The number of daytime dreams in a child up to a year. Child's sleep rate up to a year, from one to three years

23.12.2018

Rituals before bedtime

Many adults have developed certain rules and procedures related to sleep. We are accustomed to the pillow lying in this way, and the bedspread was rolled only and not otherwise. Children are no different from us. If they are accustomed to falling asleep in your arms, then in the future, they may not be able to be laid in a different way.

If they have learned to fall asleep on their own, they will be able to do this and waking up in the middle of the night, thus saving the parents from many sleepless nights. Therefore, when your child is 3-4 months old, it is recommended to lay him in bed while he is still awake, and start teaching him to fall asleep by himself. You yourself will appreciate the advantages of this when he, having woken up at night, will fall asleep again himself, without lifting you out of bed.

Early awakening of children under one year old.

Some parents get up at sunrise and enjoy the early morning with their children. But if you like to sleep a little longer, then it makes sense to teach the child to do this, or to make sure that he does not wake up the whole house, waking up early in the morning. By 6 months, most children no longer get up at 5-6 in the morning. However, many parents have already developed the habit of listening to a sleeping baby and jumping out of bed at the very first sound they make. They simply do not give him a chance to fall asleep again. As a result, it may turn out that when the child turns 2 or 3 years old, you will still rise before dawn. And a child who is used to society at the time of his awakening will still demand it.

Sleeping bags and overalls for children

By 6 months, when the children already know how to turn over in the crib, some parents put them to sleep in special bags or overalls, since the baby, covered with a blanket, still manages to open up in a dream. Some of them are designed so that they can be extended and expanded as the child grows.

In the sleeping overalls, each leg is inserted into a separate colo-tire, as in the sliders (the soles in them are usually covered with non-slip material). The zipper in this jumpsuit is sewn from neck to foot. Regularly check that the socks of the jumpsuit are not going to hair or threads that can be wound on the fingers of the baby and cause him pain.

If a child sleeps in a warm room, where you yourself grab a cotton nightgown or flannelette blanket, then a child will be quite enough light sleeping bag or romper. If the room is so cool that an adult will need a woolen or acrylic blanket, then the child will need a warmer sleeping bag.

Changes in the sleep mode of the child

By 4 months, babies already sleep mostly at night, perhaps waking up 1-2 times a night, and fall asleep 2-3 times a day. By the end of the first year of life, many children sleep only 2 times during the day. The total duration of sleep for each child is different. One is enough for 10-11 hours of sleep per day, while others need 15-16 hours.

By 9 months, many children who had slept well before, suddenly begin to wake up and demand attention. Such a change in behavior occurs around the same time when the baby begins to understand that even if you hide something, it still exists. Psychologists call this intellectual breakthrough the realization of the constancy of the object. From the point of view of the child, this means that the object that has disappeared from the field of view, no longer disappears from consciousness. (You can determine for yourself the moment when your crumbs become aware of the constancy of the object. If you hide the toy behind your back, the child will continue to reach for it.)

The same thing happens in the middle of the night. If a child wakes up and discovers that he is alone, the baby understands that you are somewhere nearby, although he does not see you. In this case, he starts screaming and calling you.

Sometimes it is enough if you just walk up to him and say: "Sleep, baby." Sometimes you may need to take the child in your arms to make sure that you are really there. It will be better if you put him in bed before he falls asleep, then he will have the opportunity to try to sleep on his own once again.

Sleep problems for a child under one year old

Many young children have difficulty falling asleep or wake up at night. Often these problems begin with some minor ailment such as a cold or ear inflammation and continue for a long time after the baby has recovered. Parents who work all day sometimes get so tired that they cannot even say good night to their children. I often hear: “I come home at seven, and at eight it’s time for a child to sleep. We just have no time to talk. It seems to me that insomnia in a child in this case does not turn into a problem, but into its solution. A child who stubbornly resists staying in bed or waking up at night feels a strong craving for parents and wants very much to be pityed.

Baby

Do not be afraid to make noise while the baby is sleeping during the day. Then he will associate complete silence with the onset of night and a long sleep.
Change the baby's diaper just before feeding, so as not to interrupt his sleep.
Experiment with swaddling a baby to find the position where it is most comfortable for him.
Make a baby a warm bath or massage before putting him to bed.
Wiggle and crumble your baby while reading a fairy tale to him.
If the child wakes up in the middle of the night: do not talk to him or turn on the bright light during night feedings; leave some of your belongings in his crib, or gauze from his chest, or nightgown, so that he feels soothed by your smell and falls asleep on his own; Do not allow your child to sleep more than four hours in a row during the day, otherwise he will not be able to sleep at night. Wake him up and play with him; If you think that a child cannot fall asleep because his teeth are being cut, give him a medication recommended by a doctor before going to bed.
If your child has had a bite before bed, put a pillow or blanket under the mattress to lift the headboard.
Do not put a sleeping child on a cold sheet, otherwise he will probably wake up. Bed flannel sheets or put a warm heating pad on his mattress before putting the baby in bed.
Gradually reduce nightly feeding: reduce the amount of the mixture in a bottle every 3-4 nights or limit the minutes of breastfeeding. In the end, replace the food with a soothing pat on the back, gradually dilute the milk mixture or milk with water; stop warming the bottle.

Transition from infant to regular bed

Go to the big bed before the child can get out of the former, which usually happens about 18 months. If your child does not want to sleep on the big bed, put his usual old mattress there.
Put fences on the sides of your child’s new bed.
Lock the door to the stairs so that the baby does not wander around the house if he wakes up at night.

A child who has just learned to walk and is older

Adhere to the constant bedtime and evening ritual, to establish the usual sequence of actions before bedtime.
Come up with an active game and physical exercise for a child in the daytime, so that by the evening he was tired and would be ready to go to bed.
Allocate time after dinner for quiet communication, let it be: reading before bedtime, motion sickness, inventing a fairy tale or taking a bath. During this period, your child calms down and gets ready for bed.
Tell your child to approach bedtime so that he completes the work he is doing.
Put a timer, the bell which means the start of preparation for bed.
Let your child control a little at bedtime: let him choose his pajamas or a book to be read at bedtime.
Draw in pictures everything you need to do at bedtime, starting with putting on your pajamas and brushing your teeth before cleaning the toys on the floor of your nursery.
As a pleasant surprise in the winter, put your pajamas for a few minutes in the dryer of a washing machine to warm up, but make sure that buttons or other metal objects do not get too hot.
Set the time when you extinguish the light and try to stick to it as precisely as possible: suppress the desire to allow the child to sit with you longer. This will only make him naughty if he needs to get up early in school or kindergarten. Even on weekends such relief is undesirable: it will knock it out of the schedule. Get a baby to bed early if it's hard for him to get up in the morning. In the evening, tell your baby that tomorrow he will be able to get up later or, on the contrary, will have to get up earlier than usual, let him know when the usual schedule will resume. Do not allow your child as a reward for good behavior to go to bed later. And do not demand that he go to bed earlier for bad behavior: the child should not associate sleep with punishment. Make it clear to him that sleep is an opportunity to gain energy for the next day.
If your child usually gets out of bed after he is put to bed: make sure that he has everything he needs nearby: a glass of water, a night light is on, if he is afraid of the dark and so on; Take the child back to bed immediately, calmly remind him that it is time to sleep, and say that you will come soon and check it out; keep contacts and conversations to a minimum; if the child wants you to be with him in the room, in the form of a compromise, suggest that you stay in the corridor until he falls asleep; reward him with stars, stickers, and additional stories for not getting out of bed.
Refuse to enter discussions about bedtime. No pleas and persuasion - to watch another TV, to play - should not act on you.

Owls and larks

Adjust your baby's pace of life. After a hectic activity in the afternoon, move on to more relaxed activities as the bedtime approaches.
If he gets up very early, move daytime sleep an hour or two earlier. Try to do it gradually, moving the time ten minutes until it adapts. You can cancel daytime sleep at all to increase the number of hours your child sleeps at night.
One-year-old children should sleep at night about ten o'clock. If the baby gets up at five, because it lays down at seven, put it later for an hour and a half, moving on to the new regime gradually.
Wait at least ten to fifteen minutes before approaching the child when he wakes up. He may fall asleep again or learn to entertain himself if he understands that you are not rushing to him as soon as he calls you.
Check that the child’s room does not have too much light in the morning. Shut windows to damp outside noise or use thick sun blinds or blinds.
If your child wakes up early due to the fact that his diaper is wet through, let him drink less at night.
To keep the awakening from a feeling of hunger, arrange breakfast later in the morning, but let the kid eat something light after dinner.
Explain to the child that he should not get up until the alarm rings.
Leave interesting things that a baby could play with when it wakes up. Wait a few minutes each time before reacting to his scream. If necessary, breastfeed him or give him a bottle, and then put him back in the crib.
If you think that a child can be allowed to wander around the house while you are sleeping, put a self-service breakfast on the table, take out toys and games, set up the TV for a specific channel. Or get up in order to turn on the TV, and then go back to bed and have a little more rest.
Put in advance video and TV so that they turn on in the morning.

When the child refuses to sleep during the day

Tell the child that he does not have to sleep, but he must lie in bed for one hour doing something calm, like reading a book.
Let your child choose the time for daytime sleep.
Lie down next to him and take a nap together, but only so that he understands that you are not going to do so at night.
To make daytime sleep more attractive, think of something, for example, invite him to rest in a sleeping bag under the table.

Night terrors

Read or write your own stories about children, bravely and with humor conquering nightly fears: ghosts, monsters and other vermin that your child is afraid of.
Think of a defensive game or a totem that will help your child overcome his fears: fill a bottle with a spray bottle with water and call it "monster tamer" or "monster spray" and splash the room before putting it to bed; help the child make a magic sign on the door, which means "No entry for monsters and ghosts is allowed"; buy a new pajamas and declare to him that this is a protective shell that frightens monsters.
Make a thorough joint study of the room part of your bedtime ritual.
Come up with a ritual of sweeping or throwing out some of the creatures that hide under the bed. Close the doors of the "scary" cabinets. Hunt monsters to convince your child that the area is clean.
Tell the child that ghosts are more afraid of him, and in his power to chase them away.
Give the child a flashlight to hold it near the pillow in case he wakes up in the middle of the night and gets scared.
Make the child a knight. Let him protect his beloved teddy bear. Or vice versa: declare the bear a protector of the baby.
Walk together at night or lie down on a blanket under the stars so that the child’s night and darkness will be associated with peace and pleasant images.
Avoid cruel or scary books, movies and cartoons.
Ask the child to draw a picture of what scares him so that you can discuss it and make the fear less powerful.
If the child is afraid of the shadows in the room at night, use the day to tell him about the shadows, draw a shadow theater on the wall and play with the shadow of his own.
If the child is afraid of thunderstorms, play the game "thunder and lightning." Try to clap your hands harder and growl louder than thunder.
If the child is frightened by the night sounds, put a player with calming music near his bed. If he wakes up at night, he can listen to it himself.
Suggest the child to dream about something pleasant before falling asleep.
Comfortably tuck the blanket around the child.
Give him something warm and soothing to drink so that he feels pleasantly relaxed before bed.
Leave a soft light in the room. Move the lamp, which from the point of view of the child throws terrible shadows on the walls.
Do not dismiss the fears of the baby. Let him tell about them, and you tell about your own children's fears and how you have overcome them.
Allow the child to overcome fears gradually, rather than fight them in a frontal attack.
If a child wakes up from a nightmare, talk to him about what is bothering him. This will help him feel more confident. Come up with a happy ending, in which the baby defeats those monsters that he saw in a dream. Hang a "dream catcher" in the corner of the room and explain how he catches nightmares or bad dreams. Let the baby know that dreams are magical fantasies, over which he, as the master of dreams, has power.

Family bed

Do not share the bed with your child, especially with the baby. It is all the more unsafe if you have drunk and are very sound asleep.
If you do share a bed with a baby, then lay the mattress on the floor, or put a protective railing, or put pillows around your bed.
If you put a child in his crib, but he insists on coming to your bed every night, make a compromise. Buy him a sleeping bag or mattress and let him sleep in your bedroom.
Make the final decision whether or not to share your bed with the child.

Baby sleep 0-3 months

After nine months of hibernation, the newborn wakes up and enters this world under a loud shout. He still does not know what day and night is, how to sleep and what to do in a dream. All this will teach him mom and dad. Maybe your child sleeps well at night, waking up once to have a snack on her mother's milk and during the day is just a darling. They put him in his bed, rubbing his eyes, and he himself, after five minutes, was already sweetly snuffling. Well, then you are very lucky, you can free time sleep well, do housework, do the art of origami, or learn Spanish. But this happens very rarely.

The fact is that sleep rhythms in an adult and in an infant, they differ significantly. In an adult, the duration of superficial sleep is 20%, in a newborn - 80%, in a baby 6 months - about 50%. The rest is superficial sleep, which is easily interrupted by any sharp sound or inner restlessness of the child (colic, thirst, fear). This is absolutely normal and justified by the physiological characteristics of this age: during the period of superficial sleep, active brain development occurs, information obtained during wakefulness is processed and analyzed; the body accumulates energy and strength for the next day. Frequent awakenings are a simple and natural way to survive in a new environment, nature itself has taken care of this. After all, the crumb can quickly inform you that he is uncomfortable to lie (he cannot roll over yet), that he wants to eat or drink, that he has a wet diaper or that he has a tummy ache.

Is the baby getting enough sleep? Only attentive parents can answer this question. After all, if a pussy develops according to age, wakes up contentedly, smiling and cheerful while waking up, is interested in everything, gains enough weight and has a normal appetite, it means that he has enough sleep. And it does not matter if the sleep of your baby is different from the norm. After all, he has his own personal norm, he is individual. Children, like adults, are divided into owls and larks, they have different temperaments.

For reference, however, familiarize yourself with the average length of sleep for the child:

day / night / generally per day.

In 1 month: 6-7 hours / 8.5-10 hours / 18-20 hours

In 3 months: 5-6 hours / 10-11 hours / 17-18 hours respectively.

To help you determine the desire of the baby to relax can the following the signs :

O yawning is the most clear and unambiguous signal. The supply of oxygen to the lungs is increased to provide energy for the weary organism.

O baby rubs his eyes, they are red and they do not have enough moisture. The eyes lack moisture during prolonged wakefulness, while friction ensures the production of fluid by the tear glands.

O lethargy of movements, fatigue, whine. Babies begin to open their mouths and look for their mother's breasts to suck and fall asleep.

That baby wanted to sleep, but it turns out that it is not so easy. What can prevent? Causes can be divided into internal and external.

To internal we will carry:

problems with tummy: colic, gas, dysbacteriosis. This is the most common cause of restless sleep baby in the first three months of life.

otitis - purulent inflammation in the ear. Microbes from the nose and throat easily penetrate into the Eustachian tubes and semicircular canals, which are still too short and wide. Otitis causes severe painespecially when lying down.

regurgitation - the involuntary discharge of food from the stomach into the esophagus. The child suffers from heartburn and stomach pain, he is uncomfortable in a lying position.

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Smile with your baby! 🙂

Child's eating behavior regarding breastfeeding, his attitude toward the mother and the maternal breast, changes as he grows. A three-month baby does not suck the breast like a newborn. Starting from 5-6 months of age, the baby has an interest in food that is eaten by adults and he develops feeding behavior aimed at adapting to new food. These changes occur gradually and can be traced from month to month.

1 month

Breast-feeding.

Feeding exclusively breastfeeding, on request, chaotic. The baby can spend a lot of time under the breast, sucking it for 1-1.5 hours. Needs attachment and sucking during sleep. Joint sleep with mom in combination with the carefree continuous suction of the maternal breast gives the child a sense of security necessary for the formation of a full-fledged balanced psyche.

In a day, only 15-25 applications are obtained. Of these, about 12-15 full feedings and about 8-10 breastfeeding, when the baby is not saturated, but just pulls and slightly sucks the breast, necessary for the child to feel emotional comfort. By the 25-30th day, mothers often notice that the baby began to regurgitate more and more abundantly, which is usually associated with the arrival of mature milk and is the age norm. During the first month of life, the mother and the child adapt to each other and learn to breastfeed. The mother must properly breastfeed the baby in order to ensure the fullness of the areola capture, fix its head when feeding so that it does not crawl onto the nipple, injure the breast and fully eat. In addition, you should learn to feed the child in a comfortable position, which provides long-term feeding and good milk flow. It must also be remembered that the sleep of a child at this age is not an obstacle to breastfeeding. If the mother needs to attach the baby to her breast, she should not wait for his awakening or wake him up, you just need to offer him the breast and he is obliged but will take it while continuing to sleep.

2 months

Feeding exclusively breast, at the request of the child. The baby is still attached to the breast chaotically, without a pronounced mode. Application, necessary for the child to psycho-emotional comfort, can occur up to 4 times per hour. At the same time, full-fledged feedings can occur in about 40 minutes - 3.5 hours. Of these, 3-5 night feedings and 8-20 daily attachments, of which about 5-7 are full feedings. The baby usually needs to be attached to the chest before falling asleep and during waking up. By this time, nursing babies gain in weight from 1 to 2.5 kg and grow by 5-7 cm. They still do not look like full-bodied burly with bandages, but are already quite noticeably rounded.

The work of the digestive and excretory systems. There are regurgitation, frequent stools (from 3 to 6-7 times a day) and frequent urination (every 15-20 minutes). A kid from this age is able to sleep dry and wakes up to be disembarked. Sometimes there are failures, but the tendency is already clear: controlled or not urination. The chair can be as frequent 5-8 times, and rare 1-2 times a day or even every other day. In babies of this age, the chair is, as a rule, it is during feeding. By the end of the second month of life, a stable habit of taking and sucking the breast is formed in the child. He opens his mouth well, and the mother is left only in a timely and deep way to put the breast in the baby’s mouth. During feeding, the child looks into the eyes of the mother, carefully examines her face, closely studying it. Sometimes, during feeding, the child flexes and throws back his head, thus trying to express his positive emotions that occur during feeding and eye contact with the mother.

Thus, being constantly with the mother, the child receives information about the outside world and becomes acquainted with various concepts.

3 months

Exclusive breastfeeding on demand. The mode of feeding is established, there are only 6-8 of them during the day and 2-4 at night. Frequent attachment persists, but the need for them appears less frequently. There may be a long night break in feedings, about 5 hours, but this happens very rarely. Much more often the night break in feedings is 2.5-3.5 hours. By this age, the body of the infant will be rounded and become full. Now he looks like a dairy baby with bandages. By this time, babies can gain a weight of 5.5 - 7.5 kg, with an initial weight of 3-5 kg.

The baby has regurgitations much less often, regular stools are adjusted in the form of a creamy mass. It appears daily at about the same time. Periodically, the chair appears less frequently: not daily, but once every 2-3 days or 2-7 days. This is a normal phenomenon, characteristic of children who are exclusively breastfed. In this case, the child does not need enemas and laxatives. Frequent urination during wakefulness - after 10-25 minutes.

Mother and child relationship during breastfeeding.

As a rule, three months old children are cheerful, calm and sociable, regardless of the type of temperament. By this age, expecting a maternal breast, they begin to show a little more patience than they did before, but still they should not be tested. From this age, feeding posture no longer matters. At about three months, that pleasant moment comes when the baby puts the handles on her mother's breast during feeding, which is very pleasant for the mother. But there is also a distressing moment, which is often incomprehensible to mothers: the child bends during feeding, rests on the mother with arms and legs, as if pushing off from her, slaps his mother with his hands and kicks him. It seems to many mothers that the baby begins to abandon the breast and fight it. Especially a lot of trouble experienced by those mothers who do not know how to properly support the head of the child during feeding and did not learn to feed in a comfortable position. Sometimes the child begins to squeeze the chest with gums and is distracted from the chest, as if important. These are the first actions of the child, aimed at separating the “I” from the “I” of the mother, which help him to understand that the mother and he are not the same - they feel differently and behave differently.

4 months

Feeding exclusively breastfeeding, on request, feeding associated with sleep. The baby begins to noticeably less attached to the breast during wakefulness and it appears fairly accurate feeding regime. Per day about 10-14 feedings, including nightly. At this age, babies' stools may begin to appear 1 time in 2-4 days, which, when exclusively breastfed, is normal.

From this age under certain circumstances, the introduction of complementary foods is possible. Nutritional behavior. If the mother takes the child with her to the table while eating, the baby begins to monitor the process of absorbing food. Mother and child relationship during breastfeeding. During feeding, the child pulls the mother's breast with the hands, creases it. While applying to the chest, he opens his mouth wide and can sit for a rather long time with his mouth open, expecting to put a breast in it now. In the process of feeding, the baby begins to press the mother's breast with gums, causing painful sensations. The mother’s reaction to such actions of the child should be adequate: the mother should cry out and take the baby’s breasts. The violent reaction of the mother will frighten the child, and deliberate patience will make one think that his action does not cause any experiences in the mother and can continue to do so further. Usually, the child makes two attempts: the first attempt is a trial, and the second is a test one, which can be commented on as follows: “Did I understand correctly that this is unpleasant for you?”. As a rule, if the mother’s reaction is adequate, the third and fourth attempts do not work, but if the mother has reacted incorrectly, the child can repeat her experience. In addition, the child often begins to turn away from the breast during feeding, demonstrating its importance, they say, my mother, my breast will not go anywhere. This age feature Mother's behavior is often mistaken for giving up a breast, especially since it is at this time that the baby’s number of daytime feeds decreases and more pronounced sleep-related feedings become.

However, distracting a child from the breast is very important moment behavior that mom should be encouraged. When a baby is distracted from his chest, one should not take his chest from him, resenting him and believing that he has already had enough and is simply harmful. On the contrary, he now needs additional proof of the reliability of the mother, which should be provided. If at such a moment the mother does not wait for the child and takes the breast, he can burst into tears and inconsolably offended.

5 months

Feeding. Exclusively thoracic, on demand, feeding associated with sleep. At this age, babies can have 6-10 day feeds and 2-4 night feeds, in general, 9-14 feeds per day.

The work of the digestive system. Regurgitation becomes single. The chair appears 2-3 times a day or 1 time in 2-7 days in the form of a homogeneous creamy mass or as sour stools. Frequent urination after 15-40 minutes.

Nutritional behavior.

If the mother takes the child with her to the table, then he can take an active interest in the food of adults. As a rule, this interest coincides with the formation of the child's ability to seize and hold objects. So being at the table, the child reaches for her mother's spoon, plate or cup and insists that he be given to grab them and put them in her mouth. At first, the baby is satisfied with a spoon given to him, not a beating or a mug, and does not show a desire to try the products. a cup If the child showed active food, it means that the time has come for the first pedagogical supplements.

Mother and child relationship during breastfeeding.

6 months

Breastfeeding with pedagogical supplements, breastfeeding on demand, associated with sleep. The properties of mother's milk are changing: now it helps the baby to cope with the new food he is trying. Changes the mode of feeding. The most active sucking shifts for the last 2-3 hours before waking up after a night's sleep. The period of daytime wakefulness of the baby can be divided into 2 periods: the morning, when the baby sucked in for the night, is rarely applied to the chest, and the evening, when the attachments become very frequent. In total, there may be 6-8 daily feeds and 3-4 night feeds.

Nutritional behavior.

This is the age of the beginning of dating with adults and the introduction of pedagogical supplements. The baby has an active nutritional interest, which is the desire to try the food that adults eat. This acquaintance takes place at the table when the mother sits down to eat and takes the baby with her. While the mother eats, she can give the child to lick her spoon moistened with soup, cabbage soup or tea, try a crumb of bread, porridge or meatballs. In addition to such microsamples that apply to all the products that a mother eats, the child at the table continues to wield his own spoon and mug. In addition, as a pedagogical supplement, a child can be given a crouton, a donut, a firm apple, galetnye cookies, a peeled chicken bone, a carrot, a cabbage leaf with a large solid meat, etc.

The child still does not need additional foods to replace breast feeding and replenishing the energy consumption of the body - it is enough mother's milk. He only gets acquainted with the new food, adapts to it, this is clearly noticeable, since the child does not strive to eat even the product he likes. Therefore, the manifestation of active food interest should not be regarded as evidence of the inferiority of the milk composition, or its lack. It’s just that the baby has a need to get acquainted with new products that are used in his family and adapt to their use. The nutritional interest of a child of this age can be defined as the beginning of a tour of acquaintance with the diet of his family.

The work of the digestive system.

With the advent of pedagogical complementary foods, the baby’s chair and the frequency of its appearance can change. The happy time, when the child’s stool appeared once every 4–7 days, is now a thing of the past, it can now appear daily once a day. It is also possible the appearance of a chair 2-3 times a day.

Mother and child relationship during breastfeeding.

During feeding, the baby begins to rest on the hands of the mother, as if pushing away from her, with both hands she rubs her breast and pulls something against her mother. Thus, the child’s gradual assimilation of the fact that he and the mother are different beings is manifested. The baby begins to change the position when feeding at its discretion. When the mother is going to give him a breast, he opens his mouth and waits for quite a long time with his mouth wide open, when his mother finally gives him a breast.

7 months

Breastfeeding with pedagogical supplements, breastfeeding on demand, associated with sleep. The main period of sucking at night. Feeding regime remains the same: 6-8 day and 3-5 night.

Nutritional behavior.

The kid actively tries everything from the table of adults and during the day can continuously exaggerate the steering wheel, then a piece of apple, then cookies, etc. When the mother takes the baby with her to the table, they have a competition, consisting in the following. The mother should settle down in such a way as to eat her portion of food, and at the same time that the child at her table does not scatter food, does not drag into her mouth too much and does not choke, does not eat more than he needs to get acquainted with new products and adaptations to them. At this stage of the child's eating behavior, the mother should be able to correctly take the spoon or cup that he takes from her child, replace them, clean his mouth if he took too large a piece of food, drink it from the cup and feed it from the spoon.

The work of the digestive system.

In connection with the active acquaintance with the new food, the baby’s stool appears 1-2 times a day or every other day. This happens usually in certain time: in the morning or evening. Regurgitation almost completely disappears.

Mother and child relationship during breastfeeding.

There comes the next stage of separation of his “I” and the baby can repeat the experience that he did in four months, i.e. he can again bite her mother's breast during feeding. The reaction of the mother to such actions of the baby, as mentioned above, should be natural and adequate, i.e. she can cry out and take the baby’s breasts. In no case should the mother tolerate, or, conversely, react too violently. The violent reaction may scare the child, and he will start to be afraid of her, and deliberate patience will disorient the child - he will not be able to understand what feelings she experiences in this situation. From this age, during feeding, the child rests on the mother’s feet and throws them high, rubs her mother’s bosom and changes her position quite often, so the mother should adapt to the constant change of the baby’s postures.

8 months

Breastfeeding with pedagogical supplements, breastfeeding on demand, associated with sleep. The feeding regime is changing. Since the baby exhibits high motor activity and is very busy with the development of the surrounding space, during the daytime it forgets to attach to the chest. In this regard, the number of daily feedings can be reduced to 4-6 times. Reducing daytime feeds baby compensates by increasing the frequency and duration of night feedings up to 2-5 times. He has a steady period of almost continuous sucking before awakening from 3 to 8 hours, which lasts 2-4 hours.

Nutritional behavior.

At this age, the introduction of the first energetically significant complementary foods is possible. Best of all, a child of this age eats and assimilates dairy products. Despite the different opinions. Reflected in the literature, which speaks about the dangers of cow's milk, children of this age prefer to eat dairy products: cottage cheese, milk porridge, kefir, sour cream, whole milk, yogurt, etc. Starting to increase the proportion of complementary foods in the baby’s food, the mother can feed him 1-3 times a day when she eats herself. Taking the baby to the table with her, the mother continues to give him everything to try, you can introduce the first complementary foods, i.e. supplement one of the daily feedings with other food. Such mixed feeding should always begin or end by attachment to the breast. The gastrointestinal tract of the child still can not cope with the new food. Mother's milk helps him to assimilate foreign food, supplying the necessary enzymes. Breastfeeding helps in the assimilation of new foods and facilitates the transition of the child to new foods.

Mother and child relationship during breastfeeding.

A baby may begin to pinch (in particular, mother's breast), if he did not do it earlier, continuing the process of separating his “I” from his mother. In the process of this awareness, he makes attempts to independently find her mother's breast and get it when he has a need to attach. During the daytime feeds, the baby rests against the mother with his hands, as if pushing away from her, and with his legs, trying to get up. Moreover, he can, while continuing to suck on his chest and push his hands into his mother, stand up and stand in a half-bent state, swaying from side to side. Thus, during feeding, the baby takes a variety of poses and changes them, without stopping to suck the breast. This behavior under the breast is the age norm. Mom can only be touched by the achievements of her offspring and show to others "how well done he is" and how remarkably improved his breastfeeding skills are.

Feeding and work of the digestive system.

At this age, almost nothing changes compared with the previous month. Breastfeeding with lure, breastfeeding on demand related to sleep. During feeding, the child freely changes poses and pulls at the nipple of the second mother's breast. In addition, the baby may need to constantly chew. This is due to the fact that now he is actively developing the chewing apparatus (teeth and jaws) and for the full development an increased chewing load is required. Therefore, the baby should be regularly given for chewing pieces of solid apple, crackers, drying, etc.

Breastfeeding with lure, breastfeeding on demand related to sleep. At this age, the baby may become more frequent attachment to the chest. In the daytime it is 4-6 full breastfeeding and about the same amount of attachments for various reasons. This increase is especially noticeable if the child has already started walking with support or independently. Sometimes babies of this age are applied to the breast as many times as they approach the mother, i.e. every 15-30 minutes. At night, there are 2-4 complete feedings, the most active sucking period is preserved in the morning before waking up from 3 to 8 o'clock in the morning. During the day, in addition to breastfeeding and feeding, he constantly chews something and tastes food from the table when all the older family members eat, not just the mother.

Mother and child relationship during breastfeeding.

Baby begins to more freely relate to the process of breastfeeding. Now he is not only looking for himself. But she also pulls out her mother's breast, lifting her shirt from her mother or taking her breast out of the neckline of her dress. During feeding, the baby can take his hand out of his mouth and insert it back, as well as arbitrarily change his position at his discretion. Now he can suckle from the most incredible position. Feeding looks the most “shocking” when the baby, continuing to suck the breast, kneels to the mother, straightens the legs, and sways. This behavior is typical for the age of the child's full mastery of breastfeeding skills and it lasts until about 1.5 years.

Feeding and feeding behavior.

Daytime sleep

This dream should always be the longest of the day. If you teach a child to a long daytime sleep, he will not be too tired for daytime activities, and going to bed will be calm and contented. Recent studies show that sleep between noon and 2:00 p.m. Is deeper and more beneficial because it coincides with a normal decrease in the attention of the child. As I have already said, if you give him sleep longer in the morning, and less - at this time, this will affect the whole sleep routine, which may lead to earlier awakenings.

Most children need a sleep of two to two and a half hours, until they are 18 months old - 2 years. Then this time will gradually be reduced to 1-1.5 hours. By the age of three, children may no longer need a daytime sleep, but they can be encouraged to quietly practice in their room. Otherwise they may become hyperactive in the evening, which will affect the night's sleep.

After six weeks

If your child sleeps completely in the morning for 45 minutes, he must be awakened after two hours. If for some reason he slept less in the morning, you can give him two and a half hours. If your child has problems with a night's sleep, do not let him sleep longer during the day.

In the early days, daytime sleep sometimes does not add up, the child refuses to fall asleep. Naturally, at the same time he is not able to calmly endure from 13:00 to 16:00. In my opinion, in this case it is best to give him 30 minutes after feeding at 14:30 and another 30 minutes at 16:30. This will help prevent fatigue and irritability and return the regime back to normal so that the child will sleep well at 19:00.

After six months

If your child has taken three meals a day, you should try to move your morning sleep from 9:00 to 9:30. Most likely you will need to change the daytime sleep at 12: 00-14: 30. If during the day the child sleeps less than two hours, try to ensure that the morning sleep between 7:00 and 12:00 does not exceed 30 minutes.

After twelve months

If your child finds it difficult to calm down and fall asleep, or he wakes up in an hour and a half, you can even reduce your sleep during the day or eliminate it completely. If you want your child to fall asleep at 7:00 pm, do not let him sleep after 2:30 pm

Sleep in the afternoon

The shortest period of sleep, which the child must abandon first. It is necessary that the child learned to sleep not only in his crib, so sometimes let him fall asleep in a wheelchair or on a chair at this time. It also gives you freedom of movement.

In three months

If you want the child to go to bed at 7:00 pm, he should sleep at this time longer than 45 minutes and should always wake up around 5:00 pm, regardless of whether he slept a lot or little. Most children who sleep well during the rest of the day, gradually reduce this dream, and then eliminate it completely. If for some reason the child did not sleep much during the day, you can give him some sleep now, but the total duration of daytime sleep should not exceed what is necessary for his age.

Adaptation mode

From birth to six months

Over the years, I used a variety of modes and found that with the regime from 7:00 to 19:00, all newborns and babies, without exception, feel best. It corresponds to their natural sleep rhythm and the need to eat often and little by little. I recommend parents to follow the proposed regime whenever possible. When the child is six months old, he will eat four to five times a day and will need less sleep, you can change the regimen without affecting the natural needs of the child for the duration of sleep and the number of feedings.

Up to six months. When planning a regime, you need to pay attention to the following things:

In order to not wake up more than once a night in the first weeks of life, you should have at least five feedings before midnight. This is possible only if the child’s day starts at 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning.
In the first few weeks of life, a regime from 8:00 to 20:00 will mean that the child will have to eat twice from midnight to 7:00 in the morning.

From half a year

At the age of six months, when the child begins to eat solid writing, and you have eliminated feeding at 22; 30, it is easier to change the mode. If the child sleeps regularly until 7:00, you can postpone the beginning at 7:30 or even 8:00 and move the rest of the regime. Naturally, in the evenings the child will fall asleep later. If you want the child to sleep longer, but still fall asleep at 19:00, you can do the following:

Eliminate morning sleep, so that the child was ready to fall asleep at 12: 00-12: 30.
In the afternoon, do not let him sleep for more than two hours, and exclude sleep in the evening.

Trips

In the first few weeks of life, most children fall asleep as soon as they are in a stroller or car. If possible, try to go shopping during periods of sleep, so as not to disturb the regime too much. When the mode is set, and the child is eight weeks old, you will be able to travel more often, and the child will not sleep at all.

If you plan to go to friends in the afternoon, depending on the length of the visit, it can usually be entered in the mode, if the road is at 9: 10-10: 00 or 13: 00-14: 00. When you arrive, the child will have to be fed, and he may be awake. Similarly, if you go back between 16: 00-17: 00 or after 19:00, you can save the mode.

The well-known expression is that sleep - the best medicine, since both physical and mental health of a person depend on it. Sleep stages differ in duration and internal structure. Mostly known are slow and fast sleep. With age, the duration of sleep stages varies. For example, a small child's sleep cycle lasts 50 minutes - 1 hour. If slow sleep prevails in the first half of the night, then in the second half, fast sleep prevails.

In the first weeks of life, the baby sleeps almost all the time. He wakes up only to eat or if he is uncomfortable.
At 2 months the duration of sleep is already less, the average sleep time is 18-20 hours.
At 4 months the baby sleeps 16-18 hours.
At 8 months, the baby’s sleep is already 14-16 hours.

Thus, the child more and more comprehends the world. He is actively studying everything. what surrounds him, communicates with his parents.

Not always, however, it happens on time. For example, children wake up at night (and with them the whole family). This usually happens later) that the child is hungry or uncomfortable. It is not uncommon that such cases, when the child was overexcited in the evening, became nervous, played too much, etc. If you were convinced that the child was not hungry, did not get wet and did not hurt anything, put him on a straight line and wait the cry until he falls asleep . You should not go on about the children's whims. This will benefit neither you nor the baby. Of course, you will worry when you hear that the baby is crying. In this case, you must wait, show character. Otherwise, if you break and come, the child will understand that in this way, with the help of shouts and whims, he will be able to easily get attention from you, and then he will definitely take advantage of this, since the children subtly feel the behavior of the parents. Raising such children will be much more difficult.

Tip: do not go on about children's egoism. By this you will serve your good service for the rest of your life both for yourself and for your child. Reassure yourself that while the child is crying capriciously, he develops his lungs, as our grandmothers said. Seeing that the crying had no effect, the baby will calm down and fall asleep.

To remedy the situation, take the appropriate measures:

try to get the last but one feeding at about 18 o'clock in the evening. Then the last feeding will be at 23-24 hours, and the child will fall asleep better on a full stomach:
do not play too noisy games with your child in the evening, no matter how much you want or how much you miss him during the day (if you work). If the child gets overexcited, then it will be hard for him to fall asleep;
sing to your baby before bed. Lullabies, a calm atmosphere in the house, a gradual transition to sleep and soft music (which you listen to during pregnancy) contribute to a good sleep;
if a child receives attention and care from you all day long, he will not be naughty at night;
put the baby at the same time. He will get used to the regime and sleep well. Create a sleeping environment for your child: the room should be quiet and dark.

Usually young children sleep on their backs. It is in it that it is easier for a child to observe the space and communicate with parents. The latest recommendations of domestic pediatrics is to put the baby on the stomach. In this position, he will not choke during vomiting or regurgitation. The child earlier begins to raise his head, lean on the handles and look around. It is believed that children who sleep on their stomachs begin to crawl faster. It is best to lay the baby alternately on his back, stomach, right and left side, changing his position.

Norms of quantity and duration baby sleep approximate. This means that if a child sleeps less or longer, more often or less, you should not force him to sleep, or, conversely, wake up ahead of time! Norms - only a guide for mom to properly distribute the regime of the day of the child.

The sleep duration of all children is individual.

As well as for an adult, a number of factors affect the duration of a child's sleep: from psychological and physical condition to temperament and daily routine. If the child is healthy, well-being, alert and active during the day, but the child sleeps less than recommended, you should not worry. Unless, of course, we are talking about small deviations from these norms. However, there is a pattern: than less childthe more he must sleep.

We present the average values of how much a child should sleep, depending on age:

From 1 to 2 months, the baby should sleep around 18 hours;
From 3 to 4 months, the child must sleep 17-18 hours;
From 5 to 6 months, the baby should sleep around 16 hours;
From 7 to 9 months, the baby should sleep around 15 hours;
From 10 to 12 months, the baby should sleep around 13 hours;
From 1 to 1.5 years old, the child sleeps 2 times during the day: the 1st sleep lasts 2-2.5 hours, the 2nd sleep lasts 1.5 hours, the night sleep lasts 10-11 hours;
From 1.5 to 2 years old, the child sleeps 1 time during the day, 2.5-3 hours; nighttime sleep lasts 10-11 hours;
From 2 to 3 years, the child sleeps 1 time in the afternoon 2-2.5 hours, night sleep lasts 10-11 hours;
From 3 to 7 years old, the child sleeps 1 time in the afternoon for about 2 hours; nighttime sleep lasts 10 hours;
After 7 years, the child does not have to sleep during the day, at night the child at this age must sleep at least 8-9 hours.

Sleep from 0 to 3 months

Up to 3 months, a newborn sleeps quite a lot — from about 17 to 18 hours a day for the first few weeks and 15 to 17 hours a day for three months.

Children almost never sleep more than three or four hours in a row, day or night. And that means that you, too, will not be able to sleep for many hours. At night you will have to get up to feed and swaddle your baby; during the day you will play with him. Some babies sleep all night long at the age of 8 weeks, but most babies do not sleep continuously all night long, not only up to 5 or 6 months, but also longer. It is necessary to observe the rules of good sleep from birth.

Rules of sleep

Here is what you can do at this age to help your child acquire the right sleep skills:

Study the signs of child fatigue

For the first six to eight weeks, your child will not be able to stay awake for more than two hours in a row. If you do not put him to sleep longer than this time, he will be overworked and will not be able to sleep well. Watch until you notice the baby is getting sleepy. He rubs his eyes, tugs at his ear, faint dark circles appear under his eyes? If you see these or any other signs of drowsiness, send it directly to the crib. Soon, you will learn your child’s daily rhythms and behavior so that you will develop a sixth sense and you will instinctively know when he is ready for bed.

Start explaining to him the difference between day and night.

Some babies are owls (you may have already noticed some hints of this during pregnancy). And while you want to turn off the light, the child can still be very active. In the first few days you can't do anything about it. But as soon as the child is about 2 weeks old, you can start teaching him to distinguish night by day.

When a child is alert and active during the day, play with him, turn on the lights in the house and in his room, do not try to reduce the usual daytime noises (phone, TV or dishwasher sounds). If he falls asleep while feeding, wake him up. Do not play with the child at night. When you enter his feeding room, dim the lights and noise, do not talk to him for too long. Not so much time will pass, and your baby will begin to understand that night time is for sleeping.

Give him a chance to fall asleep by yourself.

When your child is 6 to 8 weeks old, start giving him a chance to fall asleep on his own. How? Put him in bed when he is sleepy, but still awake, experts advise. They discourage cramping or feeding the baby before bedtime. “Parents think that if they start teaching the child too soon, it will not have an effect,” they say, “But this is not so.” Infants acquire sleep-related habits. If you shake your baby before bed each night for the first eight weeks, why should he expect something else later? ”

What problems with sleep can occur up to three months?

By the time your child reaches 2 or 3 months, he can already wake up at night more often than necessary, and also develop negative associations associated with sleep.

Newborns must wake up at night for food, but some may accidentally wake themselves before they really need to be fed. To avoid this, try swaddling your baby (snug him comfortably in a blanket) before putting him in a bed for the night.

Avoid unnecessary bedtime associations - your child should not be dependent on motion sickness, feeding in order to fall asleep. Put the baby in bed before he falls asleep and let him fall asleep on his own.

Sleep from 3 to 6 months

By 3 or 4 months, most babies sleep 15–17 hours a day, 10–11 of them at night, and the rest of the time is divided between 3, and mostly 4 afternoon dreams of 2 hours.

At the beginning of this period, you can still get up once or twice a night for feedings, but by 6 months your baby will be able to sleep all night. It’s not a fact, of course, that he will sleep continuously all night, but this will depend on whether you bring up sleep skills.

How to put the baby to sleep?

Set a clear night and day sleep mode and stick to it.

While your child was a newborn, you could decide when to lay him up during the night, watching for signs of drowsiness (rubbing his eyes, ear tugs, etc.). Now that he is a little older, you must set him a certain time for night and day sleep.

In the evening good time for a child - between 19.00 and 20.30. Later, he is likely to be too tired and it will be hard for him to fall asleep. Your child may not look tired late in the evening - on the contrary, he may seem very energetic. But believe me, this is a sure sign that it's time for a child to sleep.

Likewise, you can set the time for daytime sleep - plan it at the same time every day, or go to the touch, putting the baby to bed when you see that he is tired and needs to rest. Any approach is acceptable if the baby is sleeping enough.

Start setting bedtime ritual

If you have not done this yet, then at the age of 3-6 months it is already time. The ritual of bringing a child to sleep may include the following actions: make him a bath, play with him in quiet games, read one or two bedtime stories, sing a lullaby. Kiss him and wish good night.

No matter what the ritual of your family includes, you must perform it in the same order, at the same time every evening. Children need consistency, and sleep is no exception.

Wake up your baby in the morning

If your child often sleeps more than 10 - 11 hours at night, it is advisable to wake him up in the morning. Thereby you will help him to restore the mode. Compliance with the schedule of night sleep may not seem to you difficult, but remember that your child should sleep on the regime and during the day. A wake at the same time every morning will help.

What problems with sleep can occur up to 6 months?

Two problems — nighttime awakenings and the development of negative associations associated with sleep (when your child gets used to depend on motion sickness or feeding, as prerequisites for falling asleep), affect both newborns and older children. But by about 3-6 months, another problem may arise - difficulty falling asleep.

If it is difficult for your child to fall asleep in the evening, first make sure that he does not go to bed too late (as we mentioned, the overworked child has difficulty falling asleep). If this is not the case, then he may have developed one or more associations associated with sleep. Now is the time to get rid of them. The child must learn to fall asleep himself, but it does not matter if you fail.

Some recommend waiting until the child “cries out and falls asleep”, but what is more precious to you: the child’s nerves or your own comfort when you put the child in bed and forget? At the same time, some babies do not just fall asleep, but even so are exaggerated that the usual methods of drowsy will no longer help you and the child will wake up crying all night.

Sleep from 6 to 9 months

Children at this age need about 14-15 hours of sleep per day, and they can sleep for about 7 hours in a row. If your child sleeps for more than seven hours, he probably wakes up for a while, but is able to fall asleep again on his own - a wonderful sign. This means that your sonya is growing great.

He probably falls asleep for a couple of hour and a half or two hours of daytime dreams, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Remember: a regular day and night sleep regimen helps regulate sleep skills.

Norm - 10-11 hours of sleep at night and 3 times 1.5 -2 hours during the day

How to put the baby to sleep?

Set a bedtime ritual and always follow it.

Although you probably have already established a certain bedtime ritual, your child only now, indeed, will begin to participate in it. Your ritual may include a child taking a bath, a quiet game, reading one or two bedtime stories, a lullaby. Remember that you must perform all these steps in the same order and at the same time every night. The child will appreciate your consistency. Small children love a regular schedule that they can rely on.

Your bedtime ritual will show that it is time to gradually calm down and get ready for bed.

Observe constant day and night sleep

Both you and your child will benefit from having a permanent schedule that includes day and night sleep. This means that you should try to keep to a predetermined schedule. When your child sleeps during the day, eats, plays, goes to bed every day at the same time, it will be much easier for him to fall asleep. Make sure you give your child the opportunity to fall asleep on their own.

The child must learn to fall asleep independently. Put him in a bed before he falls asleep, and try not to accustom her to external factors (motion sickness or feeding), as mandatory conditions for falling asleep. If the child is crying, then further behavior depends on you. Most experts advise you to wait at least a few minutes to see if the child is really upset. Others advise not to wait for the child to burst into tears and advocate for the child to sleep together with their parents.

Small children who have never had trouble sleeping at this age may suddenly start waking up in the middle of the night or have trouble falling asleep. Sleep disturbances are more often associated with the fact that right now your child is learning to sit, roll over, crawl, and perhaps even get up on his own, it is not surprising that he will want to try out his new skills during sleep. The baby can wake up at night to try to sit or stand for one more time.

In a half-awake state, the child sits or rises, and then cannot independently go down and lie down. Of course, he finally wakes up and begins to cry and call mom. Your task is to calm the child down and help him lie down.

If your child goes to bed after 8:30 pm and suddenly begins to wake up during the night, try to roll it off half an hour earlier. To your surprise, you will find that the baby has become sleepier.

Sleep from 9 to 12 months

Your child is already sleeping at night from 10 to 12 hours. And twice a day for 1.5 -2 hours. Make sure that it is enough for him - the duration of sleep plays a big role in the development of the child. It is also important to adhere to a permanent daily sleep schedule. If this schedule is moving, then it is likely that the child will have difficulty falling asleep and will often wake up during the night.

How to put the baby to sleep?

Evening ritual

Observe the constant ritual of evening bedtime. This is important: a bath, a bedtime story, bedding. You can also add a quiet game, just be sure to follow the same pattern every night. Children prefer the sequence and feel safe when they know what to expect.

Day and night sleep mode

The child’s sleep will be better if you observe the regime not only at night, but also during the day. If a child eats, plays, and goes to bed clearly by the hour, at the same time, it is likely that it will always be easy for him to fall asleep.

Give your child the opportunity to fall asleep on their own. Do not stop him from practicing this important skill. If the child’s sleep is dependent on feeding, cradling, or a lullaby, it will be hard for him to fall asleep again when he wakes up during the night. Perhaps he will even cry.

What problems with sleep may occur?

The development of the child is in full swing: he knows how to sit down, roll over, crawl, stand up and, finally, takes several steps. At this age, he hones and trains his skills. This means that it can get too excited and fall asleep with difficulty, or it can wake up at night to train.

If the child cannot calm down and fall asleep, he will cry and call you. Come and calm the child.

Your child may also wake up at night because of the fear of being abandoned; he longs without you and worries that you will never return. Most likely, he will calm down as soon as you approach him.

Standards of sleep. From year to 3

Your child is already quite big. But he also, as before, needs a lot of sleep.

Sleep from 12 to 18 months

Up to two years, the child must sleep 13-14 hours a day, 11 of them at night. The rest will go into daytime sleep. At 12 months, he will still need two days of sleep, but by 18 months he is ready for one (one and a half or two-hour) daytime sleep. This mode will continue up to 4-5 years.

The transition from two day dreams to one can be difficult. Experts recommend alternating days with two daytime dreams with days with one day rest, depending on how much the baby slept the night before. If the child slept in the afternoon once, it is better to lay him in the evening early.

How to put the baby to sleep?

Up to 2 years there is almost nothing new that would help your baby sleep well. Follow the strategies previously learned.

Observe the constant bedtime ritual

A proper bedtime ritual will help your child gradually calm down at the end of the day and get ready for bed.

If the child needs to splash excess energy, allow him to run a little before moving to more relaxed activities (such as a quiet game, a bath, or a bedtime story). Follow the same pattern every night - even when you are far from home. Children love when everything is clear. The ability to predict when an event will happen helps them to control the situation.

Make sure your child has a regular day and night sleep.

The baby’s sleep will become more regular if you try to follow the regimen constantly. If he sleeps during the day, eats, plays, goes to bed every day at the same time, he will most likely easily fall asleep in the evening.

Give your child the opportunity to fall asleep on their own

Do not forget how important it is for your child to be able to fall asleep on your own every evening. Sleep should not depend on a motion sickness, feeding or lullaby. If such a relationship exists, the child, waking at night, will not be able to fall asleep on his own and will call you. What to do if this happens is up to you.

At this age, the child may have difficulty falling asleep, and he may often wake up at night. The cause of both problems is new milestones in child development, especially standing and walking. Your baby is so happy with his new skills that he wants to continue to engage with them, even if you say that it is bedtime.

If the child resists and does not want to go to bed, most experts advise leaving him in his room for a few minutes to check if he will calm down. If the child does not calm down, we change tactics.

You will also have to decide what to do if the child wakes up at night, cannot calm down on her own and calls you. Try to come in and see if he stands, you must help him to lie down. But if the child wants you to stay and play with him, do not give up. He must understand that night time is for sleep.

Sleep from 18 to 24 months

Now your baby should sleep around 10-12 hours a night, plus a two-hour afternoon rest. Some children can not do without two shorter daytime dreams to two years. If your child is one of them, don't fight it.

How to help your child fall asleep?

Help your child break bad sleep habits

Your baby should be able to fall asleep on its own, without cradling, breastfeeding, or other “sleeping” means. If his falling asleep depends on any of these external factors, at night he will not be able to fall asleep himself, if he wakes up, and you will not be there.

Experts say: "Imagine that you fall asleep lying on a pillow, then wake up in the middle of the night and find that there is no pillow. Most likely, you will be worried about her absence and begin to look for it, thereby finally waking up from sleep. Likewise, the child falls asleep every night listening to a specific CD, then when he wakes up at night and does not hear the music, he wonders “what happened?”. A puzzled child is unlikely to fall asleep easily. To prevent such a situation, try putting it to bed, to GDS he drowsy, but still awake, so that he could fall asleep himself.

Give your child an acceptable choice before bed.

These days, your baby begins to check the limits of its newly discovered independence, wishing to assert control over the world around you. To reduce confrontation at bedtime, allow your child to make choices whenever possible during his evening ritual — which fairy tale he would like to hear what kind of pajamas he would like to wear.

Always offer only two or three alternatives and make sure that you are comfortable with any choice. For example, do not ask: “Do you want to go to bed now?” Of course, the child will answer “No,” and this is an unacceptable answer. Instead, try to ask: “Do you want to go to bed now or after five minutes?”. The child is glad that he can choose, and you win no matter what choice he makes.

What are the difficulties with sleeping and falling asleep?

The two most frequent problems with sleep in children of all ages - difficulty falling asleep and frequent nocturnal awakenings.

This age group has its own peculiarity. Sometime between 18 and 24 months, many children begin to rise from their crib, potentially putting themselves at risk (falling out of the crib can be quite painful). Unfortunately, the fact that your baby can get out of his crib does not mean that he is ready for a big bed. Try to protect him from danger, using the following tips.

Lower mattress. Or make the walls of the crib higher. If it is possible of course. However, when a child gets older, it may not work.
Free the crib. Your child can use toys and extra pillows as a stand to help him crawl out.
Do not encourage the child to get out of bed. If the child gets out of the crib, do not be delighted, do not swear and do not let him lie down in your bed. Stay calm and neutral, firmly say that it is not necessary to do this and put the baby back in his crib. He will learn this rule pretty quickly.
Use the canopy for the crib. These products are attached to the handrails of the bed and ensure the safety of the baby.
Watch out for the baby. Stand in a place where you can see the baby in the crib, but he cannot see you. If he tries to get out, immediately tell him not to do it. After you make a comment several times, he will probably become more obedient.
Make the environment safe. If you cannot prevent your baby from getting out of the crib, you can at least make sure that it remains safe. Soft pillows on the floor around his crib and on nearby drawers, bedside tables and other objects that he might hit. If he is completely unwilling to stop getting up and getting out of bed, you can lower the barrier of the crib and leave a chair nearby. At least then you won't worry that he will fall and harm himself.

Standards of sleep: from two to three

Typical sleep at this age

Two to three-year-olds need approximately 11 hours of sleep at night and one to a half to two hours of rest in the afternoon.

Most children at this age go to bed between 7:00 and 9:00 pm and get up between 6:30 and 8:00. It seems that the dream of your child finally resembles yours, but the difference is that a child under four years old spends more time in the so-called “light” or “fast” sleep. Result? As he makes more transitions from one sleep stage to another, he wakes up more often than you do. That is why it is so important that the child knows how to calm himself and fall asleep on his own.

How to instill healthy sleep skills?

Now that your child is older, you can try several new methods to improve your night’s sleep.

Transfer the child to the big bed and praise him when he stays in it

At this age, your baby will probably move from a cot to a large bed. The birth of a younger brother can also accelerate this transition.

If you are pregnant, transfer the child to a new bed at least six to eight weeks before the scheduled delivery date, advises sleep expert Jody Mindell: “Let your oldest child get settled in his new bed before he sees the child occupying him crib. If the child does not want to change the bed, do not rush it. Wait until his newborn brother / sister is three or four months old. The baby can spend these months in a wicker basket or a cradle, and your older child will have enough time to get used to it. This will create the preconditions for an easier bed-bed transition.

The main reason why you have to think about transferring the child to bed is his frequent crawling out of the crib and training to the toilet. Your child must get up at night to go to the toilet.

When a child goes into a new bed, do not forget to praise him when he goes to bed and stays in it all night. After moving out of the crib, the child can get up from his big bed again and again just because it is convenient for him to do it. If your baby gets up, do not swear and do not be nervous. Just put him back in bed, firmly say that it's time to go to bed and leave.

Follow all his requests and include them in your bedtime ritual

Your baby may try to postpone the time of sleep, asking for “one more time” - a fairy tale, a song, a glass of water. Try to fulfill all the child's reasonable requests and make them part of your bedtime ritual. Then you can allow the child one additional request - but only one. It will seem to the child that he is achieving his goal, but you will know that in fact you stand firm on your own.

Extra kiss and good night wishes

Promise your child an additional “good night” kiss after you have laid and covered him for the first time. Tell him you will be back in a few minutes. Perhaps by the time of your return he will be sound asleep

What are some sleep difficulties?

If, after moving to a large bed, your baby begins to get up more often than before, put him back in bed and kiss gently.

Another widespread sleep problem at this age is refusing to go to sleep. You can solve this problem if you manage the child’s requests before going to bed. However, be realistic: no child runs happily to the bed every evening, so be prepared for the fight.

You have probably noticed that the child has some new nightly worries. He may be afraid of the dark, monsters under the bed, separation from you - these are normal children's fears, do not worry too much. Fears are part of your child’s normal development. If he has a nightmare, immediately go to him, calm down and talk about his bad dream. If the terrible dreams are repeated, it is necessary to look for sources of anxiety in the daily life of the child. Most experts agree that if a child is really scared, he can sometimes be let into your bed.