Prolonged sleep of the child - good or bad? Why does a baby sleep a lot and eat little Why does a newborn sleep all the time.

When a child is born, it is almost always a very significant event for the family. But along with it there are various problems that should be addressed immediately. It is important that he eats enough food, and has a good rest, both during the day and at night. But often there are situations when the baby cannot fall asleep for a long time and does not eat well.

Sometimes it happens the other way around - he sleeps too often and for a long time. If, along with this, he eats little, then this is a rather alarming sign, which already speaks of some kind of disease. Let us examine in more detail the reasons why a newborn sleeps all the time and eats little.

How much does a child eat by age?

In order to understand when the baby eats little, and when it is enough for his age, you should determine the norms for food intake for him.

Immediately after birth, the baby can eat quite often, this happens up to 10 times a day. And the duration of his feeding is up to 40 minutes. The fact is that the baby has a rather small stomach that cannot accommodate a large amount of food, and therefore the newborn is forced to consume no more than one teaspoon of milk per feeding. In the early days, the mother does not have milk, and the little one receives colostrum, which at this moment is quite nutritious for him. The baby eats it per day, while about 100 milliliters.

At the age of about four days, the baby should eat from 20 to 40 grams of milk per feeding. In the case when his age has stepped over in one week, he consumes about 70 grams of food. And when he turns one month old, his diet is from 90 to 110 grams of milk. How much should a two month old baby eat? At 2 months, the volume of food consumed increases by approximately 30 grams compared to the first month.

However, it should be understood that these indicators are derived from a study of the nutrition of many children, and are statistical averages. Therefore, parents should not follow them very carefully, and worry about this. They are given for orientation and understanding of the average norm.

What determines the baby's appetite

There are many factors that affect a baby's appetite:

Times of Day;
the initial weight of the baby;
the presence of diseases;
individual characteristics;
the quality and fat content of mother's milk or formula;
child's activity level.

Pediatricians believe that if the baby is breastfed correctly, then he cannot consume too much or too little food, since exactly as much milk is produced as needed.

In order to understand how much artificial mixture a baby needs, this indicator can be calculated using one of the well-known formulas. One of them says that you need to take the number of days of life and multiply by 70. If its total weight is less than 3 kilograms 200 grams, then you need to multiply by 80. An approximate calculation is also done by dividing the child's weight by his height, measured in centimeters. The final number will roughly show how much food he needs to eat in one feeding. Therefore, it is not difficult to calculate approximately how much a two-month-old baby, or a baby of any other age up to one year old, should eat.

If the baby sleeps a lot and eats little, then you can count the number of diapers in which he went small. When there are at least 12 of them, that food should be considered normal.

Nutrition for a baby up to one year old

At the age of one year, every month the features of feeding children change:

In the first month, only breast milk is used as food. Complementary foods in the form of tea or water should not be. It is especially important to apply the baby as often as possible in order to form a sufficient amount of milk. It is necessary to do this at night, and if the baby sleeps a lot and eats little, it is necessary to inform the doctor about this.
In the second month of a baby's life, feeding also consists only in the consumption of milk. In the event that there are signs that the child is not full, or the milk is too fatty for him, then the mother should reconsider her diet, or switch to artificial feeding. Why does an infant not eat formula well? Sometimes this is due to disease states, and often the reason lies in its improper use or preparation.
Why is my 3 month old not eating well? At this age, the baby continues to eat mother's milk. A particular problem is the lactation crisis, which often occurs in a nursing mother. In no case should you immediately solve the problem with the help of artificial mixtures or the transition to a mixed diet. At this time, maximum lactation should be maintained, the feeding schedule should be observed more clearly by the hour, and the problem that the child eats little at 3 months will most often be solved.
At 4 months, you can start introducing the first complementary foods in the form of a few drops of juice. This is especially important if the child has switched to artificial feeding. Complementary foods are not given if the child has an allergic reaction of any genesis.
At the age of 5 months, breast milk is still the main part of the baby's nutrition, and any complementary foods should be provided only after consultation with the pediatrician. Juice can be consumed already with pulp, and give a small fruit puree. The introduction of complementary foods is recommended to be done during the day, when you can carefully observe the reaction of the growing organism. At the slightest sign of trouble, complementary foods should be discontinued.
When the little one is six months old, his digestive tract is already more perfect than before. He can digest harder and drier foods, but continued breastfeeding is recommended. And each next complementary food in the form of a new dish is given after 10 days of erection of the previous one.
At 7-8 months, the food becomes more varied, he begins to receive porridge, kefir, cottage cheese, a small amount of dietary meat. Milk feeding is maintained in the mornings and evenings.
At 9 months, you can add lean fish to the menu. The little man is already starting to try to eat on his own, even if he is not very good at it. Mother's milk or artificial formula is still consumed by them, but no longer plays a big role in growth and development.
From 10 months to a year, the child's menu becomes more and more diverse. You can cook casseroles from cottage cheese, meatballs from meat, add pasta and milk porridge to the diet. It is at this age that you can start using canned food that is prepared by manufacturers specifically for young children.

Many parents worry, not only when a newborn or a three-month-old baby does not eat well. For many, this problem occurs even at 1-2 years old, since often the baby categorically refuses to consume a particular dish. If a child at 2 years old does not eat well, Komarovsky believes that in fact the required amount of nutrients does not have to come from the consumption of various foods. Most likely, the problem of peanut refusal from many dishes worries parents in terms of inconvenience for them, since he has to cook separately.

Restful sleep is necessary not only for the kids themselves, but also for their parents. Many of those who have children can recall sleepless nights and the difficulties associated with peaceful falling asleep crumbs.

Up to about six months, he sleeps for 16-20 hours a day, at short intervals from half an hour to several hours. Within a few days after birth, babies often sleep more at night than during the day. By two or three months, many babies sleep almost all night or lie quietly, which allows parents to gradually enter the usual rhythm of life. But older babies are no longer so easy to put into cribs so that they fall asleep or lie quietly, resting.

In the first months of his life, a child actively learns the world, studies it, and perceives attempts to put him to bed as separation from objects and things that interest him, and not at all as an opportunity to relax in order to study the world around him with renewed vigor. Therefore, babies can cry, pull their hands, walk - do everything, so long as they are not put in a crib.

When a child is naughty, you really want to pick him up, shake him, calm him down, but excessive guardianship and comforting the baby will not be able to lead the child to learn to fall asleep on his own. Act according to your mother's heart, but remember that the regimen for the child is important. Sit next to the baby, tell him a story, sing softly lullaby, say good night. The kid will feel that you are near and have not disappeared anywhere, he will feel protected.

Gradually leave the room, but not immediately, but step by step. Then the baby will fall asleep peacefully. By the way, it is in the stage of deep restful sleep that growth hormone is produced, which is so important for children.

Remember that babies have shorter light and deep sleep phases than adults. At first, the baby’s sleep is light: smiles, grimaces run across his face, eyelids twitch. This dream can be interrupted by the slightest touch, noise, discomfort. The deep sleep phase begins 20-30 minutes after falling asleep and lasts about an hour.

When a child sleeps in deep sleep, he practically does not react to external and internal stimuli, therefore, in infants, this phase of sleep is shorter than in adults. The child’s brain wakes up the baby as soon as he is deeply asleep, so that in a superficial sleep the baby can draw attention to his problem - itchy gums, clogged nose or burped, or maybe he got hungry, he got hot or it’s time to change the diaper. In addition to the response function, superficial sleep is useful for the development of the child's brain: in dreams, the baby sees visual images, which contributes to mental development.

Therefore, sleep is very important for babies, and we must try to make it comfortable. To do this, you need to try to help the child fall asleep quickly so that he learns to fall asleep on his own. By the end of the first year, most children are already accustomed to a long night's sleep and two short naps: in the morning and in the afternoon. After a year, babies sleep for about 12-14 hours a day. We can help our children get used to this sleep pattern.

From the first weeks of your joint bedtime, develop your evening rituals so that the baby can then determine the difference between day and night.
Put your baby to bed around the same time every day.
The last feeding should be right before bedtime so that the baby does not wake up at night from hunger.
You can play a little with the baby or read a fairy tale to him, but so that the baby is next to his bed. So he will gradually get used to the fact that it is time for sleep.
If the room is cool and the bed is cold, then it is better to wrap the baby in a diaper or blanket before going to bed (during play or feeding) so that after warm mother's hands you do not end up in a cold place.

An important factor is the convenience of clothing and the comfort of the baby: if he is uncomfortable in undershirts, the diaper is hard, and the diaper is not fastened correctly or slips, then all this can lead to the fact that the child will not be able to fall asleep until all the inconveniences are eliminated, he will be capricious and cry. Clothes for babies should be made of natural fabrics, comfortable cut, stitched with soft threads.

Particular attention should be paid to diapers.

Diapers come in different brands and different manufacturers. They differ in size, absorption rate, type of fastening, surface (breathable or plain), can be designed for different weights and different ages. If a child has very sensitive skin, it is often difficult to find a diaper that does not cause allergies. In this case, you can use diapers that do not contain superabsorbents. For example, special diapers Bella Baby Happy, made in the form of a regular rectangular pad, which is inserted into the sliders.

The skin of the baby is very delicate, and every mother wants to keep it healthy. It is very important that used in diapers materials have increased softness and provide maximum dryness. Bella Baby Happy diapers are designed with all requirements in mind.

To ensure absolute comfort and protection, they use a unique, very soft "Velvet Touch" non-woven fabric.
Baby's delicate skin stays naturally dry and healthy thanks to the diaper's super-breathable surface.
Ideal comfort is provided by a special distribution layer that promotes rapid and even absorption of moisture.
Elastic bands around the legs prevent any leakage and provide the child with freedom of movement.
Elasticated waistbands at the front and back and easy-to-use fasteners ensure the diaper fits perfectly.
These are diapers, which show 12 different interesting patterns that develop the baby's imagination.
And in each large and medium package you will find pouches for used diapers.

Do not forget that it is best to buy diapers for babies in pharmacies, special departments with children's hygiene products, where they monitor compliance with the temperature regime and maintain an appropriate level of humidity.

Discussion

14.12.2007 14:02:37, Nasasya, twice mother

Comment on the article "Why do babies sleep almost all the time?"

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For every family, the birth of a child is a grand event. And young parents prepare themselves in advance for the fact that in the first months they will not get enough sleep at night. And in some cases, children are born who, from the first days of their lives, sleep abnormally much, more than 20 hours. Of course, at first, young mothers are glad that they can get enough sleep at night and have time to do housework. But over time, they begin to worry and wonder why the baby sleeps a lot?

Importance of sleep and nutrition for the baby

For proper physiological and psychological development, the baby must sleep a lot and eat a lot. These are the two main components of the diet of the baby, on which his health depends.

Many parents rejoice at a calm and obedient baby who sleeps a lot and is not naughty. At first glance, it seems that the child is full and happy with everything, and this may be true if he receives nutrients in time with his mother's milk.

Of course, the child should sleep exactly as much as he wants, but do not forget that for the full development of the newborn, not only sound sleep is required, but also timely feeding with mother's milk.

In the first 6 weeks, the baby sleeps a lot, 17-20 hours a day, waking up every 1.5-2 hours just to eat. Such a frequent awakening of the baby is due to the fact that in the first weeks all newborns have a very small ventricle and can only hold a teaspoon of milk. And although maternal colostrum is very nutritious and fatty, it is processed in the baby's ventricle quite quickly.

Is it worth worrying?

The reason for this behavior can be both the individual characteristics of the child's body, and negative factors that inexperienced mothers may not notice. Therefore, at the slightest suspicion of excessive lethargy and drowsiness of the baby, it is worth seeking advice from the local pediatrician. Better, as they say, to be safe than to miss a dangerous moment!

Should I wake up the baby?

There are very frequent cases when in the first days the newborn does not eat well and almost constantly sleeps, this is primarily due to adaptation to the new world around him and rest after the difficult process of childbirth.

It's one thing if a newborn sleeps a lot and when applied to the breast, without waking up, begins to suck milk, having had enough, they continue to sleep. This behavior is quite common and normal, because it is in a dream that babies develop and grow best.

But there are times when young mothers do not monitor the frequency of feeding and do not put the baby to the breast while he is sleeping. If a child is calm and sleeps a lot, this does not mean that he is full, such babies must be awakened and fed, or at least try to attach a sleeping child to the breast, smelling milk, he can start sucking without waking up.

Shallow sleep in babies

Some young mothers are trying to teach babies to sleep all night without feeding, which is absolutely impossible to do. Prolonged sleep (over 5 hours) threatens with dehydration of the baby's body.

Unlike adults, whose average sleep duration is 8 hours, falling asleep, an adult immediately falls into a phase of long (deep) sleep, lasting 2-3 hours. In infants, deep sleep is much shorter and develops over time, falling asleep, they immediately fall into the phase of superficial (REM) sleep, and deep sleep comes later and it lasts for a short time. And therefore, frequent awakening is the norm for infants.

Babies should be awakened very carefully and only during REM sleep.
Superficial sleep is not difficult to recognize:

twitching of the eyelids;
moving arms and legs;
the appearance of facial expressions.

And also, if, when touching the face of a newborn, he makes sucking movements and looks for the breast, this will be the best moment for feeding.

The danger of prolonged sleep

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Rare attachment to the breast leads not only to the weakening and lethargy of the baby, but also to problems with lactation and the further development of mastopathy in the mother. And for infants, this is fraught with dangerous health consequences, since, for the full development of the body, they do not receive the required amount of fluid, nutrients and trace elements.

Constant malnutrition, in the end, can lead to sad consequences, such as: lethargy, irritability, dehydration, hypokleemia, jaundice, low blood glucose levels in the baby.

Difficult childbirth

The birth process is just as stressful for a baby as it is for his mother, so in the first days, newborns sleep almost constantly, waking up only for a few minutes to eat.

Prolonged sleep of babies can also be a consequence of drugs used during difficult births. With long and difficult births, doctors cannot do without the use of pharmacological drugs that stimulate labor activity, such drugs can cause a long sleep in a newborn, as these drugs enter his blood.

In some particularly severe cases, the baby may temporarily lose the sucking reflex and the ability to control proper reflex swallowing and breathing at the mother's breast.

Malnutrition

Incorrect attachment to the breast can also cause malnutrition in the baby. From the influx of milk, the mother's breasts become very tight, the nipples become coarse and the baby's small mouth cannot completely capture them. After several unsuccessful attempts, he gets tired and falls asleep hungry, without getting the right portion of milk. Each time, from constant malnutrition, the baby weakens, this leads to lethargy and increased drowsiness.

An infant may also refuse to eat when a large amount of milk squirts into his mouth, causing him to choke and become frightened. Therefore, in order for the breast to become softer and milk does not flow too much, mother should express a little milk before each feeding.

Bright light

Oddly enough, bright light can act as a sedative for babies and cause prolonged sleep. A noisy room with bright lighting is not the best place for a newborn to sleep. The crumbs quickly fall asleep under such conditions, but they sleep very restlessly, and such a dream cannot be considered complete.

Teething

Teething can also cause sleep disturbance in children, causing discomfort, some discomfort for babies. Having cried all night from painful sensations, he will naturally sleep during the day and this is a completely adequate reaction of a tired body.

Remember - nothing restores the immunity and strength of babies like mother's milk!

Graft

In the first year of life, babies are vaccinated to develop immunity to a number of dangerous diseases. Usually, after vaccination, children are given anti-allergic and antipyretic drugs, which have a sedative effect, so children sleep a lot in the first and most difficult hours after vaccination, which is a common and normal phenomenon.

Diseases

By 3 months, when the child's body has already fully adapted, daytime sleep does not take so much time. But in cases where children have suffered various diseases, they sleep a lot, because, to fight the infection, the children's body expends a huge amount of energy.

This is considered a normal physiological phenomenon, because after an illness the child is weakened, and a long sleep helps to restore the expended strength. You should not panic in such situations, watch the baby during the day, listen to breathing, check the temperature, complexion. If all of these readings are normal, you should not worry. Let him rest and gain strength. And, of course, periodically put the baby to the chest.

Sleep norms

At the age of 1.5 - 2 months, children begin to sleep a little longer at night, but you should not expect that the baby will sleep all night long, he can endure a maximum of 5-6 hours without food. After feeding and changing the diaper, the mother can put the baby to sleep next to her. After all, co-sleeping is very convenient for a mother whose child sleeps a lot and eats little, since you can feed him without waking him up. And also, sleeping next to the mother is very important for the overall and psychological development of the child. The beat of the mother's heart, touch, her smell, warmth, are familiar to the baby, which allows him to calm down and feel in psychological comfort and safety.

According to pediatricians, the daily norm of sleep for a child who has reached 2 months of age should not exceed 16-18 hours, of which 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep is only once a day. Exceeding the indicator is the reason for going to a specialist and finding out the reason for such a sleepy behavior of the baby.

Sleep as an alarm

All of the above cases about the condition of the child are not so dangerous and require the advice of specialists and local pediatricians. The following symptoms require urgent medical attention:

Prolonged sleep (more than 5 hours), without movement;
Intermittent and shallow breathing of the baby;
elevated temperature;
The mucous membranes and skin of the crumbs became cyanotic.

If a child has at least one of the above symptoms, parents need to urgently call an ambulance. Any delay can be fatal for a newborn.

Fresh air

For healthy and sound sleep, it is best to put babies to bed in a well-ventilated and well-moistened room. The bed should not be very soft, in order to avoid getting the soft edges of pillows or blankets on the face of the crumbs.

Walking in the fresh air plays an important role in the full development of children. While walking, a baby sleeping in a stroller associates the rocking of the stroller with the lulling movements of the mother. Together with these sensations, the influx of oxygen that saturates the blood, stimulates the brain and strengthens the immune system, allows you to normalize a healthy and sound sleep of the baby.

It will take a little time, and you will get used to the new and very responsible role of a parent. Over time, the child's daily routine will become stable, which will suit both the baby and his parents. And the question will lose its significance in your eyes. By accustoming your child to a correct and stable sleep schedule from early childhood, you will help him avoid many problems associated with physiological and mental development in the future.

When a baby is born in the family, the usual way of life changes dramatically. Sleepless nights and a sleepy realm during the day begin. The thing is that an adult needs one night's sleep lasting 8 hours. This time is enough to restore strength, and such a dream cannot cause any harm to the body. The baby, on the contrary, needs more time for sleep, up to 20 hours a day, but he also has to wake up more often. However, there are cases in which it can be said that the baby sleeps a lot.

The newborn sleeps a lot, but also often wakes up

For a newly born person, in addition to sleep, nutrition is extremely important. The stomach of the crumbs is very small, no more than a fist. The only food is mother's milk or infant formula. Such food is quickly digested, which means that a small child needs to eat often enough so as not to be hungry.

During the period of lactation, it is especially important to prevent a newborn baby from sleeping for more than 5 hours, as this is the risk of stopping breastfeeding. The less often the baby drinks mother's milk, the less it is produced.

Moreover, the first months of life, the baby does not drink water. The liquid enters the body only in the form of milk or a mixture. Long sleep without feeding can lead to dehydration of the child's body.

When a child sleeps a lot, but eats little, a lack of nutrition is formed, which interferes with the growth and full development of the baby, weakens the immune system, complicates the course of postpartum jaundice, and causes a deficiency of vitamins and useful trace elements.

Therefore, no matter how much new parents want to get enough sleep, rejoicing that their child sleeps soundly all night, it is better not to try to accustom the child to your regimen from the first days.

Causes of long sleep and subsequent malnutrition

If it's time for feeding, and the baby is sleeping, then you need to determine which phase of sleep prevails in him

A sound healthy sleep of an infant is a sign that nothing bothers him. But if a newborn sleeps constantly for a long time, and during wakefulness is lethargic and too calm, it is important to understand why this happens.

In cases of painkillers, stimulant drugs used during childbirth, their effect can affect the baby's body. Then the child will sleep and be hungry. And you need to be especially careful: during such a sound sleep, it is difficult for a newborn to maintain even breathing. When the baby recovers and gets stronger, sleep should also return to normal.

Loud monotonous noise and constant bright light have a different effect on a small child than on an adult. Under these conditions, the baby seems to fall asleep all the time, without going into a deep phase of sleep, which means that he does not have time to rest and continues to want to sleep.

Weakness as a result of malnutrition is the most common cause of a newborn's long sleep, so the baby can sleep even all day. It may be difficult for a baby to latch on to the nipple due to its uncomfortable shape or because the breast is so full of milk. Perhaps mommy is not putting the baby to the breast correctly, therefore, no matter how hard the baby tries, milk does not enter the mouth. As a result, the baby gets tired and falls asleep hungry.

If this situation is repeated constantly, the child becomes exhausted and continues to sleep, instead of crying from hunger. To avoid this, it is better to immediately seek advice on breastfeeding.

A baby can get tired during the day, and sleep at night. Nevertheless, it is necessary to interrupt the baby’s sleep for feeding, and during the day, do not leave the baby without a good sleep.

How to feed the baby if he does not wake up?

When the newborn's sleep has dragged on, and it's time to feed the baby, he needs to be woken up, but very carefully and only during a superficial sleep.

Signs of light sleep:

tremble and slightly open eyelids;
lips stretched in a smile, then pouted;
slightly moving arms and legs;
feeling touches in the face area, the baby searches with his lips and makes sucking movements.

Before waking up the baby, you should take care of comfortable conditions for waking up: dim light and low temperature in the room. The heat will prevent you from feeling hungry, and the bright light will not let you wake up.

How much sleep will be enough?

All children are different, someone likes to sleep a lot, and someone from the first days shows a special interest in the world around them and does not want to sleep for a long time. Some babies eat right away for 3-4 hours, others require to eat every 1.5-2 hours.

It also depends on whether the child is breastfed or artificially fed. So, babies on the mixture eat less often due to the longer digestion of food, and babies can sleep all night, almost without waking up, if a mother is nearby, ready to immediately substitute her breast.

In total, children in the first month of life spend most of their time sleeping, from 16 to 20 hours. When can one suspect that a child sleeps a lot? On average, children in the first months of life are recommended to sleep continuously during the day for 3-4 hours, at night - 5-6.

Using this table, you can determine the norm of waking time for a certain age.

When do you need a doctor?

A healthy baby, even if he suddenly overslept, being very hungry, will still wake up. But there are times when you can not wait and you need to call a doctor.

sleep lasts more than five hours, with little or no movement or change of position;
the baby does not respond to attempts to wake up;
a cyanotic color appeared on the skin and mucous membranes of the child;
heavy uneven breathing is heard.

Only a specialist can correctly understand such signs. A doctor called in time will be able to correct the situation and prevent bad consequences.

The first year of a baby's life is the most exciting for parents. Questions arise at every turn. How much the baby should sleep, how much sleep it is impossible, how much and when to eat, and how often there is so much, what if he remains hungry ... and many other questions. Most of them are born due to excessive experiences and ignorance of parents. But whatever question arises, it is better to ask the pediatrician and not to be tormented by guesswork, because if the mother is calm, the baby is also calm.

Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova

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Article last updated: 05/10/2019

The birth of a child is a long-awaited event for every family. But the happiness of motherhood can be overshadowed by various problems that accompany the baby in the first year of his life. The basic needs of a newborn are food and sleep. Many parents face the problem of poor children's sleep. Some children, on the contrary, sleep often and for a long time. Parents at this time can relax and do all the housework. But if the baby sleeps a lot and eats little, this is an alarming sign indicating a violation of his health.

Norms of food intake for a newborn

Every mother wants to know if her baby is hungry, if he is full, if he has enough milk. To do this, you need to know the norms of food intake for newborns.

In the first days of his life, a breastfed baby can eat very often - about 10 times a day. In this case, one feeding in time can take 10-40 minutes.

A newborn has a very small stomach (approximately 7 ml), so 1 teaspoon is enough for him for the first feeding. Colostrum, which the child eats on the first day, is very fatty and nutritious, it is released in small quantities, sufficient for the baby. For the first day, the child eats about 100 ml.

A baby 3-4 days old eats 20-40 g per feeding. A child born a week ago eats 50-70 g of milk at a time, and a two-week-old baby eats 60-80 g. A monthly baby should eat 90-110 g of milk, and two-monthly - 110-140 g. These figures are averaged. They should not be taken as a rule, but can be used as a guideline.

The amount of milk consumed depends on many factors: the weight of the baby, the state of his health, the time of day, individual nutritional needs and the degree of fat content of milk.

Pediatricians assure that with proper attachment to the breast, the child cannot eat too much or too little, since exactly as much milk is produced as he needs.

To calculate how much mixture an artificial baby should eat at a time, you can use one of two formulas. In accordance with the first formula, you need to multiply the baby's age in days by 10. To find out the daily intake of food for crumbs, you need to multiply the number of days he has lived by 70 (if he weighs more than 3 kg 200 g) or by 80 (if he weighs less than 3.2 kg).

According to another formula, you can divide the weight of the baby by his height in cm. The resulting number will be the approximate amount of food eaten at a time.

One of the easiest ways to check how well a baby is eating is to count the diapers described per day. If there are 12 or more of them, then there is nothing to worry about.

Why does a newborn sleep a lot and eat little?

Cases when a newborn sleeps almost all the time and eats poorly are not uncommon. The baby needs sleep, as in the first days of his life he adapts to the world around him and rests after the difficult process of childbirth. His mother, most likely, rejoices for her “hearty” milk and a calm, quiet baby who rarely asks for food. In fact, the baby is quiet not by nature, but due to lack of strength.

A baby who is not even a month old from birth should eat every 1.5-2 hours. He has a very small stomach that cannot hold much food. Rare attachment to the breast leads to problems with lactation, the occurrence of mastopathy in the mother, the lack of vital vitamins and microelements by the child, and dehydration of his body.

Most modern pediatricians recommend feeding children not by the clock, but on demand. At the same time, the “first demand” does not have to mean screaming or crying. A sleepy baby may somehow signal his desire to eat in a different way, and the mother may not understand this signal and think that the baby does not need anything, since he does not scream.

So do not wait for the hungry cry of the baby, it is better to offer him food when he sleeps. To do this, it is not necessary to wake him up. You can just take it in your arms and poke it with your nose in the chest. The baby will hear the smell of milk, open his mouth, find the breast and feed, and then continue to sleep.

Reasons why a baby may rarely feed

The most common reason that a baby does not eat well is improper attachment to the breast. To date, not all maternity hospitals help to establish breastfeeding.

There can be several problems with milk:

a lack of: when the baby is not properly breastfed, milk is produced in insufficient quantities for him. A lactation consultant can help solve this problem. To increase the amount of milk produced by the mammary glands, it is necessary to put the baby to the breast as often as possible, the mother must establish close contact with him. To restore lactation, it is worth decanting more often, drinking more fluids, and drinking special teas based on fennel. If the baby is gaining little weight, you will have to switch to mixed feeding. First, the mother offers the baby one breast, then the second, and then supplements with the mixture.
oversupply: when there is too much milk, it hits the baby's mouth with a strong stream, he begins to choke, get scared and refuse to breastfeed. To solve this problem, you need to express a little before feeding.
Taste change: milk can change its taste if mom eats something spicy, salty or sour. The same can happen after taking medications, pregnancy.

The second reason is if there is some kind of pathology, for example, the child may not be able to suck at all. But such problems are usually detected even in the hospital. A short frenulum of the tongue (a membrane that attaches the tongue to the lower part of the mouth) or a cleft palate can prevent milk from being sucked out. It may not be completely split, but only in the depths of the mouth, which is difficult to notice. Some babies are born with a weak sucking reflex that develops gradually.

The third reason is that a newborn may not take the breast well if any medications were used during childbirth, for example, the anesthetic Promedol. It enters the mother's bloodstream, then into the child's body and after childbirth is not removed from it for a long time, affecting the baby's ability to suck.

The fourth common reason is that when a baby is sick, he sleeps a lot, as the body loses energy in the fight against the disease and replenishes it. If he has a cold, then the stuffy nose does not allow him to suck milk.

Fifth - the baby will not be able to eat normally when he has colic, dysbacteriosis or otitis media. But in this case, his sleep will also be disturbed.

The sixth reason is that feeding problems occur with thrush (stomatitis). It is painful for the baby to suckle, so he may refuse the breast and sleep for a long time due to loss of strength. To diagnose the disease, it is worth looking into the baby's mouth. There you can find white spots, which increase in size over time, and under them - red mucous. A baby can become infected with stomatitis from the mother during childbirth. This disease occurs due to damage to the mucosa or microbes entering the mouth from dirty objects (a pacifier or a toy that has fallen to the floor). The disease requires treatment prescribed by a pediatrician.

At home, you can independently prepare a cure for stomatitis. To do this, add a teaspoon of baking soda to a glass of cool boiled water. The resulting solution is treated with the mother's breast and the child's oral cavity.

Do I need to wake my baby up for feeding?

Normally, a newborn knows for himself how much time he needs to sleep and when it is time to feed him. But deviations from the norm happen very often.

If the baby was born prematurely, his body is in a relaxed state, then he constantly sleeps and does not ask for food, since he cannot wake up on his own. In this case, the mother must feed him without fail. The same applies to children who are affected by drugs administered to the mother during childbirth. The mother must wake him up and feed him until he recovers and begins to demand food on his own.

Some children can be awakened very easily, with others it can be much more difficult. It all depends on the situation and the individual child. You can raise and lower the baby's arm. If he somehow reacts to this (eyelids twitch, arm muscles tense, etc.), it means that he is in the phase of fast, superficial sleep, you can safely wake him up. If the pen remains soft and relaxed, then now he is in a phase of slow sleep and it will not be easy to wake him up.

Co-sleeping is ideal for a mother whose baby sleeps a lot and eats poorly. The child can sleep with the mother and eat without even waking up. The baby sleeps peacefully, and the mother does not need to get out of bed several times a night and run to the baby for feeding or motion sickness. So both the child and the mother can sleep, rest during the night.

If the child does not want to wake up in any way, and it is time to feed him, it is worth removing the blanket from him, undressing, changing the diaper. The baby can be hugged, stroked on the back, picked up and transferred to an upright position. You need to start talking to him, you can show a bright object, a beautiful rattle or sing a song to him.

The state of the body of a newborn, his sleep and appetite can be influenced by the atmosphere prevailing in the apartment. If parents swear, quarrel, insult each other, shout, loudly sort out the relationship, the baby is in a stressful situation. Try to avoid conflict situations, walk with the baby on the street more often, surround him with love and care, and everything will be fine.