How to teach a 6 month old baby to sleep at night. When do babies start sleeping through the night, and what to do about it?

How to teach your child to sleep peacefully through the night

Why do children wake up at night?

The first step to solving any problem is to find out its causes. Therefore, in order to understand why your baby does not sleep well, you need to know some patterns of children's sleep.

By studying the sleep process in the laboratory using electroencephalographs, scientists have established that sleep is not a homogeneous process, but consists of different phases alternating in a certain sequence.

The first four phases are different stages of the so-called slow, or deep, sleep with reduced body activity. After falling asleep, they replace one another for 2-3 hours, and you probably noticed that it is at this time that the child sleeps the deepest. Neither light nor noise disturbs him, he does not even wake up if he is swaddled or carefully transferred, for example, from a stroller to a crib. This is the time when tired parents can finally relax and breathe a sigh of relief. If, an hour and a half after falling asleep, the baby starts tossing and turning in the crib, muttering something, making sucking movements, etc., this is not a reason for concern. This usually happens in a dream, during moments of incomplete awakening from slow-wave sleep, and then the baby sleeps peacefully further.

After 2-3 hours, slow-wave sleep is replaced by so-called rapid eye movement sleep, or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. It is called this because during it the eyeballs move quickly from side to side. With the transition to REM sleep, the electroencephalogram of the sleeping person becomes the same as that of a awakened person, his breathing and heartbeat become more frequent, and his temperature and pressure rise. It is at this time that your baby sees the most vivid and emotional dreams.

During REM sleep, it is easy to wake a person. This is a protective function of the body at night, allowing a person to perceive danger signals even in a dream: suspicious noise, the smell of burning, etc. - and if necessary, immediately wake up. And just during the onset of this phase of the baby’s sleep, his parents usually begin to prepare for the night’s rest and make more noise than usual: they wash in the shower, brush their teeth with an electric brush, or look into the room where the child is sleeping. If he wakes up, the parents are often annoyed, because just recently he was sleeping so soundly that it was impossible to wake him up. (One young couple even complained in our conversations that their baby “seems to be deliberately waiting for the parents to lie down comfortably in order to immediately get them back on their feet.” Poor baby! No, people learn such things much later!)

Don't worry ahead of time if you wake up your baby during REM sleep: after this phase ends, he will wake up on his own. Because short-term awakening after each phase of REM sleep before the transition to slow sleep is a physiological pattern characteristic of both children and adults. And a similar phase change occurs up to seven times a night!

This means that absolutely all children wake up up to seven times every night. Only some immediately fall asleep again, while others begin to cry, calling their parents for help.

Why do children cry when they wake up at night, and how to avoid it?

Why does this depend, you ask. Why does one child, waking up at night, fall asleep on his own, while another cannot do this without the help of his parents?

As I already wrote in the previous chapter, the phases of sensitive REM sleep with a short awakening at the end are a kind of security system for the body that allows you to check whether everything around you is in order and whether you can continue to sleep peacefully. A small child, waking up at night, checks, for example, whether he is cold, hungry, hurt somewhere, etc.

If the baby is being tortured intestinal colic(usually up to 4-5 months) or teething(usually from 5-6 months), then at this time they will interfere with his restful sleep.

Incipient disease also often upsets children's sleep. A restless night may precede, for example, a cold or intestinal infection. Symptoms of many diseases first appear during a night's rest.

Frequent awakenings at night may also occur reaction to the vaccine. The baby’s immune system, which is not yet sufficiently developed, is in a state of alarm, and the body throws all its strength into fighting the uninvited guest. And if at the time of vaccination the immune system was already busy fighting the incipient infection (still invisible to the parents), now it has to fight on two fronts. She is overloaded with a new task, and the baby may develop symptoms of an incipient illness, which will also deprive him of his night's rest.

Maybe a child I dreamed something terrible. After all, at night, children “process” the events of the day, which can result in frightening dreams. If this happens occasionally and the baby quickly calms down and falls asleep when you appear, then there is no reason to worry. Regular nightmares can be a consequence of childhood problems and fears, which will be discussed in a separate chapter.

If your presence does not calm the baby and he does not even seem to notice you, then this may be a sign of the so-called night terror - a condition associated with incomplete awakening from night sleep (we will also talk about it in more detail in the chapter “Children's fears and disorders sleep for other reasons.")

And when a child wakes up at night, he checks whether everything around him is the same as it was when he fell asleep.

So what happens? He falls asleep on his mother's warm, fragrant shoulder, and wakes up in a cold, completely different-smelling crib. Or he dozed off to the soothing rocking of the stroller, but now everything is motionless. Maybe he fell asleep sucking on his mother’s breast, a pacifier or the usual bottle of juice, but now they are gone... And the baby is not used to falling asleep without them. This means that there is an urgent need to “restore justice,” and the baby cries loudly with all his infant strength, calling for help. His desperate cry cannot leave his loving parents indifferent, and they, with difficulty opening their eyes, give the baby something that helps him fall asleep. That is, they rock him to sleep again, carry him around the room, bring him a bottle, sing songs, etc.

Having received the usual, the child quickly falls asleep again. But not for long: each new awakening ends with a new attempt to “restore justice.” Moreover, the baby has already noticed that all he has to do is cry a little, and he will get everything he wants!

Tired parents are ready to do anything to ensure that the baby falls asleep as quickly as possible. There are literally no limits to their imagination. In addition to the most common methods of calming, such as the breast, pacifier, bottle, carrying in arms, rocking in a stroller, etc., many use unconventional methods. So, one father drove his baby for 20 minutes in the car so that when he fell asleep, he could carefully transfer him to the crib. Many parents turn on music, but there are also those who start, say, a vacuum cleaner or washing machine, because they noticed that uniform noise has a calming effect on the baby. A common method of bedtime is for one parent to be present in the baby’s room until he falls asleep. Many people pet the child, sing songs to him or simply hold his hand. But one mother even climbed into the crib so that the baby could feel her closeness. When the crib became small, this mother lay down next to her on the floor (fortunately the crib was very low), resting her head on the baby pillow. Some babies like to twirl their mother's hair, tickle her nose, or do something similar when falling asleep. Often parents take a crying baby into their bed or, if the baby already knows how to get out of his crib, he climbs into his parents’ bed himself.

No matter how convenient all these methods of momentarily calming a child are, they have one common drawback: the baby gets used to them and cannot fall asleep any other way. Of course, if your baby, having fallen asleep in this way, sleeps peacefully all night, there is no point in changing anything. But usually a child who falls asleep only with the help of his parents needs it both during the day and in the evening, when going to bed, and at night. For parents, this means getting up multiple times at night. In other words: by solving a problem at the moment, they create a lot of difficulties for themselves in the future.

To avoid them, there is only one way out: your baby should learn to fall asleep independently in his crib. If he learns to fall asleep alone during the day and in the evening, he can easily do this at night. In addition, studies conducted by German doctors Kast-Zahn and Morgenroth (Annette Kast-Zahn, Dr. med. Hartmut Morgenroth, “Jedes Kind kann schlafen lernen”) showed that children who fall asleep independently in their crib usually sleep at night on a whole hour longer!

Breastfeeding, stroller, rocking in arms - all this is good for calming the baby during the day. He must fall asleep in the evening in an environment that will remain unchanged all night, so that when he wakes up, he feels: everything is fine, everything is the same as it was when I fell asleep. For example, a pacifier can only become a help at the moment when the child learns to find it at night on his own. One mother even came up with the idea of ​​putting several pacifiers in the crib to make it easier for the baby to find one of them or in case the pacifier falls on the floor. Many more children like to fall asleep with a soft toy in their hand. It is also not difficult to find it in the dark when you wake up.

And yet, the main condition for a child’s restful night’s sleep is the ability to fall asleep independently, without the help of parents. Every healthy child can learn this, and in just a few days. How to help him with this will be discussed in the chapter “How to teach a child to fall asleep on his own.”

Of course, your baby will not immediately agree to give up pleasant and convenient habits for him. But the efforts made will be worth it, because a restful night's sleep is important primarily for the baby himself. Besides, children are happy when their parents are calm, and parents are happy when they get a good night's sleep...

From the very birth of Anyuta, her mother calmed her down, putting her to her breast. This is exactly how the girl fell asleep every time. In the first weeks it was quite convenient - the baby quickly calmed down and practically did not cry. In addition, she fell asleep quickly and slept for quite a long time. Then the problems started. Not knowing whether her daughter was crying from hunger or for another reason, Anya’s mother put her to her breast even when she was not at all hungry. As a result, my daughter began to vomit frequently. Now Anyutina’s mother understands that her small stomach was unable to cope with a large amount of milk. Then she thought that maybe the girl was sick. And some “experienced” advisers even tried to convince her that babies vomit when they are malnourished... Is that funny? Anya’s mother was not amused at that moment, and, not knowing what to do, she was ready to follow any advice. Due to constant vomiting, the baby’s stomach was empty, and she wanted to eat again. We had to feed her every 2 hours, so half the day was spent on feedings alone. At night, my mother also had to get up every 2 hours. At 5 months, when Anechka switched to infant formula and vegetable purees, the problem with vomiting disappeared. But the baby still fell asleep only in her mother’s arms. The result is frequent night awakenings and long (an hour, or even longer) evening carrying.

Constant fatigue and emerging health problems forced Anya’s mother to finally change the situation. Using the Ferber method (which will be discussed later), she taught her daughter to fall asleep on her own, and the nights became calm on their own. In addition, the baby now cried less, worked with herself more often, and her mother had precious evening time for rest and relaxation.

Three-year-old Pavlik is used to falling asleep only in the presence of his mother. She sang to him, held his hand, stroked his cheek. Waking up at night, Pavlik also demanded his mother’s presence, and the procedure for putting him to bed was repeated. The further it went, the more time it took for the baby to fall asleep. If in the first 10-15 minutes the mother “lulled” the baby to sleep with judgment, then then the fatigue accumulated during the day made itself felt, and tenderness was replaced by impatience. When she tried to tell the child that he should sleep alone, he protested loudly, climbed out of the crib, pulled his mother's hand, and her loving heart gave in again.

That was until Pavlik stayed with his grandmother for a few days. In the evening, putting the baby to bed and hearing his plaintive request: “Stay with me!”, the grandmother said in a tone that did not allow objections: “No, dear! You are a big boy, you are already 3 years old. At this age, all children fall asleep on their own. Besides, I don't have any time right now. But I promise you that as soon as I finish my work, I will come to your room again to wish you good night.” With these words, the grandmother kissed Pavlik on the cheek and resolutely left the room. "Leave the door open!" - he asked. “Okay, but only if you lie quietly in the crib,” said the grandmother. When, 15 minutes later, she quietly approached the door to the baby’s room, peaceful, even snoring could be heard from there... That night the baby never woke up!

Teach your baby to fall asleep on his own in his crib, and your nights will become calm on their own!

What to do if a child wakes up at night and cannot fall asleep for a long time

Many parents overestimate their child's need for sleep. And when the baby suddenly wakes up at night and cannot fall asleep for a long time (more than an hour), when he wants to play in the middle of the night or requires some other form of attention from his parents, they are often at a loss.

It's actually very simple - your baby sleeps too much overall. Compare the total duration of his sleep with the data in the table (chapter “When and how much do children sleep, or Some statistics”), and you will most likely be convinced of this. And since the baby’s sleep is not optimally distributed throughout the day, he ends up getting enough sleep just at the moment when it is least convenient for you - in the middle of the night. His rhythm of sleep and wakefulness is simply disturbed, shifted, which is very easy to change.

Now all that remains is to distribute your child’s sleep hours at a time convenient for you. For example, if he sleeps twice during the day, then, most likely, one is now enough for him, then his night's sleep will become more restful. The only, but too long, daytime nap should be “shortened”, that is, waking up the baby earlier. Or, if it's more convenient for you, you can wake him up earlier in the morning. Another option is to put your baby to bed later in the evening. Whatever option you choose, one thing is important - so that the total time the child spends in the crib does not exceed the baby’s need for sleep calculated by you.

And consistency in your actions is also important, because to get used to the new regime, the baby needs time (usually no more than a week). Of course, it’s a pity to wake up a peacefully sleeping baby, especially in the morning, when the parents still want to sleep. But just wait a week, and you will no longer need to wake up your baby - he will wake up on his own at the right time. Well, for parents, getting up earlier in the morning is still more pleasant than “going out” in the middle of the night, isn’t it?

Igor, 2 years old, slept for about one hour during the day. Around 8 pm he fell asleep easily again, but woke up an hour later and could not be put to bed until midnight. At midnight, he finally fell asleep on the living room sofa, and his parents carried the sleeping boy to his crib. It was impossible to wake Igor in the morning; he regularly slept until 10 o’clock! The boy's routine was clearly disrupted. He compensated for the lack of daytime sleep in the evening, and night rest for Igor began only at midnight.

To restore the disrupted routine, it was necessary to teach the child to sleep longer during the day and go to bed earlier in the evening. In total, the boy slept for 12 hours. This means that daytime sleep had to be extended to 2 hours, and the start of the usual ten-hour night rest had to be moved to an earlier time. To do this, the parents first stopped putting their son to bed at 8 pm. Despite his moods and fatigue, in the first days he had to go to bed only at midnight, as before. In the morning, Igor's parents woke him up at the usual time - at 10 o'clock. The tired boy now “filled up” the missing hour of sleep in the evening at lunchtime (his daytime sleep itself increased to 2 hours). All that remained was to gradually move Igor’s nighttime sleep to an earlier time. To do this, his parents put him to bed 20 minutes earlier every day, and after 10 days the boy fell asleep at 9 pm and slept peacefully until 7 am!

Little Olezhka spent 12 hours at night in his crib (from 8 pm to 8 am). During the day he slept for about 3 hours. Everything would be fine, but around midnight the boy woke up and could not sleep for a long time. For some time he lay quietly, talking to himself and playing with his hands, then he began to call his mother, was thirsty, asked to be held, etc. Only after about three hours did the baby fall asleep again.

Having calculated that Olezhka sleeps for a total of about 12 hours, the parents decided to reduce the time he spent in the crib to this figure. To do this, they began to wake the boy up during the day after two hours of sleep, put him to bed an hour later in the evening, and wake him up an hour earlier in the morning. In the first days, Oleg woke up at night out of habit, but fell asleep much faster than usual. Soon the lack of sleep made itself felt, and the baby began to sleep soundly all night...

TIP OF THE DAY ____________________

If your child can’t fall asleep for a long time at night, it means you’re overestimating his need for sleep! The time your baby spends in the crib should correspond to his actual need for sleep at the moment.

What else is important for a child’s restful sleep?

In addition to correctly assessing the child’s need for sleep and avoiding unfavorable sleep rituals, for the baby’s restful sleep, his general condition, the situation in the family, as well as how his day and the time before bedtime pass and how parents react to the child waking up at night are important.

1. It's no secret that calm, happy children sleep better. A child is calm and happy first of all when he feels parental care and love. This is the most important prerequisite for his physical and mental health. The time given to the baby in the first years of his life will pay off a hundredfold in the future. And not even so much the time devoted to caring for the child, but those precious minutes in which you give him all your attention and all your love - you play and talk with him, sing to him, rock him lovingly in your arms, or just attentively, with admiration watching your amazing baby.

2. It is very important from the very beginning a lot talk to the child. Especially in the first months of his life, when he still doesn’t see much around him, the voice and touch of his parents constitute almost the baby’s only contact with the outside world. Therefore, you should make sure that this voice is affectionate and that touches and hugs are gentle. Not yet understanding the meaning of your words, the baby will clearly catch their intonation. Feeling loved and desired, he will be able to more easily adapt to this new world for him. He will grow up calm and sleep well.

3. Talking to your child is important. not only for his mental health, but also for his mental and language development. Everything that the baby hears is deposited in his subconscious and will serve him well when he begins to speak. Therefore, it is recommended not to lisp with the baby, but to speak separately and clearly, using ordinary words and sentences. Cassettes with fairy tales or music will also help the child’s language development. Of course, he will consciously listen to them later, but turned on as a quiet background, they will do their job over time. Subconscious perception of language is especially important if you want to teach your child several languages ​​at the same time from childhood.

4. Children begin to understand the meaning of your words much earlier than they learn to speak. Therefore, try to explain to your baby as much as possible in everyday life, comment on what you are doing, and call things by their proper names. For example: “Mom is cooking soup now. Look: she takes carrots for soup. And these are potatoes, they also need to be cut.” Or: “Now mom will put Olenka in the stroller, and we’ll go for a walk. We will take a walk in the park and then go to the store for milk. Mommy needs milk to cook porridge for Olenka.”

5. All children are unusually sensitive and feel without words. not only the attitude of parents towards themselves, but also their condition. Therefore, if you sometimes have a hard time, don’t take it out on your baby. It’s better to talk to him, explain that mommy is tired, that’s why she is sometimes impatient, but she always, always loves her baby. Even if the child cannot speak yet, he will understand you with his heart. Well, if sometimes this doesn’t work out, it’s better to step aside and calm down before approaching the baby again. It would be better for him to cry alone for a couple of minutes than to witness your angry outburst. Take a deep breath, drink some water or a cup of coffee, eat a piece of chocolate - and get back to your little one with renewed vigor. When you return, explain to him that mommy really needed to go away, but now she is here again and loves her baby very, very much.

6. In addition to your condition, children also feel very family situation. Friendly, harmonious relationships between all family members, and especially between the baby’s parents, are one of the most important prerequisites for his happiness, and, consequently, sound sleep. Quarrels, stress or depression of parents affect the baby, depriving him of sleep and peace. Even if the parents do not quarrel in front of the child, do not raise their voices or otherwise show their problems, even the tiniest baby intuitively senses their condition and reacts to it.

Therefore, parents will greatly help the baby by thinking about themselves.

7. Find time for relaxation and for each other.

Remember that you are not only parents, but also husband and wife. Maybe there will be a grandmother or someone else who will look after the baby so that you can go somewhere together and just relax, like in the old days. You will see - you will return home with a completely different feeling, it will become easier to look at everyday worries, and life will suddenly seem more beautiful to you. You will help yourself and your child at the same time. What could be better?

8. Will also greatly help your baby’s sleep at night. walks in the open air. Especially walks in nature, in the forest, on the lake - a real balm for the baby. And for a young mother, this is also an opportunity to relax and recharge with energy. Listen to the singing of birds and the busy buzzing of bees, watch some inconspicuous beech or admire the beauty of flowers, and you will immediately feel your strength and vigor returning. In winter, this could be the crunch of snow underfoot or the reflection of the cold winter sun in the frost on tree branches. Even in a big city you can find quiet, secluded streets or courtyards, with trees or shrubs that will amaze you with their beauty. Listen to the silence around you and feel the silence within yourself. Forget about all your affairs for a while, you still have time to redo them. These minutes are only for you and your baby, and they are now the most important in your life!

9. To ensure that your baby sleeps well, it also plays an important role. familiar environment. For example, when visiting, at grandma's, on vacation, or in any other new situation for the baby, he may feel insecure and sleep worse. The same can happen if for some reason he is put to sleep in one room or another (for example, when dad is on a business trip, mom moves the crib to her bedroom).

10. A child can also wake up, processing in his sleep some events and impressions that frightened or excited him during the day. This could be new faces or a new environment, a huge dog seen on the street, or an unexpected noise that frightened the baby. In this case, the child is usually easy to calm down with gentle words and closeness. Having gotten rid of the unpleasant vision in a dream, he will quickly fall asleep again.

11. When the baby grows up and begins to walk, his restful sleep is greatly promoted active day and movement. Play catch and hide and seek with him, roll him on your back or, holding your baby by the arms, let him climb up to your chest. Let older children run around on the playground, ride down the slide, play with their peers, and ride a bike. Go on a visit with your child, take a boat ride, just take a walk around the city, or even go to a museum (for a while, any child will be calm, because he is curious about everything he sees around). You will see that when the day is full of impressions, children get tired and sleep better during the day. But do not overdo it - the active phases should not last too long and be replaced by peace and rest, otherwise the child will become overexcited, and then, on the contrary, will sleep restlessly.

12. For young children, the environment of daytime feeding is important - it should be stimulating, not soporific (bright light, laughter, conversations with the child), so that feeding is not associated for the baby with falling asleep. In the first weeks of life, many babies fall asleep on the breast or when fed from a bottle, but then they need to be gradually weaned off this.

13. Older children You can’t teach him to play in a crib, it should be associated for them only with sleep. It’s better to place the baby in a playpen or just on the floor with a thick blanket.

14. For babies to sleep well, it is very important that they have warm and so that they didn't sweat Therefore, children's pajamas must be made of pure cotton, and the blanket must correspond to the temperature in the children's room. Some time after the baby falls asleep, carefully touch his back to determine if he is sweating, and his arms to find out if the baby is cold.

15. When the child sleeps during the day, no need to speak in a whisper and walk on tiptoe. If he gets used to sleeping in silence, he will wake up at night from any rustle. Small children sleep well during the day with normal household noise, and for you, while the baby is sleeping, you can lead a normal life: talk on the phone, listen to music, watch TV or just do homework.

16. In the evening, many children, including older ones, fall asleep more willingly if they hear their parents in the next room. The soft sounds of conversation and the feeling of closeness between parents calm babies and give them the opportunity to plunge into the world of dreams without fear.

17. To help your baby sleep better at night, you can try reduce daytime sleep. For example, if the baby sleeps twice during the day, then it may be more advisable to switch to just one “quiet hour”. (To make this transition easier for the child, at first you can put him to bed alternately once or twice a day.) And if he sleeps only once during the day and he is already 2.5 years old, then you can even try give up the daytime “quiet hour” at all. Many children, having stopped sleeping during the day, begin to sleep more peacefully at night. What is more important to you - a day break or a good night - you must evaluate for yourself.

18. Of course, giving up daytime sleep will require additional effort from you at first: children who stop sleeping during the day become very tired by the end of it, begin to whine and be capricious. But if you hold on for a couple of hours, the child will instantly fall asleep in the evening, and you will not need to put him to bed for a long time, even if he was accustomed to this before. You will have a quiet evening, and your child's nighttime rest will lengthen.

19. Just don’t think that it will lengthen by the number of hours that the child slept during the day - this most likely will not happen. Kast-Zan and Morgenroth claim in their book that even in this case the baby will not sleep more than 10 hours at night. My experience and the experience of the parents I interviewed show that a child’s nightly sleep may well increase to 11, or even 12 hours. So, my daughter, who previously slept 10 hours at night and 3 hours during the day, after giving up daytime sleep, at first slept only 10 hours at night (reorganization of the body). Then fatigue made itself felt, and my daughter’s nightly sleep increased to 12 hours! Sometimes, on especially stressful days, she still fell asleep during the day, but not in her crib, but, for example, on the sofa next to me.

20. For a good night's sleep for your baby, a clear mode. Always put your child to bed at the same time, so his “internal clock” will adjust to sleep at the right time.

21. If a child begins to toss and turn or sob at night, then don't run to him right away- It’s quite possible that he’s just dreaming about something. If he does wake up, give him a couple of minutes to try to fall asleep on his own.

22. Before putting your baby to bed in the evening, make sure he is full. A hungry child will not sleep for long. If you feed your baby formula milk, buy a more filling formula for the evening. Or make the semolina porridge thicker than usual.

There is even a special one for infants. late feeding method when it is advised to wake up the baby for feeding late in the evening at the same time, it is best before the parents go to bed. Having gotten used to it, the baby will be hungry by this time and will wake up on his own, but then he will sleep for a significant part of the night with his parents. In some cases, this method works quite well.

23. But there are children who are difficult to wake up at the right time or who refuse to eat according to the clock. Some babies, once woken up, find it difficult to put them back to sleep. Rely on your inner voice - you can better than anyone else assess whether a similar method is suitable for your child. Although, as they say, trying is not torture, you can always try. The main thing is not to forget that to check the effectiveness of any method you need to use it for at least several days in a row.

24. Late evening feeding is the only exception when it makes sense to wake the baby at night. In all other cases You shouldn't wake up your child at night, because you will thereby disrupt the course of his biological clock.

25. In the first months of his life, it is rare that a baby can do without night feedings. But when feeding and swaddling your baby at night, try to make him understand the difference between night and day. Silence and dim light will help your baby fall asleep again faster. At night it is better not to talk to the baby and after feeding and swaddling, immediately put him in his crib. By receiving maximum mother's attention during the day and minimum at night, he will quickly understand the difference between active and quiet times of the day.

26. Having reached the age of two months, the baby should gradually learn to sleep longer and longer after a hearty evening feeding. For this, some doctors recommend Gradually increase the time between the last evening and first night feedings. If you want to try this method, do not feed your baby as soon as he wakes up at night. Try to delay the next feeding by calming your baby using other methods. (In this case, as an exception, all methods of calming are allowed, except for a bottle and breast.) If your baby does not fall asleep during this time, you should first give him some water or tea. And only at the end will he receive the usual formula or breast milk. If applied consistently, this method may well lead to success. Just make sure that your nighttime calming techniques and water bottle don't turn into unfavorable sleep rituals over time. And if the baby does not begin to sleep longer after a few days or at most a week, then it is worth postponing the use of this method for a month or two.

27. And it is also very important not to forget that your state, especially your confidence or uncertainty about something, is immediately transmitted to the baby. Therefore, if you are sure that the application of the method will be successful, then it will be so!

28. Starting from the age of six months (according to some doctors - from the age of one) any healthy child is able to go without food or drink at night. To wean him off them, you can use the method described above, gradually stretching the time between night feedings. You can, on the advice of other doctors, gradually reduce the amount of milk (or water, if the child is used to drinking at night) given to the baby at night. If you are still breastfeeding, you should gradually reduce the duration of night feedings accordingly. Just don’t overdo it, give your baby time to get used to the new situation. Doctors advise reducing the amount of milk in the bottle by 10-20 milliliters every 1-2 days, and the duration of breastfeeding by 1 minute per day. It is not worth feeding your baby for less than 3 minutes, then it is better to abandon this night feeding completely and calm the child in another way, for example, using Dr. Ferber’s method, which will be discussed in the chapter “How to teach a child to fall asleep on his own.” In the same way, supporters of the method described above advise calming the baby if he, after drinking a reduced amount of milk or water, begins to cry. Of course, in this case you will need a lot of effort to bring this method to completion. 29. Whether the game is worth the candle is up to you to decide. But my good advice to you is that before you start using any methods at night, teach your baby to fall asleep on his own in the evening. In most cases, nighttime problems resolve on their own after this.

Six-year-old Kolenka woke up every morning in a wet bed. Although his parents never quarreled openly in front of the child, he felt the tension in the family and suffered from it. Two weeks after his parents divorced, the boy stopped wetting his bed.

Two-year-old Yulia is used to sleeping in absolute silence. When the baby fell asleep, everyone in the house walked on tiptoe, afraid to wake her. If suddenly something fell on the floor in the kitchen, someone coughed loudly, or a truck roared past the window, the girl would wake up scared and cry. One day, Yulina’s neighbors started renovations. The whole day they drilled, knocked and made noise behind the wall. Much to the surprise of her parents, Yulenka quickly got used to the constant noise and slept well without reacting to it.

Dimochka was 3 years old when his parents went south with him. Until this time, the boy fell asleep well in his crib and slept peacefully at night. At the resort it was impossible to get him to sleep in the evening. An unusual bed, a new environment and many impressions did not allow the boy to fall asleep. In the morning, Dima woke up at his usual time (to which his “internal clock” was set), so he was tired and cranky all day. Returning home, the boy climbed into his crib with visible relief and immediately fell asleep.

Volodya was a very calm and gifted boy from childhood. He always slept well, learned to read earlier than other children, did well in school, and surprised his parents with mature thoughts beyond his age. The parents claimed that their education system was not special. But during the conversation it turned out that from the very beginning the mother talked a lot with the baby, explaining to him things that he, it would seem, was not yet able to understand. For example, when turning on the vacuum cleaner, she told Volodya that it was powered by an electric motor. She explained to the boy that current flows through the wires, that the earth is spherical, that a house is built on a foundation, and the flour from which bread is baked is ground wheat grains. But the most important thing that the child learned from her words is that he is loved by his mother and important to her. And one more thing - that the world is full of interesting, fascinating things that Volodya always began to love!

TIP OF THE DAY ____________________

The main thing a baby needs to grow up calm and happy is your love! Rejoice in him, talk to him. Time given from the heart to a child is the greatest and most important gift for his entire subsequent life.

Mom and baby

Well, there are many ways to help your baby fall asleep. But why, you ask, does one baby need help with this, while the other seems to be calm from birth, sleeps serenely or, upon waking up, lies calmly in his crib?

To understand the phenomenon of calm children, look at their mothers. Ask them about how the pregnancy was, their attitude towards life, their relationship with their partner, etc. You will find that Calm children almost always have calm mothers!!! Because nothing affects the physical, mental and emotional development of a baby more than the state of a person who carries him under his heart, breastfeeds and cares for the baby day and night! The mother’s energy, her health and mental state, her joys and sorrows, worries and fears are transferred to the child and either give him peace and confidence, or deprive him of them.

Therefore, if you want your baby to be calm, take care of yourself first!

1. Already during maternal pregnancy the tiny creature hears, feels and perceives everything that happens around it. Everything that happens in the mother’s body is directly transmitted to the baby through the umbilical cord. Her mental state reaches the crumbs as if through invisible waves and fills her with joy or fear, calmness or nervous tension. If a pregnant woman gets enough sleep, walks a lot, eats well and - most importantly - enjoys life and the upcoming motherhood, then the chances that the baby will be born calm are much greater than if she eats poorly, gets tired, is nervous and quarrels with her husband. Thus, scientists from the Center for Research in Child and Adolescent Health at the University of Bristol (UK) found that long-term depression mothers during pregnancy, as well as in the first months after birth, leads in 50% of cases to disturbances in the development and behavior of infants!

2. Also fatally affects the child’s health smoking pregnant or lactating woman. The weight of newborns whose mothers smoked during pregnancy is usually less than the weight of other babies. Delays or deviations in their development are observed twice as often, and often persist for life. Even the placenta, in which the baby grows and develops, in heavy smokers is usually not red, but dirty gray...

3. The danger should not be underestimated passive smoking. If you cannot quit smoking completely, then at least do not smoke in the apartment or in the room where the baby is. Ventilate the children's room at least twice a day. Fresh air – an important condition for a calm, long-lasting child's sleep!

4. About the beneficial influence complete, vitamin-rich nutrition For pregnant and lactating women, a lot is written and said about the development of the baby. More than one scientific study has been devoted to this topic. For example, scientists from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) found that The mother's nutrition during pregnancy has a stronger influence on the physical and mental development of the child than his nutrition in the first months of life. Omega-3 fatty acids, found primarily in fatty fish, are especially important for the development of the locomotor system and motor skills. But trans fatty acids from industrially produced foods, fast food and sweets, on the contrary, slow down the development of the fetus and even, as researchers at Harvard University (USA) have found, in some cases prevent pregnancy. If the participation of these fats in the diet is at least 2%, then the risk of infertility doubles! You are what you eat, says popular wisdom, and apparently there is some truth in it.

5. Very important for a young mother as well fresh air and movement. Walking in nature, gymnastics for pregnant women, yoga, water aerobics or postpartum gymnastics will help you stay in shape and have a beneficial effect on your baby's health. He will grow up calmer and sleep better.

6. If you feel that your strength is running out, then you urgently need to find an opportunity to replenish your energy. This is the most important and urgent matter of all planned for today. Put everything else aside for now. Try to relax and think about what could give you pleasure now.

7. Turn on your favorite music. Dance.

8. Go to a neighbor's or friend's house. Meet other moms.(When I ran out of energy, I often went to visit my neighbor - a mother of 6 children, who always surprised me with her calmness. Her children were doing whatever they wanted, and she calmly drank coffee with me in the kitchen. These meetings always charged me with calmness and energy. )

9. Talk about your problems and concerns to your husband (if, of course, he is ready to listen and understand you). If not, call a friend, mom or someone else who will listen, be sorry, and give good advice. It is very important not to carry fatigue and tension within yourself. And the feeling of being understood often brings relief.

10. If your baby does not go to a nursery or kindergarten, then perhaps he can be left with his grandmother or a friend for a while. Well, if this is not possible, then take it for at least a few hours babysitter And try use this time not to run to the store or finish things (you can’t do all the things anyway). Just do something for myself, for relaxation and pleasure. After all, gaining strength, let me remind you, is the most important thing for tired parents, because their condition is immediately transmitted to the child.

11. Or spend it time alone with my husband, just like before when you first met. To preserve your love, you simply need to always remember that you are not only parents, but most importantly, a loving husband and wife. You need time for each other, for conversation, tenderness and affection.

12. Find time at least once a day do something that is not related to motherhood. Play sports, watch your favorite movie, read a book - any activity or hobby that gives you pleasure and is not related to your child will help restore lost energy.

13. Go somewhere for a few days or at least for a few hours. If you have no one to leave your baby with, then take him with you. Just one change of environment often works wonders!

14. Pay attention to which meetings with which acquaintances fill you with joy and improve your mood, and after which meetings you feel tired or restless. Try to avoid people who drain your energy(you and the baby need it now).

15. Learn relax while you are walking with your child, doing homework, driving to work, etc. Think about something pleasant, pay attention to the beauty around you, nature, your favorite details in your home environment, the gentle rays of the sun...

16. Refuse for a couple of years from the idea of ​​sterile cleanliness in the house. (You can place a vacuum cleaner near the front door and tell guests: “I was just about to vacuum.”) To feel comfortable, keep 1-2 rooms are completely clean, which the child does not have access to (for example, a bedroom). In the same place where the baby is usually located, try to create a safe environment that requires the least amount of care, cleaning and nerves (tires on outlets, furniture that is easy to wipe clean, no breakable or valuable items, nothing that can crumble or spill, etc. ).

17. Prepare your favorite dish so that you don’t feel like you are cooking and “functioning” only for others.

18. And in general: do not forget that, in addition to the child and family, there is also YOU ​​- a charming woman, an amazing personality, with your own interests, desires and needs!

Yurina's mother was a so-called neat person. Everything in the apartment had to sparkle and be in order. Ever since the boy began to crawl, throw toys around, etc., his mother was constantly on edge, no matter how he got dirty, spilled, or spilled something... In addition, Yurochka was a very active boy, and his mother rarely managed to get anything done. or work to completion. After several nervous breakdowns, she decided it was time to change something. She fenced off half the room with a partition, removing from there everything that Yura could drop, break or spill. Yurin's mother secured the bottom doors of Yurin's cabinets with special latches so that the boy could not open them. She moved the books to the upper shelves, and put away the vases, lamps and dishes. In the fenced-off half of the room, mom placed all of Yura’s toys, which he could scatter there as he wanted. There, in the corner, she placed a blanket and two small pillows on the floor. In this corner the little one loved to cuddle with his teddy bear.

Yura was only allowed to take one or two toys into the free part of the room. When he started to pull out drawers, open doors, or climb into places he didn’t need to, his mother put the boy in a fenced-off part of the room. This way, she could calmly finish the things she started, protecting the rest of the apartment from chaos, and Yura had an entire half-room at his disposal to arrange the toys in his own “order.”

Two-year-old Christina had trouble sleeping at night. She shuddered, woke up in fright, screaming, and then could not fall asleep for a long time. During the day the girl was also nervous and restless. Christina’s mother was just as nervous (this is logical!). She had absolutely no time for herself and for rest. The baby's father worked late and also could not support his wife.

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Teaching your child to sleep peacefully through the night is not easy. However, if you put in the effort to develop a consistent, healthy sleep routine for your baby, and strategize how to respond to nighttime awakenings, you can be successful in getting your baby to sleep peacefully through the night.

Steps

Sleeping mode

Be consistent when developing a sleep routine for your child. Make sure your child goes to bed at the same time every night. Try to stick to this schedule, making only occasional exceptions (note that you may allow your child to go to bed later on weekends or on special occasions. However, do not allow your child to go to bed more than 30 minutes later than usual) . Consistency helps improve your baby's sleep patterns and also trains the brain to respond to wake and sleep times.

• In addition to putting your baby to bed at the same time, you should also aim for him to wake up at the same time (again, within half an hour or so of each other).
• Sleeping on weekends (when the child is not going to school) is not a good idea, especially if the child has trouble sleeping at night. Don't overdo it with sleep.

1. Stick to the same routine before bed. To ensure your baby sleeps soundly throughout the night, it's important to establish and stick to the same bedtime routine. This will help your child get ready for sleep. In addition, he is more likely to sleep through the night without waking up. Many parents read a few stories to their child before bed and also give him a warm, relaxing bath.

   • When choosing bedtime activities for your child, choose ones that will help you relax and set the mood for sleep (that is, activities that will help calm your child's mind before bed).
   • Also make sure that bedtime activities build a bond between you and your baby. If you give your child enough attention before bed, he will not wake up during the night. Crying at night or waking up may indicate that your baby needs your attention.

2. Make sure your child doesn't watch TV or use the computer before bed. Research shows that time spent in front of a screen—be it a TV, computer, or cell phone—reduces the brain's natural production of melatonin (a chemical that helps you fall asleep easier and restores your natural circadian rhythm). Spending time before bed in front of a TV or computer screen can cause insomnia and difficulty falling asleep. If possible, introduce your child to other bedtime activities, such as reading stories together or taking a bath.

   Improve the conditions for your child’s comfortable rest and sleep. Make sure your child's room is dark. To do this, you can use thick curtains or blinds. Darkness in the bedroom signals the brain that it is time to sleep. Thanks to this, your child will fall asleep faster and will also not wake up during the night.

   • Additionally, if you live in a noisy home or area, install electronic white noise devices in your child's bedroom. White noise drowns out unwanted sounds that may cause your baby to wake up at night.
   • Make sure your child's bedroom is at a comfortable temperature - not too warm and not too cold.

3. Put your child to bed when he is sleepy but not too tired. It's worth noting that if your child is overtired, they are less likely to sleep well at night. Additionally, your child will not learn the important life skill of falling asleep (and just as importantly, self-soothing). Therefore, it is best to put your baby to bed when he is sleepy. Leave your child alone when he or she falls asleep.

   • Don't reduce your baby's nap time until he sleeps through the night.
   • Contrary to popular belief, reducing the amount of nap time during the day has a negative impact on a child's sleep pattern.
   • Once your baby starts sleeping through the night, you can eliminate one nap and then eventually eliminate the other; however, only make changes if your child is not having trouble sleeping at night.

4. Pay attention to what your child eats before bed. You should not feed your child sweets before bed. Otherwise, your actions can cause an increase in blood sugar levels, as a result of which the child will feel a sharp surge of energy. Needless to say, this is not something that is necessary during sleep.

   • However, on the other hand, the child should not go to bed hungry, otherwise this may lead to waking up at night. So make sure your child gets enough calories before bed. Thanks to this, he will sleep peacefully throughout the night.
   • Do not feed your baby 30-60 minutes before bedtime (unless he is an infant).

5. Let your child sleep with a soft toy. Starting at six months, teach your baby to sleep with his favorite soft toy. Thanks to this, you can achieve two goals: firstly, your baby will feel that he is falling asleep not on his own, but in the company of a friend, and secondly, the child’s sleep will evoke pleasant emotions, since he will be next to his little friend.

   Think about the impact of a second child. Many parents notice that their child's sleep is disturbed when a newborn appears in the house. The child may feel that someone else has taken his place and therefore may experience an increased desire for parental attention, which often results in crying at night. If you're planning to have a second child, make sure your baby gets used to his new bed at least two months before the newborn arrives (an older baby will need to move to another room or change from a child's bed to an adult's).

   • Make sure your older child doesn't feel like the new baby has taken his place.
   • Also, be sure to involve your older child by putting him in charge of caring for the newborn. Of course, tasks must be appropriate for the child’s age. Thanks to this, the older child will feel important and valuable in your eyes.

   Dealing with your child's night awakenings

   1. Decide what you will do if your child wakes up during the night. If your child wakes up during the night, work with your partner to develop a plan for dealing with the situation. You must clearly determine for yourself how you will react to such behavior of the child. You'll likely find it difficult to analyze situations at night, so having a specific, pre-thought-out pattern of behavior will help reduce stress. In addition, it will help you always stick to one behavior pattern. Your baby will know what to expect if he wakes up during the night.

   2. Discourage bad behavior, such as nighttime tantrums. If your baby cries at night, try to ignore the behavior and let her calm herself down until she falls back to sleep. Do not rush to get up when you hear your baby crying. Let him calm down on his own. Otherwise, your gesture will be regarded as a reward for waking up in the night. By doing this you encourage your child's bad behavior.

      • However, if your baby is crying more than usual or is sick, you should stand up to determine the reason for your baby's crying. Perhaps he is in pain or needs to change his diaper.
      • Even if you only reacted to a child’s cry once, your actions reinforce the wrong model of behavior.
      • This is because “probabilistic reinforcement” (behavior that is occasionally rewarded with attention, but not always) is a powerful reinforcer.
      • Therefore, by reacting to a child's crying and trying to calm him down, you influence the child's brain, reinforcing the wrong behavior pattern (if this situation occurs, try not to react).

   3. Set yourself a long-term goal. If your baby has trouble sleeping at night, you may feel frustrated and helpless. However, try to focus on long-term success. You are teaching your child important skills that will help him calm down and fall asleep, even if he wakes up in the middle of the night.

      • If you are consistent and faithful to the chosen course, you can teach your child this; however, be patient, you will not achieve quick results.
      • Continue to instill important life skills in your child and you will see positive results over time.

   With the birth of a newborn baby, almost all young mothers forget about what a restful sleep is. Babies constantly wake up, cry, and look for a pacifier or mother's breast. In addition, most babies who have recently been born suffer from intestinal colic and other painful sensations associated with imperfections in the digestive system.

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

   How to teach a baby to sleep through the night?

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

   The tactics of young parents when used should look like this:

   1. Continue to do everything that usually helps you calm and lull your baby to sleep - rocking in your arms or on a ball, singing a lullaby, reading a fairy tale, and so on. When the baby begins to fall asleep, but has not yet had time to completely fall asleep, put him in the crib. If he cries, pick him up, rock him a little, and put him back in the crib. Continue to do this until the baby calms down and can fall asleep on its own. As a rule, such actions take from 30 minutes to an hour on the first night. However, some children begin to react so aggressively to their parents’ actions that are unusual for them that the process can take up to 3-5 hours. Of course, not all mothers and fathers have the patience to endure such a test, however, if you really want to teach your baby to sleep through the night, you should set yourself up in advance and under no circumstances deviate from the plan.
   2. Once you have successfully completed the first stage, immediately move on to the second. Now, if after putting him in the crib, the child immediately begins to cry and cannot calm down, do not pick him up, but calmly rock him in the crib, stroking his head and saying kind words. If the baby becomes hysterical, abandon this idea and return to the first stage. After you manage to get your baby to sleep using this method, try the second stage again.
   3. After successfully mastering the second stage, move on to the third - try to put the baby to sleep in exactly the same way, but avoid stroking. Without touching your child's body, gradually ensure that he can sleep peacefully in his own crib. If hysteria occurs, immediately return to the previous steps.
   4. Finally, when you can handle the first three steps, move on to placing your baby at a distance. To do this, put the baby in the crib and immediately go to the door of the room, saying kind words. So, gradually, your baby will learn to fall asleep on his own and will stop feeling such a strong need for tactile contact with his mother.

   Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova

   Reading time: 6 minutes

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   Article last updated: 05/25/2019

   There is no consensus on this issue. Unfortunately, medicine is not an exact science; its conclusions are often corrected by life itself. Man is an extremely complex system, and each individual differs significantly from the average statistical norm. This fully applies to children in the first year of life. After the baby arrives in the house, a troublesome, hectic time begins. And although these are pleasant chores, still a mother, like any person, needs rest and good sleep. Therefore, she is concerned with the question - when will the child start sleeping through the night? Is it possible to train him to do this? How to teach a baby to sleep through the night? And when should the training process begin?

   

   How long do newborns sleep at night without interruption?

   Children are different and they sleep, accordingly, differently, and from the first days. Some lucky women gave birth to babies who sleep peacefully for 5-6 hours at night and let their mother rest; other babies confused day with night and “tug” their mother every hour. In this regard, we can conditionally distinguish 4 groups of children:
   

   1. The child sleeps consistently almost all night.
   2. The baby wakes up 1-2 times at night to feed.
   3. The child wakes up several times during the night.
   4. The little one hardly sleeps at night.

   

   • Group I includes children who sleep most of the night almost from the first days of their birth. Some pediatricians recommend waking your baby to feed or feeding him when he's sleepy. Others believe that nothing needs to be done; the little person’s stomach rests at night, as it should. And that's okay. Here the questions about when he will sleep most of the night and how to accustom him to this are resolved by themselves. This group is not the most common.
   • Group II includes children who wake up 1-2 times a night to suck their mother’s milk. This is due to the fact that a newborn’s stomach, like a kitten’s, is very small, and milk is absorbed quickly. In addition, many children need not only and not so much food, but contact with their mother and satisfaction of the sucking reflex.
   • Group III includes children with a pronounced Moro reflex. Such babies wake up not only to suck milk or cuddle with their mother. A loud, sharp sound or flash can frighten your baby. Their fear is expressed in a fairly strong shudder, throwing up their arms and unclenching their hands. This wakes some babies up. In this case, he should not be taught to sleep, but sleep should be prolonged. To do this, the mother can swaddle the newborn at night.
   • And the last, IV group, are children who do not allow their mother to rest almost all night. Usually newborns sleep 5-6 hours consistently, but these babies don't do that. The owl baby does not sleep for various reasons. The first three months it may be colic, then teeth begin to cut, etc. It is the parents of such babies who are very interested in the question of what to do and how to teach the baby to sleep through the night.

   

   When can you stop night feedings?

   A child can wake up several times a night from 0 to 1.5 years. In rare cases, this lasts until the 3-year mark is reached. And this will not be considered a deviation.

   However, infants should still be taught nighttime sleep habits. This will make his life easier in the future, when he goes to kindergarten, then to school, etc.

   You should start by identifying the reason for the formation of incorrect associations between your baby and sleep and eliminating it as such. In some cases this is very simple:

   1. If the baby is hungry and does not eat enough at each feeding, you need to feed him a little more;
   2. If it is hot or stuffy, dress lighter and ventilate the room;
   3. If the child is tormented by gas, give the carminatives recommended by the pediatrician and place him on his tummy for a longer period of time;
   4. If neurological abnormalities are suspected, the pediatrician will send you for a consultation with a neurologist.

   If the cause is eliminated, but the baby continues to show “owl-like” habits, this means that incorrect stereotypes have formed and will have to be changed.

   In general, you can reduce night feedings with the start of introducing complementary foods with “adult” food, replacing one of the night feedings with water. Perhaps the child wakes up out of habit and is not hungry at all - in this case, water will be enough.

   The age of 9 months is considered the milestone after which you can begin to wean your child off night feeding. When breastfeeding, doctors recommend continuing to feed your baby at night until the baby is one year old.

   This does not mean that the child has become independent and will simply refuse to eat at night when he reaches the specified age. Children cannot tolerate hunger. The baby can do without food only when it is mentally and physically ready for it.

   

   How to instill in your child the skills of a good night's sleep?

   By following a number of rules, you can teach your baby to sleep through the night.

   How peacefully a child sleeps largely depends on the psychological atmosphere in the family. If parents show care, warmth, and give their baby affection, then, as a rule, no special efforts are required to improve sleep. When a child reaches 9-12 months, he sleeps peacefully throughout the night.

   What to do if your child still asks to eat at night:

   1. Follow the daily routine;
   2. Feed the baby before bedtime in sufficient quantities so that he is not tormented by hunger and sleeps well and for a long time;
   3. Distribute most of the amount of food calculated for the day into the daytime and evening;
   4. Gradually reduce the portion of milk or formula at night, replacing them with water, juice, baby tea (give a drink if the baby starts to whine);
   5. Teach your child to fall asleep on his own (without a bottle) by rocking him to a half-asleep state in your arms, and when he begins to fall asleep, transfer him to a crib.

   

   Little tricks

   People have different biorhythms. It may turn out that a particular baby will indeed be suited to a nocturnal lifestyle over time, i.e. he will be a typical night owl.

   But most often, the parents themselves are to blame for the “owl” behavior of the baby, if his behavior is not caused by illness, namely their inexperience. Often this behavior of the baby is promoted by the mother, who tries to redo all the household chores and is happy when the child sleeps a lot during the day, or by the father who came home late from work and decided to cuddle his beloved first-born and give him a new toy before bed. All these moments lead to overstimulation of the baby’s sensitive nervous system and a decrease in the quality of his night’s sleep.

   The next thing that is best avoided is falling asleep during feeding. Of course, it’s convenient for a tired mommy if the baby falls asleep while sucking on a nipple or bottle - there’s no need to rock him to sleep, sing songs, or carry him in your arms. You can just put it in the crib. However, over time, this convenience will turn into difficulties. If the child wakes up for some reason, putting him to sleep without food will be problematic.

   That is why the regime is very important. The regime is a “beast” that, despite all the benefits it brings, is not popular with most adults. How can a newborn be taught this if the parents themselves do not want to follow the daily routine? And yet it should be done.

   

   If a child is breastfed and pediatricians advise feeding “on demand,” how can this be combined with the concept of “daily routine”? There is no catch in this case.

   • Firstly, the regime is not only feeding. This is the time for sleep, games, bathing;
   • Secondly, if the child eats fully, the mother devotes enough time to him to communicate, play, sits with him, holds him in her arms, then he will not demand the breast endlessly. The baby will have enough mother's attention and will calmly withstand the time between feedings. A daily routine will be established naturally; it will be close to the routine established for bottle-fed children.

   How to teach your baby to sleep at night

   

   11 rules on how not to turn your child into an “owl” and teach him to sleep properly at night. To do this you need:

   1. Spend as much time as possible during the day playing with him;
   2. Do not close the curtains during the day, even if the baby is sleeping;
   3. Do not play active games with him at night;
   4. Do not give new toys before bedtime (this overloads the nervous system);
   5. Bath your child in warm water 36.6-37 degrees for newborns when the house is warm (in summer and winter, during the heating season) and up to 38 degrees - if the house is cool (as a rule, this is in spring and autumn, when the heating is turned off);
   6. If your baby is not allergic to herbs, you can add chamomile and string to the bath;
   7. When your baby starts to fall asleep, you can sing him his favorite lullaby. Such a ritual will form an instinct and make it easier to fall asleep, help put the child to bed without a bottle;
   8. If the baby is hyperactive or suffers from the Moro reflex, he can be swaddled for up to 3 months;
   9. Comfortable conditions in terms of temperature and humidity also contribute to restful sleep;
   10. If your baby’s gums are very sore and itchy when teething, you can use special gels or homeopathic drops;
   11. For colic and bloating, use carminatives, give dill water or special tea.

   Swaddling is a controversial issue; some experts do not recommend swaddling children at all. But, nevertheless, if the quality of the baby’s sleep is low due to a strong and violent reaction to physical stimuli (light, sound), swaddling is allowed. This will prevent him from waking up due to a startle and will help him get used to sleeping longer.

   Read further:

   A child staying up at night is one of the most common problems for new parents. Why does your baby often wake up at night, and sometimes doesn’t want to sleep at all? Here are some simple tips you can use to teach your baby to sleep through the night:

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

   It is advisable to choose a well-lit place for your baby's nap. This will keep your baby awake for too long, which in turn will help your little one sleep better at night.

   If possible, try to increase the number of times you feed your baby during the day. Thus, he will receive the nutrition he needs at a time that is most convenient for you. Thanks to this, your baby will wake up less at night.

   If your baby is easily distracted from feeding, feed him in a quiet, dimly lit room. This way your baby will learn to follow a routine and, moreover, will be much calmer.

   If your baby is breastfed, give him the opportunity to drink more milk from the same breast to which you attached him. This way, your baby will be able to get more fatty, nutrient-rich hindmilk, which is responsible for feeling full. This may result in fewer nighttime feedings because your baby will wake up less often.

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

   
   

   Try to maintain a calm and peaceful environment in the evening so that your child does not become overstimulated. If your baby relaxes in a bath, you can give it to him before bed. If this excites your baby too much, bathe her at another time.

   If your child wakes up at night from hunger, feed him in a dark room. Let your baby get used to the fact that night is for sleeping.

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

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