit or harm

Doctors' opinions were divided on this issue. Some believe that sleeping with parents until the age of 2-3 is good and beneficial, others believe that it is harmful.

The benefit is that the baby feels mom and dad nearby, feels warm and safe. In addition, it is easier for the mother to feed the baby and calm her down. But feeding at night at 1.5 years is not the norm, so it’s time to move the child to a crib.

The harm lies in the child's continued dependence on his parents. In the future, it will be much more difficult to move the child into a crib. It doesn’t hurt to remember that parents need time for communication and normal sleep.

Advice! According to E. Komarovsky, after 12 months from birth, the child must be given not only a separate bed, but also a room (if possible). The baby should get used to sleeping alone. If your sleep is poor, you can leave the night light on and the door open, but it’s still better to move out of the shared bed.

Conclusion

Find out why nights are necessary to eliminate risk developing pathologies. Monitoring diet, sleep, and activity will help improve rest for both children and parents. And remember: little man comes to big family, which has its own rules and priorities.