Sleep disturbance in a child

Features of babies' sleep

The first few weeks after birth, the baby rests most of the day. Dozing and sleeping are replaced by short breaks for feeding. On average, daytime rest reaches 9 hours, at night – 10-11. Frequent awakening of a baby is associated with various reasons:

1. Hunger. A breastfed baby wakes up more often than a formula-fed baby of the same age. This happens due to the rapid digestibility of mother's milk.
2. Thirst.
3. Discomfort caused by a wet diaper, cold or heat. You should not put too many clothes on your baby before going on vacation. If the house is cool, you need to dress your baby warmer.
4. It's stuffy. The room in which the baby sleeps should be regularly ventilated.
5. Loss of contact with mom if she leaves or gets busy.
6. Excessive excitement. A baby who doesn’t get enough sleep during the day gets very tired in the evening. Fatigue does not allow him to fall asleep easily and peacefully.
7. Abdominal pain, colic.

Characteristics and duration of rest change quickly. The table will tell you the approximate duration and frequency of sleep for a child up to a year. Please remember that these are averages. They vary depending on the physical, psychological state and temperament of the baby.

In the first half of the year, the baby sleeps on average 3 times a day, in the second half - 2 times. At one and a half years old, night rest takes 11 hours, and daytime rest decreases to 2-2.5 hours once a day.

Children's sleep: biology

Each person has his own associations with the word “sleep”. For some, this is a viscous, serene state, full of bliss. Some will more pragmatically appreciate it as a rest for a tired mind and body. But for young parents, sometimes children's sleep attracts feelings of anxiety, excitement and even greater fatigue. Such feelings are often associated with a lack of confidence in one's knowledge on a given issue.

What is sleep? Why do babies often wake up at night? What happens in the body of a child and an adult during sleep?

Sleep phases

In the mid-20th century, scientists from the University of Chicago N. Kleitman and Yu. Azerinsky, using electroencephalographs, came to the conclusion that at night a person needs to go through 4-6 wave-like cycles of 80-100 minutes.

It all starts with a nap. This is the first phase . This dream is extremely sensitive, it lasts 5-10 minutes. Breathing and pulse slow down, muscles relax. If we turn to a person, he says that he did not sleep, but was just thinking.

It's time for stage two or slow-depth sleep , which lasts approximately 20 minutes. Consciousness turns off, but there are also thresholds of high auditory sensitivity, i.e. a person can be easily awakened by calling his name. The dream is light and gentle, but already real.

This is followed by the third and fourth stages of slow-wave deep sleep. At this moment it is difficult to wake us up. The brain is busy processing signals coming from internal organs. The body removes waste products that have accumulated in the brain during the period of wakefulness. The fourth phase accounts for 80% of dreams, but what a pity that we don’t remember them.

Here we come to the phase of rapid eye movement sleep or paradoxical sleep. This is where our behavior changes. The brain begins to work rapidly, as if during wakefulness, experiencing strong emotions. The paradox is that the human muscles are completely immobilized, atonic, only the eyeballs under closed eyelids quickly perform movements in a coordinated manner. At this moment we see the most colorful, vivid, emotional dreams that we remember after waking up. Our pulse and breathing are arrhythmic, blood pressure and body temperature increase. The brain is busy processing and structuring information received during the day. The brain adapts a person to changing environmental conditions and creates a program of action in the future. Therefore, it is not advisable to interrupt this phase of sleep, because a person’s mental health directly depends on it. It used to be thought that dreams last only seconds, but in fact we can dream for up to half an hour. This is the most mysterious, unexplored phase. Scientists especially emphasize its importance for human life.

If you combine all of these phases, you get one sleep cycle. Depending on genetic predisposition (and not at all on laziness), a person needs to go through 4-6 such cycles. They vary in the duration of individual phases throughout the night. If at first the slow-wave sleep phase predominates, but in the morning its time decreases significantly from cycle to cycle, and the REM sleep phase becomes dominant.

Features of sleep in children

Moving on to explanations related to the peculiarities of children's sleep, a phrase from a poem by Winnie the Pooh involuntarily pops into my head: “If bears were bees, they wouldn’t care...” If babies were born with the sleep characteristic of an adult, they would lose their touching quality, we would not be able to surround them with care. Of course, children's sleep sometimes causes a lot of trouble, but you can and should adapt to its peculiarities. We can teach the baby proper sleep habits; we can become a wise and calm teacher for the baby, who will be an active participant in joint daytime fun and a guide in the labyrinths of dreams.

From the first day, the brain begins painstaking work to adapt the child to the world around him. This work continues during sleep. Conventionally, a baby’s sleep can be divided into 2 main phases: active and calm. The calm phase of a baby's sleep is the rudiment for the formation of the slow-wave sleep phase, which requires more complex neurophysiological mechanisms. Only by 2.5-3 months does this transformation occur. It is no coincidence that the expression “fall asleep like a baby” exists, because... The deep sleep of a baby is much deeper than that of an adult; if the child has entered this phase, he cannot be awakened by external noise.

The active phase of a child's sleep is similar to the REM sleep phase of an adult. We can notice different expressions on the baby’s face; the palms clench and unclench, it seems that the whole body conveys some kind of emotion (although in an adult we notice a minimum of movements during this phase). It can be assumed that children have not yet developed a system for suppressing motor activity. At this moment, the baby can wake himself up with his movements. It is useful to remember about swaddling at bedtime.

How does children's sleep change as they grow older?

The active phase of sleep in newborns takes up almost 70-80% of sleep. Literally after 2 weeks, 50% is given to REM sleep. By 4 months, the baby's REM sleep rate is 40%. By 3 years – 30%. We must not forget that during REM sleep, the baby’s brain integrates the information received during wakefulness into a holistic picture of the world.

A child's sleep cycle is 40-90 minutes, children cannot associate sleep cycles, so they wake up and cry, this is a way for them to communicate with adults. They cry and explain their needs to us. This is a way of survival.

Only by 4 months can parents begin to teach their baby how to associate sleep cycles with each other to provide better quality sleep for their baby and the entire family. The baby is growing, sleep norms are changing , and the process of children's sleep itself is becoming closer to that of an adult. The amount of sleep is reduced, periods of wakefulness change, the phase of active sleep decreases, and muscle movements during sleep become a thing of the past. Now it is useful to know how to teach your child to associate dream cycles. Believe me, the habit of sleeping through the night is a skill that children can master from 5-6 months.

PhysiologySleep PhasesSleep CycleSleep Norms

Pre-vacation rituals

Once born, the baby does not understand the difference between day and night for a long time. Established rituals will help him adapt to his new life. This usually occurs at 6 months. To create a sleep schedule, you should follow these simple recommendations:

1. Try to put your child to bed at strictly defined hours. If he didn’t sleep well at night, a strong wind is blowing outside, or the baby experiences discomfort, sleep hours shift. Nothing wrong with that. The next day you need to return to your usual daily routine.
2. If you lightly stroke your baby or call him by name every morning, he will gradually begin to understand that it is time to wake up and get up. Typically, a breastfed baby wakes up early, then dozes for a while, sucking milk. You can wake him up quietly when he lifts himself off the chest and starts fiddling around and looking for it.
3. Every evening, weather permitting, you need to go for a walk. The baby will sleep through the entire walk, and a child older than 4-6 months will be happy to follow what is happening and slowly get tired.
4. Feeding before bedtime, quiet, calm play will prepare the baby for a bath, after which he will begin to yawn. Before a night's rest, massage and active games should be avoided.
5. Changing clothes at night, fairy tales, and lullabies will gradually calm the baby and prepare him for rest.

The basis of the ritual is the constant repetition of the same actions. As a result, by approximately six months the child will have developed conditioned reflexes that allow him to easily fall asleep at the same time.

Why does my child sleep poorly?

Newborn does not sleep at night: why and what to do

If a baby has poor sleep, this may be due to the following reasons:

• Is your baby hot or cold? You need to dress your child based on the temperature in the room. Infants react much worse to overheating than to hypothermia; they may even develop a fever. The baby is definitely hot if the back of his neck is hot and wet, and sweat appears on his nose. A draft is dangerous for children, from which the baby must be protected in any case;
• The baby is uncomfortable. His mattress is too soft, or there are too many pillows and toys around the baby that disturb him. There should be no foreign objects in the bed of a child under one year old. There is no need to give him a blanket, it is better to dress him warmly. You should give up the pillow before reaching two years of age;
• The baby has a full diaper. Even if the manufacturer claims that the panties can be used for 12 hours, it is better to change the diaper when the baby’s bottom becomes wet. To do this, it is not necessary to wake up the child and take him to the shower; at night you can use wet wipes. When the baby begins to fidget and pull his legs towards his stomach, he may want to go to the toilet. After the diaper becomes warm, the baby will calm down;
• The child is hungry or thirsty;
• The room is too stuffy, the dry air makes it difficult to breathe. The situation is especially aggravated if the baby has a runny nose or a sore throat. His mucous membranes dry out, he experiences discomfort;
• The baby is teething. Unpleasant sensations do not allow him to relax; the baby feels itching, which does not go away. He begins to sob, grunt, and puts his fingers in his mouth. During the day you may notice excessive salivation, the child’s gums will become swollen;
• Colic is a concern. With increased gas formation, the baby’s belly seems to be bursting. He is in pain and uncomfortable. The baby begins to scream, pressing his legs to his stomach, no matter what the parents do, they cannot calm him down. Colic occurs in the evening or at night, repeating at approximately the same time day after day. Placing it on the stomach before feeding, wearing it in a column after eating, and light massage help reduce discomfort.
• The baby got overexcited. He had a very busy day, a new acquaintance happened, or the baby visited a previously unknown place. Perhaps he was stressed when he found himself without his mother for the first time, or the baby was sad because he lost his favorite toy. The child is not able to cope with the flow of joyful emotions or experiences, and therefore sleeps anxiously, constantly waking up;
• The baby is sick. It is imperative to check whether the temperature has risen and assess the condition of the baby’s skin. Perhaps a rash appeared on his body, or his face became unnaturally pale.

The baby is sick

When a child sleeps restlessly at night, you need to determine the cause and try to get the baby to rest. It, like nutrition, is necessary for the baby for growth and development.

Peculiarities of daytime and nighttime sleep of infants

Adequate sleep is important for children of all ages. In newborns it takes almost a full day. Subsequently, it breaks down, and the intervals of wakefulness between periods of rest increase. Clearly defined daytime and nighttime sleep is formed.

Up to 6 months, the baby sleeps on average 3 times a day. The first time he falls asleep is after hygiene procedures have been completed, he has been fed, he has been exercised and played with. Typically the rest lasts 1-1.5 hours.

During the day, the baby falls asleep after lunch. Before that, he managed to play, take a walk and replenish his energy reserves with milk. Afternoon rest is the longest of the day.

The baby rests for the third time in the early evening. This is a shallow sleep that allows you to recuperate and wait for the night without overwork.

Night rest is the longest and strongest. Gradually, the baby gets used to sleeping all night and wakes up only in the morning full of strength and energy.

Parents' actions

When your baby twitches or whimpers in his sleep, you don’t need to worry right away. Mom or dad should be nearby to calm the child if necessary. You can put your hand on his stomach or stroke his head. The baby will feel that his parents are nearby and will continue to rest.

Why does a child sleep for a long time day and night - reasons

There is no need to wake up the child after every movement, and you should not immediately pick him up. While close contact with the mother is extremely necessary for a one-month-old baby, a mature baby manages to cope without the help of his parents. The sooner he learns to fall asleep on his own, the easier it will be for him and his loved ones. Even if the baby opens his eyes, turns his head and sobs, you need to give him a couple of minutes. When he sees calm parents nearby and feels that he is comfortable, dry and warm, he will try to fall asleep himself.

If night awakenings become more frequent, during sleep during the day the child’s arms and legs begin to twitch, he refuses to eat, and becomes restless during periods of activity, it is better to consult a neurologist.

Note! Twitching due to fever is dangerous. In this case, you must immediately call an ambulance.

How to improve your child's sleep

If a one-year-old child sleeps poorly at night, often wakes up and starts crying, it is worth reconsidering the conditions in which the baby is:

• Before going to bed, ventilate the room;
• Plan wet cleaning every day;
• Make sure that the temperature at home is not higher than 22 degrees;
• Baby clothes should be selected to fit and made from natural materials;
• It is recommended to put hard orthopedic mattresses in children's cribs. Pillows, blankets, toys need to be removed - they only disturb the baby.

If the baby tosses and turns in his sleep at night, all recommendations have been followed, and the parents are sure that the baby is healthy, you need to check his diaper. Do not ignore the advice about revising your feeding regimen. Perhaps the baby does not eat enough and wakes up feeling hungry. Before going to bed, he needs to be fed tightly. In order for a child to have an appetite, he needs to be hungry, for this he will have to prepare a smaller portion at the penultimate meal.

Baby eats

An infant sleeps well when he is tired. If at one month the baby has enough communication with his mother, then by six months he needs contact with other adults. He actively explores the world, every day he needs new information. Therefore, you need to walk with your child, play, study, fill his life with emotions and events. If the baby is cooped up and spends most of his time in his bed, he does not spend accumulated energy, so he sleeps poorly.

Note! When entertaining a child, you need to remember that it is better to plan noisy events before lunch, otherwise there is a risk that the baby will become overexcited, which will also affect his rest.

Rituals help the baby relax and fall asleep sweetly - these are actions repeated every day. It is important that the baby likes them and evokes only pleasant emotions. For example, after the baby takes a bath, he will drink milk or formula, then put on his favorite pajamas, listen to a children's song or fairy tale, and only then go to bed. Children quickly get used to the sequence of events and already know what they will do next. This way they feel safe, calm down and subconsciously prepare for sleep.

The mood and condition of children is influenced by the situation in the family. If mom is upset, tired, and constantly quarrels with dad, then the baby will be on edge. Nervous tension will affect his behavior, which means that during sleep he will not be able to fully rest.

Favorable family environment

Restless sleep in infants causes anxiety among young parents. Moms and dads immediately begin to think that something is wrong with the child, looking for deviations in the baby’s behavior. Often it is enough to establish a daily routine and take care of the baby’s active pastime during the waking period. If concerns remain, you should consult your doctor.