Melamine windows for children's sleep. How to improve your sleep quality without using the stressful sleep training method. What Causes Poor Sleep?

“Sleeping children are not only cute, but also “finally”. If you are ready to subscribe to every word of this quote, then most likely problems with putting your child to bed have not passed you by, like most parents.

How to put a child to sleep? Several factors are important for healthy falling asleep in children: environment, physical activity, daily routine, food, games before bed, the presence of bedtime rituals, the ability to catch the “window to sleep.” But the most main factor letting the child fall asleep peacefully is the mother’s attitude.
Many mothers (including me) make this mistake: They strive to put the child to bed as soon as possible so that they can rest and go about their business.“When he falls asleep, I’ll go pour myself some hot tea, there’s still a bun left, then I’ll send a letter, finish cooking the borscht, finish reading the book...” I rocked the child to sleep with such plans. Remember the last time you couldn’t put your baby to bed for a long time, what were your thoughts?

The trick is that the child perfectly senses the mother’s mood and easily reads emotions. At such moments, he feels that his mother wants to leave and leave him alone. The baby does not yet understand that he is safe, his instincts tell him that a significant adult (mother) should be nearby, he needs to stay together with all his might. The body is mobilized to stress, there is no time for sleep. It turns out vicious circle: the baby does not fall asleep, the mother begins to get irritated, the child worries even more in response, the mother loses patience...

How calm down and stay positive? I will share my recipes:

1) Get as many things done before your child goes to bed. I recommend doing household chores while the child is awake, so that only pleasant chores remain during his sleep. In my case, there was a period when I sat down to dinner after Pasha fell asleep, so that I could eat calmly and leisurely. I think my mothers will understand my then desire to eat food alone :) Therefore, at the moment of laying down on nap I was hungry, my mind kept popping up beautiful pictures with food, I really wanted the baby to fall asleep and I could finally have lunch. And this one obsessive thought I couldn’t get over the plate of steaming aromatic soup, I was angry... As a result, I now have lunch before my son’s nap, at first it wasn’t very comfortable to eat, but being full and content makes it easier to put the baby to bed.

2) Drive away thoughts about what you will do when the baby falls asleep. Personally, it’s difficult for me to stop the flow of consciousness, which calculates what else can and should be done, so I forward it to another direction. I plan not what I will do when my son falls asleep, but what we will do together when he wakes up. You can even dream, like “wouldn’t it be great to go to a petting zoo, pet the rabbits, feed the hedgehogs” or “we’ve been wanting to make boats for a long time, it’s just raining. We need to find foam plastic, I think we have toothpicks and paper, together we’ll make boats and let’s go sailing through the puddles...” And even if these plans do not come true, it is important that your thoughts will be about the child and about the time together.

3) Shift the emphasis not on falling asleep, but on the moment of intimacy. My son practically doesn’t go into arms or hugs anymore (except when he doesn’t feel well), so for me, falling asleep in a hug is a rare moment when I can hold my son close to me and just be close. Try to concentrate on the pleasure of closeness, on tactile sensations: favorite cheeks, warm palms, a deliciously smelling crown... Oddly enough, when I mentally broadcast to him: “You don’t have to fall asleep, just lie with me,” the child falls asleep much easier.

4) Visualize a sleeping child. Surely many have heard about the usefulness of visualizing our desires. The same mechanism works here: I have a special album in my phone with photographs of my sleeping son. I lie down next to him and remember the most “cute” moments, how he fell asleep in my arms on a swing on the street, how he fell asleep when he was little: his eyes close, then open for a few seconds, and close again. I think every mother smiled now, remembering her sleepy baby. An added bonus of this technique: it’s impossible to get angry when you imagine a sleeping baby :)

5) Fall asleep earlier than the child. It happens that I fall asleep first, wake up half an hour later with my son already asleep, quietly get up and leave. It seems to me that I like naps more than Pasha. I get up early, so after a walk and lunch, finding myself in a darkened room on a cozy bed, I can fall asleep very quickly. There are also disadvantages - this approach does not always work. Recently I dozed off, woke up and heard a joyful voice nearby: “Mom is awake!”

I have learned from my own experience that a mother’s mood at the moment of going to bed is perhaps the most important condition for comfortable positioning of the baby. Tell me, how do you put your child to bed? What are your thoughts at such moments?

You may be interested in other articles about children's sleep:

Photo source - pixabay.com

Looking out the window means calm, peace, a safe situation.

Getting out of it or falling out of it means failure from a frivolous undertaking, a quarrel.

Getting into it is careless interference in other people's affairs, a secret that can easily be discovered. The desire to return “to yourself”, to become the same, to forget something. A secret from the family, incestuous attraction.

Breaking a window means trouble.

Looking out of the dormer window is hope.

Seeing bars on the window means separation.

To install bars is to deprive yourself of joys out of fear of life. Avoid interesting ventures.

To climb into a dark room through a window is to experience a passionate desire.

If you break a window outside in a dark room, you will lose your innocence, and you will also have to remember this for some reason.

Inserting glass into a window means taking precautions.

Looking through the broken, cracked one, we must continue the fight, despite the failure.

Seeing an empty window frame is your mockery intimate life will become the subject of gossip.

The wind throws the window open during the day - something new comes into life, but you don’t notice.

It opens at night - something new and important is clearly entering your life, but the consequences of this are still unclear.

The wind blows something away - something new will invade your life and confuse all your plans.

And he extinguishes the candle - news of death, thoughts of suicide.

The wind throws open the window, and you try in vain to close it - you feel fear of the world.

Seeing a bright window with tulle curtains means harmony of the outside world in your spiritual life.

Hanging them means embellishing your ideas about the world for the sake of peace of mind.

The curtains on the window are burning - some rapid turn of events.

Sealing the window for the winter, drawing a thick curtain - a premonition of everyday storms, the need to take precautions.

The window in your room seems too big - to feel insecure, to be afraid of someone.

Too small - suffocation heart attack, bondage.

There are pink glasses in the window - you are imposing on yourself someone else’s ideas about the world.

Green glass - something urgent and painful comes from outside into your soul.

With yellow glasses - irritation and envy prevent you from seeing things correctly.

With blue glasses - melancholy and sadness.

With red glasses - hatred and vindictiveness dangerously distort your ideas about the world.

Seeing stained glass in your windows means trying in vain to isolate yourself in the world of beauty or religion.

Close the window carefully - unclear fears, some damage.

Opening is an expectation that seems hopeless.

To be near an open window in a room and be afraid that someone will break in is to experience fear of the future.

Thrown into yours open window a thing, an animal or a flying bird are messengers of the future, they speak about its character.

Someone climbs through the window - an important acquaintance for your future, dark forces awaken in you.

To watch for him and hit him is a sign of inner, hidden despair in relations with the world.

A woman climbs into a window - a new hobby.

Locking shutters in a dream is a futile precaution.

The window is in the cobwebs, in the cracks; Looking outside through the shutter means feeling spiritual stagnation due to a secluded lifestyle.

To be in a room without windows and doors means to look in vain for the way to people; you will have to grieve alone.

The window is the entire wall, behind it there is light and greenery - harmony of the external and internal world.

Behind it there is darkness and monsters - you live, turning your face exclusively to your inner world.

The view from the window, there is a snowstorm outside the window, to see a storm - the storms of life will pass by.

Heavy rain is something good and joyful.

Desert - taking an irreconcilable, uncompromising position in relation to the outside world, trying to subjugate it to your will and suffering from it.

Destruction, ruins outside the window - to destroy something in your relationships with people, to be left alone.

The sea is outside the window - you need to strictly control your actions.

If it is peaceful - great happiness, joy.

Seeing a big river outside the window means living away from the flow of life and yearning for the bustle and noise.

You can see the landscape open to the horizon from the window - its details symbolize your worldview.

Pitch darkness outside the window - an unknown future, an incomprehensible present, you are turned to the world of magic and dark forces.

The blank wall of another house outside the window - someone is influencing your destiny, trying to drive it into a certain framework.

The street outside the window - trouble hangs over you, seeing the world from the outside.

Garden, trees outside the window - living immersed in memories, perceiving the world through the eyes of another person, not having your own opinion.

Outside the window, to see a strange perspective of buildings directed directly at your window - to completely immerse yourself in the life of your body, to rob yourself spiritually.

To see demonic hari outside the window - your passions are blocking the world from you, you see only them.

Fixed faces - someone is watching you intently.

Teasing faces - someone wants to force you to act according to their will.

The unbearable light outside the window is an invasion of unknown forces into your life.

To see a window with an empty room outside means to experience a strong longing for another person.

With a room where people walk around - yearning for a person who doesn’t need you.

There is another room right outside the window - love and harmony will replace the entire outside world for you.

Seeing a staircase leading up from a window means hope for relief, deliverance, liberation.

In an apartment, having a window only between rooms means being locked in the world of your family and being burdened by this.

Outside the window, the road stretching beyond the horizon hangs in the air - one is burdened by oneself, striving to break away from everything familiar.

Outside the window there is a burning house - peace and happiness.

The skull looks out the window - to realize that in outside world there are no people dear to you, you yearn for the dead.

They knock on it, but it is not clear who it is - a warning of misfortune, an imperious demand to fulfill one’s duty, greetings from the afterlife.

Someone in the dark is knocking - an obligation that conscience does not allow to fulfill.

To look into a dark window from the street is in vain to try to understand someone else’s soul and someone else’s life.

Seeing your family sitting peacefully through the window is a premonition of separation.

If you are sitting there with them, leave it of your own free will.

Seeing someone else's family means yearning for peace and quiet.

To see scenes of love in the window is to feel the coldness of your soul and suffer from it.

Seeing a murder or a fight means discord within your “I”, misfortune in your environment.

Looking at an abandoned room through a window means feeling useless.

To see a dead person in her is to live automatically, without putting inner fire into your actions.

Seeing animals instead of people means you are tormented by passions and will be led astray from the right path.

Seeing unusually illuminated windows, a ball outside the window - all sorts of things are going on, something is being planned against you.

Seeing dinner being prepared outside the window - depending on the circumstances: something pleasant or evil is being prepared for you.

A ghost sticks out in a white window - you can’t recognize yourself, you can’t be surprised at your thoughts or actions.

People are frightening you from behind the window; you should be interested in someone else's life.

They throw a net at you from the window - fear of addiction.

A pot is being poured out or slop is being poured on you - you are about to experience kindness from someone else’s family.

A person falls out of a window on you - to suffer for someone else, to be guilty without guilt.

A pole sticks out of the window - if you quarrel, you will be refused the house.

The pig's snout sticks out - this is your home and your image, you have to reproach yourself.

Subscribe to the Dream Interpretation channel!

For the full development of the baby, the correct formation of the baby’s daily routine and the competent alternation of wakefulness and rest cycles, it is important for parents to know what phases of sleep the child has. infant.

The main “work” of a newborn baby in the first days of life is feeding and sleeping. And if the issue of nutrition is clear (there is nothing better than breastfeeding), then the topic of sleep often confuses parents. There is no clear understanding of how long a child should sleep, why one baby sleeps peacefully all night, while another wakes up from the slightest noise. Of course, they play an important role individual characteristics infant, but still the structure and physiology of the baby’s sleep are subject to a certain model.

Sleeping for a newborn is almost the same as breathing

For a little person who has just been born, it is difficult to achieve strict adherence to the daily routine, because he does not have the function of an internal clock, and he is not able to distinguish day from night. The baby’s body adapts to the conditions of existence outside the mother’s womb, and this is a considerable burden for it.

But to adapt to external conditions Wednesday, the child’s rest should last 16-20 hours a day. Approximately every 2-3 hours, the baby wakes up to eat, then, having had enough, falls back into slumber. It takes less than an hour for a baby to digest food, which is why the break is so short.

Sleep, especially in the first weeks after birth, is a continuation of behavioral responses in the embryonic state.

Does the baby sleep in the womb?

Ultrasound scanning was able to prove that, while in the mother’s womb, the child spends a significant amount of time in a state of rest.

1. The first signs of rest, which can be described as real sleep, appear by the 28th week. At this stage, there are restless movements of the limbs, twitching of the eyelids and changing facial expressions.
2. Around the eighth month of pregnancy, the baby's sleep becomes calm, during this period he long time remains motionless, facial features smoothed.
3. Immediately before childbirth, the cyclicity of the calm and restless state of this physiological process appears.

By the way, many mothers are worried that their baby in the tummy behaves “invisibly” during the day, but at night it starts real battles, kicking and tossing and turning. The fear is associated with possible confusion about the time of day after childbirth. But this is understandable: a pregnant woman, gently swaying while walking, simultaneously lulls and rocks the baby. At night, without feeling rhythmic movements, the child begins to become active. It’s not for nothing that almost all children fall asleep instantly when rocked in a stroller or in their arms.

Sleep after birth

The first weeks and even months after birth are a kind of continuation of intrauterine life, and being in the arms of Morpheus continues to be the baby’s main activity. Rest can last up to 5-6 hours during this period, and many parents wonder whether it is worth interrupting such a long pause between feedings; will the baby lose weight?

No matter how imperfect the baby’s body may seem, it obeys its natural biorhythms, and you should not interfere with them. The child himself feels when it is time for him to eat or sleep. For the first 2-3 months, if nothing bothers the child, long rest is normal.

The alarm should be sounded if long periods of sleep without waking up to feed become the norm. This regimen contributes to dehydration and exhaustion of the body and may indicate pathology. A pediatrician will help identify the cause.

Closer to 4-5 months, the little man begins to show interest in the world around him, and periods of revitalization become longer and longer.

Characteristics of daytime and nighttime sleep of infants

Ideally, a newborn's daytime rest should last 9 hours, and at night the child sleeps for at least 10-11 hours with breaks for feeding (3-4 times). Of course, these are average norms; it also happens that a child is awake a lot during the day, but then sleeps soundly at night.

For a baby, the days merge together, without division into light (day) and dark (night) segments. The task of parents is to teach the child to separate these concepts and realize that the day is intended for active activities, and the night is a time for rest. Waking up frequently baby after sunset is associated with a number of factors:

• child on breastfeeding, wakes up more often, as mother’s milk is absorbed faster than adapted formulas;
• the hot and dry climate in the room makes the baby thirsty;
• giving up diapers in favor of diapers will force parents to get up more often to change wet sheets;
• A baby sleeping separately from its mother feels discomfort from losing contact with a loved one.

A child's daytime sleep is divided into segments, the number of which decreases as the baby grows older. By four months there are 3-4 stages of rest; by 6 months there remain morning, afternoon and evening sleep, and by the age of 1.5 years, children usually sleep once during the day.

To develop healthy skills, it is important to strictly follow the sequence of rituals. So, awakening, accompanied by hygiene procedures(washing, washing, cleaning the nose, ears) will be associated in the child with the morning period. Walks, as a rule, take place during the day, but going to bed is associated in the baby’s memory with evening bathing, feeding and quiet rocking.

Physiology of children's sleep: biological cycle and internal clock

Any human life activity, including a child, is subject to the cyclical processes occurring in the body, the name of which is biorhythms. Thanks to biological cycles, a person is able to adapt to the changes of day and night, seasons, and time zones.

Even before birth, a child’s biorhythms are established, and by observing how the system of cycles manifests itself, you can painlessly build the baby’s daily routine. You just need to correctly set your internal clock in accordance with the natural biological course. Here are some recommendations:

• The process of internal time can and should be controlled. Adults should strive to ensure that the child's wake-up, bedtime, and meal times remain constant from day to day.
• Sunlight is the main coordinator of biorhythms, so on a dark winter morning you can help your baby wake up on time with the help of electric light, and, on the contrary, on a bright summer evening you can darken the room with thick curtains.
• The human body responds to its internal clock by adjusting body temperature: during the period of falling asleep it decreases, and as it approaches getting up, it increases. A child will fall asleep easier in a well-ventilated, cool room.

According to Pavlov’s teachings, “sleep has a protective and life-saving significance for the brain,” and if it is complete, then the child is healthy, gains weight well and does not lag behind in physical development.

Based on the value of rest periods, a sleep chart for young children has been developed.

It should be taken into account that the given time is average and may vary depending on physical, psychological factors and the child's temperament.

Traits and distinctive features of the resting stages

Small children sleep differently than adults; the sleep phases of an infant differ in their order and duration. The functioning systems of an infant’s body, first of all, the brain, are imperfect, therefore the pattern of action of two important states of rest - fast and slow sleep - is specific.

Paradoxical phase

The REM sleep phase is dominant in the life of a newborn. Another name for it is the REM period (translated as “active eye movement”) or REM – “rapid eye movements”. The stage acquired a similar name for the trembling eyelashes and the rapidly moving pupils under them. Based on these signs, the paradoxical phase can mislead parents - they may consider the child to be awake.

At the stage of fast-wave sleep, processes that are very important for the baby take place:

• training and stimulation of brain development through vivid dreams;
• relaxation and relief of nervous tension;
• rethinking and consolidating new information;

Paradoxical sleep is a shallow state of rest; the child plunges into this phase immediately from a state of wakefulness.

The brain at this stage is active and seems to be drifting on the edge of consciousness. As the baby grows, the proportion of the fast phase decreases.

Orthodox or deep sleep

The stage of non-rapid (slow) sleep, or non-REM (translated as “without active eye movement") is formed at the stage of more mature development of the cerebral cortex. She is the one responsible for a good night's rest. There are 4 degrees of the orthodox phase:

• Napping is a superficial rest; the baby reacts to all sounds.
• Falling asleep - transition state Between napping and rest, the baby may wake up due to extraneous noise.
• Deep sleep - the body is relaxed, the arms and legs become heavier, there is no reaction to weak interference.
• Very deep dream– complete disconnection from the external environment, noises have no effect on the child, artificial removal from this state completely disorients the baby.

This rest phase is important for the full formation and normal development of the child. The baby's strength is restored, spent energy is renewed, and the body is rebooted. The slow stage is short-lived, no more than half an hour, but over time its duration increases as the baby becomes more active and gets more tired.

REM or what are you dreaming, baby?

The paradoxical phase of sleep in newborns, as noted, is colored with images of dreams. What visions and sights make the baby smile, wrinkle his nose, frown, twitch his arms and legs? After all, his knowledge of the surrounding reality is negligible.

There is no consensus on dreams in infants either among scientists or among neurosurgeons. But there is an idea that at the stage of formation of interneuron connections, a person sees spots of color, or the very first and warmest thing he constantly encounters is his mother’s breast.

In addition to visual images, components of dreams can include sensations: after all, the baby already distinguishes between cold and warm, wet or dry. And over time, as information is replenished, the child will already see familiar faces and familiar objects in his dreams.

Sleep phases in the first year of a baby's life

From about the 3rd month of life, the baby’s sleep is similar to the rest of the older ones, with the exception of the duration of the cycles. Full circle consists of four stages of non-REM sleep and one REM sleep. IN infancy a single cycle is 45-50 minutes, after 5 years it approaches an hour and only after 10-12 years it is equal to an adult.

Below is a table showing the change in the ratio of the paradoxical sleep phase in infants in the first year of life by month.

Most often, children wake up at the paradoxical stage, the quantitative component of which prevails over the supra-orthodox one. That is why the rest of infants is intermittent and short-lived.

Sleep is an indispensable condition for the physical and psycho-emotional development of a baby.

Undoubtedly, sleep, along with feeding, plays a primary role in the life of a baby. In a state of rest, the child’s body is restored, removing traces of fatigue and overwork. The brain “digests” the flow of information received during wakefulness and prepares for a new portion of knowledge and emotions. During the rest period, the baby gains height and weight, good rest promotes good appetite, equal mood and intellectual development.

Lack of sleep has an extremely harmful effect on a child’s nervous system and can lead to chronic disorders, including neuroses. Professor N. Krasnogorsky found that even a two-hour sleep deficit leads to negative weight fluctuations. In the future, such children may have impaired behavioral reactions, for example, “disobedience syndrome.”

Sleep takes a direct part in the complex process of developing the functions of memory, attention, and systematization. In addition, it has been proven that growth hormone, so important for the baby, is activated in the first two hours of night rest. The task of parents is to create all the conditions for full and healthy sleep for their child.

In almost every consultation, we begin our analysis with the mother precisely with this question.

Moreover, the situation greatly depends on the country of residence. In Russia, for example, I see every day how people with infants and one-year-old children go out into the street at 20-00, or even later.

Where? For what? What to do there if it’s winter outside and it’s already dark? Therefore, today we have a detailed answer to the question: what time should you put your child to bed?

Time to sleep

Surely you have heard more than once from grandmothers or older relatives that children should fall asleep no later than 9 pm, and wake up in the morning by 6-7 o'clock. Calculate, from 21:00 to 6:00 the baby will sleep for 9 hours, with a daily sleep norm of 12 hours, during the day the little one will have to sleep for another 3 hours.

This is what they did in Soviet times. This schedule was convenient for working mothers who returned from maternity leave after only a year, and three hours of daytime sleep fit perfectly into the kindergarten’s daily routine. Daytime nap time slowly decreased as children grew older, and by the time they were in first grade, sleep during daylight hours was completely abandoned.

When should you go to bed?

The physiological time range of what time a child should be put to bed from 3 months to 5-6 years is 18:30-21:00. Wake up - 6-7 am. Surely, you had a situation when the baby in the evening, around seven o’clock, began to rub his eyes and lay down on the pillow.

And what did you do?

• Turn up the music;
• Everyone around begins to entertain the baby, fearing that if he falls asleep now, he will definitely not survive until the morning, but will only interrupt his sleep.

This is the wrong tactic.

The child’s biological clock turned out to be smarter than you; it clearly determined when to sleep, but when it encountered resistance, it eventually gave in and adjusted to the schedule you imposed.

Why should you put your children to bed before 9:00 p.m.?

1. The human body is exposed to biological rhythms, in this case we are talking about the change from day to night and vice versa. So, in dark time day the body requires rest, and this is indicated by the hormone melatonin. This sleepy hormone helps us fall asleep, and it begins to be produced in the evening;
2. The hormone acts on the human body as a good relaxant: the body temperature decreases slightly, the amount of glucose in the blood decreases, and the muscles are relaxed. If you don’t lose this moment and lie down, then sleep will envelop you in a matter of minutes;
3. In children, melatonin begins to be produced from 18:00 to 20:30. You should determine the specific ideal time for falling asleep by observing your baby. Rubbing his eyes or laying his head on your shoulder - don’t waste the moment. If you miss it, the next two hours will be very active, the hormone melatonin is replaced by the hormone of vigor, cortisol. Now it will be more difficult to put the baby to sleep; tears and hysterics are possible, as well as repeated waking up at night.

Why is it dangerous for a child to be awake at night?

Nature has determined for us when and how much a child should sleep. The most basic natural indicator - it has become dark, it’s time to sleep, there is light in the window - we wake up.

You can deceive nature, which is essentially what you do every evening by turning on the lights and curtaining the windows in the morning. But the baby’s body suffers with this approach. Every evening, missing the ideal time to fall asleep, the child experiences stress. One moment one hormone was relaxing him, and a few minutes later another one was agitating him. Hence the hysterics, waking up at night, and even nightmares.

But it’s okay if the baby still fulfills the daily sleep requirement, for example, due to daytime rest, otherwise the child’s body works for wear and tear, and nervous system just overstressed.

Is there such a thing? Then change your schedule immediately. Experiment with sleep mode early age is fraught with consequences.

Child's age and ideal time to fall asleep

You're probably wondering why I call such a long period of time when you need to put your baby to bed. This is due to age characteristics and the individual needs of the baby.

So, one child needs 9 hours of night rest, and the other sleeps no more than one hour during the day, but at night he gets a full night’s sleep - twelve hours.

So, let's look at the ideal time to put a child to bed in the evening, in relation to age.

• The first three months of life. Children from zero to three months can sleep a lot. But they rarely do this while lying alone in a crib. Read more about the sleeping patterns of 2 one month old baby read the article How long does a 2 month old baby sleep?>>> Everything written there is relevant for both a 1 and 3 month old baby;

• 3-6 months. Perfect time bedtime – 19:00-20:00, sleep should last until 7:00. The baby still often suckles at the breast in his sleep and may wake up at night to “take a walk” (Read the article if you are interested in the question of how long to feed your baby at night?>>>). It is important to monitor the child’s daily rhythm, not allow him to over-walk and put him to bed on time;
• 6-12 months. An excellent time to fall asleep is around 20-00; during the day the baby sleeps 2-3 times. The transition from three to two sleeps begins, which can greatly disrupt the regime and shift falling asleep at night to a later time. At this age, interruptions in dreams often occur and the child can very often hang on the chest at night, and without it cannot fall asleep at all;

It's time to start studying the course How to teach a child to fall asleep and sleep without breastfeeding, night awakenings and motion sickness, then by the year you will improve your child's sleep and enjoy good nights.

• From 1 year to 1.5. A child under one and a half years old usually has 1-2 naps during the day. Read more about a 1-year-old child’s sleep in the article How much should a 1-year-old child sleep?>>>

The time you go to sleep at night will depend on the time you wake up in the morning and the duration of your daytime sleep. In any case, you should strive for the child to fall asleep before 21-00;

• Ages from one and a half to three years. During this period, the baby adjusts to one nap during the day. Sometimes children may have difficulty getting to bed during the day, sabotaging the process. If your child is 2 years old or older, and you are no longer breastfeeding, then I recommend watching the seminar How to quickly put a child to sleep?>>>
• 3-4 years. The main guideline of the sleep schedule is the amount of time you are awake; this phase should be 5-6 hours. For example, your baby opened her eyes at 6 o’clock in the morning, daytime rest should begin no later than 12:00, two hours later the baby wakes up and enjoys life, but already at 19:30-20:00 it’s time to put the child to bed.

This is a great age to teach your baby to fall asleep alone in his crib. An online seminar will help you with this: How to transfer a child to a separate bed?>>>

• Preschool age. If the baby visits kindergarten, check with the teachers what time the kids go to bed, and whether your child is sleeping or just resting. This point is important so that you can calculate the time when you need to go to bed. Daily norm sleep for a child up to 5 years old is 11 hours, then every year the norm decreases by half an hour. For example, a 4.5-year-old baby who sleeps for an hour and a half during the day and goes to bed at 6:00 in the morning should go to bed no later than 20:30;

Of course, going to bed early for your baby has certain inconveniences. If dad comes home and the baby is already asleep, don’t be upset. You can play with your child in the morning; everyone will benefit from such a positive start to the day.

Healthy sleep in children

Healthy sleep is healthy!

A peacefully sleeping baby is a very joyful sight. The baby snores and smacks his lips in his sleep, and adults finally have some free time. Alas, until the child falls asleep, sometimes you have to endure real hours-long battles. Children starve to death: carry them in their arms, rock them in a stroller, pat them on the back, give them something to eat or drink - and all this only for it to happen again after half an hour!

We are looking for a way out

What do parents need from their child? Fall asleep quickly and have a restful, long sleep. Surprisingly, children need the same thing from their parents. Yes, yes, kids are very sensitive to the schedule and, most importantly, to lack of sleep. In general, the “sleep-wake” rhythm is established in the prenatal period, from about the 18th week of development. At this age, the tiny fetus depends on the mother for everything, so pregnant women should definitely try to get enough sleep, especially at night. In the future, this will help create correct mode sleep in a newborn. A newly born baby usually sleeps most of the day: 20-22 hours. He wakes up for 20-40 minutes to eat and communicate with mom and goes back to sleep. With age, the amount of sleep decreases, and a child of 1-3 months already sleeps 15-18 hours a day (3-4 times during the day for 40-90 minutes and at night). By six months, babies switch to 2 naps during the day, and the total sleep time decreases by another 1.5-2 hours. In the period from one year to one and a half years, the baby steadily switches to 1 daytime nap and sleeps about 13-14 hours a day. A lack of sleep, even for 1-2 hours, immediately affects the child’s condition. Mood worsens, moodiness appears, and appetite decreases. Chronic sleep deficiency can provoke not only psychological, but also somatic disorders. There is evidence that children who are constantly sleep-deprived get sick more often, develop worse, are more prone to obesity, etc. Moreover, the fatigue that accumulates due to lack of sleep prevents you from falling asleep. It turns out to be a vicious circle: a sleep-deprived baby, tired during the day, falls asleep poorly, often wakes up - does not get enough sleep during the night - gets up sleep-deprived and moody - sleeps poorly during the day - falls asleep poorly at night. Therefore, the first rule of a healthy night's sleep is sound and sufficient sleep during the day.

Rituals-rituals

And in order for the baby to sleep well during the day, you need:

Daily regime

The baby should be comfortable to sleep. This means that the bed must be soft enough, the blanket light and warm, and the room in which the child sleeps must be ventilated and not too warm. In spring and summer, the window in the room can be left open (just cover it with insect netting!); in autumn and winter, the room should be ventilated 30-40 minutes before bedtime, and then close the window. Many children spend their daytime naps on the balcony or outside while walking.

Ritual for falling asleep

Habitual actions have a calming effect on children. It’s not for nothing that kids demand to read the same fairy tales to them, to sing the same songs, and woe to the parent who tries to deviate even a word from the text familiar to the child. Same with falling asleep. In the first 6-8 months of life, most children fall asleep during the day while feeding: at the mother's breast or with a bottle, if the baby is artificial. After six months, it is better to gradually wean the child off the food-sleep connection by introducing other rituals. Everyone has their own: a lullaby or reading a book or a massage - there are many options. Special “sleep-to-sleep” soft toys for children help a lot.

A good day's sleep is the foundation for a healthy night's sleep. The remaining principles of night sleep are almost the same as those inherent in daytime sleep: the same daily routine (young children should go to bed at 18-20 pm), a comfortable place to sleep, a mandatory ritual before bed.

In the evening, you can use a bath as a ritual, especially if you add relaxing foam or essential oil lavender. We must remember that some children from water procedures, on the contrary, is excited. It is better to bathe such babies in the morning, and in the evening, on the contrary, stay away from the bathroom. Children's cartoons also have a stimulating effect.

Porridge for the night

And, of course, when the child goes to bed, he should be well-fed. Hungry children fall asleep worse and wake up more often. Therefore, 20-30 minutes before going to bed, an older baby can be offered cottage cheese or hearty porridge. Today manufacturers baby food trying to diversify the selection of children's products to suit the needs different kids. Such an example is the Heinz company, which has added a new porridge to its assortment that can be offered to a baby before bedtime - this is a dairy-free “Multi-grain porridge from 3 grains with linden and chamomile” for children over 6 months. It contains three cereals: wheat, oatmeal and corn, which are high in calories to quickly satiate your baby. The chicory fibers included in this porridge are natural prebiotic plant origin, which promotes comfortable digestion for the baby. Linden extract promotes falling asleep quickly And good sleep child, and medicinal properties Chamomile helps prevent colic, gas and other causes of abdominal pain that often prevent children from sleeping. Heinz baby cereals are very popular among mothers and earned the honorary title “Moms’ Choice No. 1” in Russia in 2012*.

Porridge is very easy to prepare whenever you plan to put your baby to bed. It is enough to dissolve the required amount of dry product in the specified amount of warm water (40C) to get a tender and nutritious dinner for your baby.

To normalize sleep in children, you can also use baby herbal teas. For children over 4 months of age, Heinz produces instant teas with the addition of natural chamomile and fennel extracts. Fennel has an antispasmodic effect and is used to treat and prevent colic, while chamomile reduces gas formation, has an anti-inflammatory and mild analgesic effect. Since in children up to 6-8 months night sleep often disrupted due to increased gas formation And discomfort in the stomach, the use of these herbs in children is completely justified. Heinz baby teas with fennel and chamomile can be given during the day, they can also be washed down with “sleep” porridge and, if necessary, they can be given even at night to calm a suddenly awakened baby.

Breast milk– the most useful thing for your baby. Before introducing complementary foods, consult your pediatrician. The age of introduction of products is indicated on the packaging.

*Based on Baby Index research. Products and services for children under 4 years of age: preferences of mothers" 2012/II wave, conducted by Synovate Comcon LLC

The article was prepared with the assistance of Heinz experts