The question of why a child does not sleep well at night is especially relevant for young parents, and for those who have become them for the first time. The fact is that the capriciousness and poor sleep of the baby do not give rest not only to the mother, but sometimes to all the inhabitants of the house. Anxiety, as well as worries about your child, lead to unmotivated calls to the ambulance, which does not diagnose any emergency conditions.
When you're trying to encourage your child to go to bed, there is no "golden path." You need to find a solution that will work for you and your family. Controlled crying negatively affects the development of the child. In scholastic science, scholars have argued for many years that The best way let the kids sleep. What was obsolete 30 years ago should be back again today: let the children cry at night. "Controlled crying" in babies has been criticized by various psychotherapists and psychologists as "outdated and harmful".
"Our baby doesn't sleep at night and cries a lot." Almost all parents make this experience in their children's early years. Due to the risk of sudden infant death in newborn babies, night breaks and baby sleeping next to parents are taken for granted. While the science of newborn babies is pretty much unanimous and no one expects babies to fall asleep, it looks very different in the case of babies who skip the sixth month of life.
When Small child sleeps poorly at night, it is quite difficult to establish the cause of this phenomenon, in contrast to older children, who can more clearly complain about the source of anxiety. But even in adolescents, the causes of sleep disturbance at night cannot always be reliably determined.
It is important for parents to understand that often poor sleep at night in infants is associated with general discomfort due to environmental conditions or internal anxiety and is not threatening to health.
Babies don't sleep, kids can't sleep, they wake up at night all the time. You have not yet developed a representation of the object, and therefore you do not know if they are themselves. The closer the first year of life, the more parents have to decide when it's time to ban their child from the parents' bedroom. From outside, parents of relatives or friends also hear prudent "advice" which often results in the child learning to sleep, in which the child cries. Some parents feel uncomfortable with this idea.
Is a child who cries just crying? “No,” many parents feel. Controlled screaming goes away like air conditioning. AT last years the belief once again prevailed that children should learn to sleep in the sixth month. To learn, they must be instructed. The so-called Ferber method is often used. It's about about a controlled "scream", so that the child seems to know that at night the mother or father does not comfort him. If the child is assimilated by the child, the theory learns to fall asleep.
If the poor sleep of a baby or an older child becomes regular, this is a reason to see a doctor and determine true reason such a phenomenon.
When a one-year-old child does not sleep well at night, often wakes up and is naughty, the reasons for this may be:
- Uncomfortable environmental and microclimate conditions in rooms where children sleep. This reason is rather banal, but it arises due to the fact that parents often forget the peculiarities of heat transfer in children up to the age of 1.5 (1.6) years - 2 years and older. The baby, being in his crib, either freezes, or, on the contrary, he is hot. Because of the inability to speak, he can only indicate this by anxiety and crying. Identifying such a problem is simple - touch the baby's skin, and if it seems hot (or, conversely, cold), try to solve the problem with the temperature in the room. Do not forget to additionally measure the baby's body temperature - this will eliminate the inflammatory process in the body or fever. A room thermometer, as well as a good heating and ventilation system, will allow your baby to have a comfortable and restful sleep.
- Night colic. Cramping and pain in the abdomen in violation of the normal functioning of digestion is not uncommon in young children under 1 year old. The main period of such manifestations are the first months after birth, as well as the age of 6 months, when the first complementary foods are introduced. A baby at 8 months or 9 months is most often prone to foodborne infections, which will manifest not only anxiety, but also vomiting or diarrhea. Physiological colic is most common in children under six months and more often in boys. They are caused by an increase in the contractile activity of the intestinal muscles under the influence of maternal estrogen.
- Wet diaper. Quite often, young mothers do not take into account the fact that a child at the age of 4 months, and also at 5 months, begins to urinate more abundantly due to the increasing volume of nutrition and early introduction complementary foods. Using diapers that are not designed for this age, as well as changing them infrequently, can cause nighttime anxiety. Additionally, this can lead to diaper rash, as well as more serious problems that, due to pain, will prevent the child from sleeping properly at night.
- Teething. This is a problem known to all new parents. The anxiety of the baby at such moments often knows no bounds and is very disturbing to all the people around him. But do not forget that even if a child of 10 months does not sleep well at night, it is premature to exclude inflammation of the gums and teething from the list of causes. Such phenomena are observed at the age of the baby from 7 months and can be at 11 months and later.
- Any infectious or somatic disease. In this case, the symptoms of intoxication and pain will disturb the child even at night until the moment of taking special drugs and starting treatment for the disease.
- Neurological disorders and developmental anomalies. When small infant does not sleep well at night, is extremely naughty and cannot calm down in any way, examination and determination of his general development, as well as neurological status is mandatory. Quite often, the causes of this behavior are disorders in the development of the brain (cerebral palsy, microcephaly, Down syndrome, etc.). However, the number of these children is quite small, and CNS developmental disorders are accompanied by other more obvious signs. Therefore, a consultation with a neurologist in case of poor night sleep, which is repeated repeatedly, is mandatory.
Attention of parents to their newborn children, creation of comfortable conditions for them to sleep, proper feeding and timely treatment of diseases will allow not only the baby to sleep peacefully, but also his parents, as well as close people.
In fact, this method has a "success" because the child retires at some point and no longer calls on their parents. In fact, the baby does not sleep, as some new research shows. In fact, children wake up at night just as often as children who are comforted by their parents. "But since they have been conditioned that no one responds to their nocturnal cry, they no longer feel themselves."
The resignation did not oversleep the resignation, however, does not sleep at night and is at least doubtful from a psychological point of view. In addition to the bad feeling of parents, "shouting at night" can lead to serious psychological consequences. Recent studies have shown how important the reaction of parents to the crying of a child at night is. First of all, against the backdrop of a "safe mother-child bond" and the creation of primary trust in the child, "crying" at night is harmful to the child.
Children after a year and poor sleep
When a child sleeps poorly a year or earlier, this is usually associated only with certain age characteristics and external factors. But when a child began to sleep poorly at night at an older age, makes various complaints, or completely withdraws into himself, parents should think about the fact that the reasons for this phenomenon may be:
If the perception of the subject is not yet sufficiently developed, the child believes that if the parents do not respond to " crying cry”, the parents disappeared and are now left alone. There is no chance for a child to develop the confidence that mother and father are there to meet needs. Leupold suggests that developing a bond with parents is at least difficult, if not disrupted.
Slept with 12 months? Once a child is one year old, many parents try to "allow". Although the child can now crawl or even run, it is at this age that it would be fatal to let the child cry, because during this period a particularly pronounced loss of restlessness in the child predominates. In addition, the negative consequences for the development of later self-awareness seem to cause self-confidence to develop out of basic trust. Therefore, it is beneficial for the child, even if patience and care are present at night by the parents, until the child shows himself that he can sleep.
- Respiratory diseases and infectious diseases. The feeling of intoxication with them, as well as coughing and high body temperature, will definitely lead to discomfort and malaise for the baby. It is very simple to identify such a condition: it is enough for parents to measure body temperature, evaluate symptoms, which include a runny nose, sore throat and cough. And then you should consult a doctor.
- Food poisoning. In children aged 1 year and older, when they are introduced to complementary foods with a variety of foods, the occurrence of poisoning is no longer a rarity. The phenomena of nausea, vomiting, as well as weakness and restlessness during sleep after eating dubious food are a clear sign of this pathology in children.
- Pathology of internal organs in children. When the disease is latent or chronic, a number of symptoms can still appear during the moments of sleep, disturbing it. Chronic pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract in children most often lead to a feeling of pain in the abdomen, diseases of the genitourinary system - to nocturia, i.e. frequent urination at night. When a child drinks a lot at night and does not sleep well, it is worth thinking about the phenomena of metabolic disorders and diabetes.
- Discomfort adverse conditions microclimate. In babies after a year, the causes of poor sleep can also be associated with heat or cold in the room where they sleep. Therefore, parents should give Special attention this factor, as well as to prevent the appearance of drafts and excessive cooling (overheating) of the air in the children's room.
- Emotional experiences and psychological trauma. When little patients involuntarily see scenes of violence or are themselves exposed to it, they experience various stresses in everyday life, the likelihood of sleep disturbance is very high. The same happens with a long passage computer games or watching TV. Experiencing emotional upheavals can not only lead to the fact that the child cannot sleep normally, but also to depression, and even to suicidal thoughts. In adolescents, such phenomena are associated with puberty, hypersexuality, etc.
Parents of already non-breasted babies should pay attention to the behavior of the child at night. If the child is not a year old and communicates quite actively with adults, it is necessary to ask directly what worries him during sleep, for what reason he does not sleep well.
Coaches check their safety at night. Other studies have shown that a child's sleep behavior differs from that of an adult. Babies and toddlers have very active sleep and, according to Tarullo, show "dissected sleep" with numerous transitions. However, this knowledge does not use anything, many parents will think when reading the article. Because the nightly sleep breaks are very stressful and often deplete the last energy. However, baby sleeping models have a purpose.
Evolution biologically examines children at night when they wake up, whether or not they are safe and a well-known human reference is in close proximity. If there is no human nearby, they will be helpless in the sense of the initial natural disasters. Nocturnal awakening continues into adulthood to explore environment. Only adults in most cases do not remember waking up the next morning.
When a child sleeps very badly at night, tosses and turns and still makes various complaints, it is worth considering visiting a doctor and conducting special diagnostics to exclude various diseases.
What to do if the child does not sleep well at night?
The question is what to do when both a child at 3 months and 9 months sleeps restlessly month old baby worries every conscious parent. First of all, don't panic. Most likely, the reason for this phenomenon is banal, especially if this condition arose for the first time and is not accompanied by increased body temperature, abdominal tension and a violation of physiological functions. In a child aged 8 months or older, teething should not be ruled out, which can be delayed. A six-month-old baby is most prone to colic due to the introduction of complementary foods.
The psychological behavior of sleep also has a significant reason for training in psychotherapy. The clues show that the typical sleep patterns of young children make learning easier. In the first year of life, children learn at a rapid pace. New acquired events must be sorted, processed and saved. Developmental research shows that sleep is highly valued in memory consolidation. What the child has learned during the day is stored in the dream. The brain experiences sensory stimulation during sleep and learns further during sleep.
When do babies learn to sleep? But when can babies sleep "through"? Most psychologists see sleep as a kind of maturation process. If the child's brain is mature, sleep is self-sufficient. However, it is difficult to determine the exact time because each child grows at his own pace. There are children who sleep after 15 months, others only in the fourth year.
You should contact the doctor together with the child for consultation and examination in such cases:
- Prolonged sleep disturbance in a child, accompanied by his physical and psychological exhaustion.
- Pronounced signs of an inflammatory reaction and an infectious disease - fever body, rash, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cough, etc.
- The phenomena of neurological pathology - convulsions, local muscle spasms, strabismus, etc.
- Changes in the behavior of children, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, food refusal.
- Respiratory failure during sleep.
Unlike the banal causes of children's nighttime restlessness, such signs most often, unfortunately, indicate a serious pathology both from the internal organs and the central nervous system. A banal reason to go to the toilet, which is repeated more often than when a child goes to urinate during the day, should also alert parents very much. Often this is the first sign of a serious pathology of the kidneys or diabetes. You should also not exclude the psychological component in adolescents - they can become withdrawn and refuse to visit a doctor. Most often, there are serious psychological problems behind this. The task of parents is to gain confidence and be in contact with children and try to help them as much as possible.
Due to increased performance requirements, it is expected that children, especially in Germany, will be able to fall asleep in 12 months. In many other countries, even in Western countries, this is not true. Parents, psychologists or teachers are most often between the ages of 3 and 5. Almost naturally, children in southern countries sleep in their parent's bed, or at least in one room, until the children want to sleep in the children's room.
Anyone who is aware of this puts less pressure on them and is also better able to resist outside pressure. This can help you be more relaxed about your own internal worries, as well as fatigue. Rituals help make falling asleep easier. Sleeping Rituals It is important that bedtime should be at a fixed time. However, it is very important to correctly interpret the signals of the child. When it gets darker in winter, children often get tired even before the bright seasons. Then it can be helpful to easily adjust your sleep times to the seasons.
The main causes of poor sleep at night in children updated: April 7, 2017 by: admin
What to do if the child often wakes up at night? Many parents, tired of sleepless nights, are looking for the answer to this question. Why does the baby sleep badly at night and how can you help him?
Before going to bed, routines such as changing, washing and changing diapers should be done in a warm, calm and relaxed environment. This ritual must be firmly established so that the child knows that the bedtime has now been entered. If the child is still awake, external circumstances may prevent it. Questions: “Is the diaper wet”, “Is it too cold or warm”, does the baby have a cold, cough or fever? Especially when this is the case, children need more attention and security than usual. Lingering next to the child until he falls asleep does not make sense to signal safety.
1 month old baby wakes up frequently at night
The reasons why the baby does not sleep well at night depend heavily on his age. Sleep problems in a newborn and an older child can be very different. Why do babies not sleep in the first month of life?
Before talking about sleep disorders, you should understand what can be considered the norm. Healthy newborn sleeps up to 20 hours a day. At the same time, the rhythms of his sleep differ significantly from the biorhythms of an adult. For a newborn, short cycles of 45 minutes are considered normal. Many parents are afraid of such a short sleep, but it is precisely this rhythm that is necessary for normal development newborn.
If the child wants to be angry, he must be returned to his original position. Again, it's important to have a calming effect and not overuse or talk. In the past, parents used to sing "a good night song" to their children. This is not proof text, but a soporific monotonous sound.
Perhaps they shouldn't have called them Daughter Luna. Luna, Latin for moon. The girl with the brown cooleraugen robbed the parents of the month. “The nights were hell,” says Cornelia's mother. Within an hour the little one woke up and screamed. It was like she was in pain,” Father Peter says. Thick tears rolled down the child's cheeks.
The sleep of a baby in the first month of life is divided into successive phases. First comes the stage of falling asleep, which is replaced by a phase of superficial (REM) sleep. REM sleep passes into a phase of deep (slow) sleep. In newborns, the duration of the fast phase is about 15 minutes, and the slow phase is 30 minutes.
In the first months of life, the predominance of the phase of superficial sleep over deep sleep is characteristic. On average, the duration of REM sleep is up to 80%. Over time, the phase ratio changes, and by the age of three, the phase of light sleep takes only 30%. This feature is associated with active formation brain of an infant and is a necessary stage in its development.
The moon fell asleep at eight o'clock in the evening, after her mother had sown it in the eighth month. When Luna looked at Marienkefer's picture book with her sister Tara, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. With her mother she waved " Good night to the world from the balcony, conveniently sniffing a bottle of apple scallop and falling asleep to the melody of Sandmann's music box in the crib.
Not later than two or three hours later, the silence was abruptly ended. So loud that Tara in the next room woke up again. It took Papa a quarter of an hour before the elder fell asleep again. The mother was responsible for the moon. First she pulled the baby out of bed, humming it across the apartment, petting it and singing, sometimes for three hours, sometimes for four. She told her midwife. Four days at the most, the problem was solved.
From the point of view of physiology, the baby's sleep of the first month of life should not be too long. In the womb, the fetus does not distinguish between day and night. He sleeps when he wants to, and after birth he does not immediately get rid of such a habit. Up to 3-4 months, the baby can sleep 14-18 hours a day, while he will not have clear changes of day and night. The baby wakes up if he wants to eat or needs a diaper change, and falls asleep when he is tired and full. Over time, the baby will sleep less and less until he completely switches to one night's sleep.
Mother Cornelia sought advice from doctors, read books, gave homeopathic globules, threw sandalwood into an aromatic lamp, massaged the legs of her sweets with a mixture of St. John's wort and linoleum, as well as lavender. She didn't attract Luna with a red sleepsuit "because red suits you." She hung the wet bed in the closet so she didn't crave her daughter at night. It didn’t help,” she says six months later.
If children cannot say goodbye, parents often feel powerless. At twelve months of age, one in five babies cannot sleep. Not only the youngest are at war with Sandmann. A study by the Department of Child Psychiatry at the University of Cologne and sleep physician Alfred Wiater on 500 schoolchildren found that nearly half of fourth graders sometimes or often complain about falling asleep. About a quarter of the nineteen and ten year olds surveyed observed at night. "Sleep disorders affect the entire family," Wiater says, "which can lead to parental psychiatric disorders."
When Should You Be Worried?
- If the newborn sleeps less than 16 hours a day.
- The baby is awake for more than 5 hours in a row.
- The newborn is constantly agitated and has difficulty falling asleep.
- The baby wakes up every 5-15 minutes.
Why does a newborn sleep poorly? There can be many reasons for this.
- Hunger.
It is normal for newborns to wake up hungry frequently. At this age, children are not able to eat by the hour and maintain a strict feeding regimen. If your baby wakes up and cries - just give him a breast or offer a bottle of formula.
Customize the sleeping window!
Out of desperation, violence against children has become more frequent. The child examined the child and found that he was healthy. He explained to the parents: - that it is normal for babies to breathe frequently in their sleep, to move their eyes restlessly under their closed eyelids; - that the cycle of light, deep sleep and sleep phases in adults takes about 90 minutes, but in children only half; - that it is not uncommon for babies to wake up after two or three cycles; - that after the sixth month of the month the children stopped coughing due to hunger; - that children in the short stages of waxing do not usually cry out in fear, but that whimpering is a precursor to re-sleep; - Problems only arise when parents take their children out of their care or feed them.
- Discomfort.
A wet diaper or diaper, too hot or cold air - all this can lead to the fact that the monthly baby will wake up more often. Make sure that nothing prevents the newborn from sleeping peacefully.
- Colic.
Abdominal pain and gas common cause, in which the baby does not sleep well. Colic occurs in children between the ages of 3 weeks and 3 months and lasts about 3 hours. If the baby cries and folds its legs to the stomach, give him dill water or other remedy for colic. For some babies, contact with the mother (skin to skin) helps to sleep with abdominal pain.
- Bright lights and loud sounds.
Many children cannot fall asleep in the bright light of a lamp, the sound of the TV or the noise of voices. If your baby does not sleep well at night, make sure that he falls asleep in a calm and comfortable environment.
- Loneliness.
It is normal for babies in their first months of life to be close to their mother all the time. Waking up after short 45-minute cycles, the baby does not find his mother at hand and begins to cry. If the baby began to wake up often in his crib, think about co-sleeping.
Some babies find it easier to fall asleep in a sling next to their mom.
6 month old baby sleeps poorly at night and wakes up frequently
Why does a 6 month old baby sleep badly at night? Many parents note that after six months the child seemed to have been replaced. He began to wake up frequently at night, crying and asking to be held. What to do in such a situation?
Experts do not advise to rush to conclusions and run to the doctor. Children at this age actively explore the world. During the day, the baby has many new experiences. He learns to crawl, touches everything with his hands, looks at toys and communicates with other people. All this inevitably affects the quality of a night's sleep. Overexcited during the day, he cannot fall asleep quickly, is naughty and cries. It can be quite difficult to calm a baby and put him to sleep at such moments.
Another common cause of poor sleep is hunger. A baby at 6 months needs night feedings in the same way as a newborn. The frequency of feeding becomes less, however, children at this age are not able to sleep through the night without waking up. Most children need to eat 2-3 times a night.
Place a crib next to yours, or switch to co-sleeping so you don't have to get up every time you feed.
1 year old baby wakes up frequently at night
One-year-olds do not always sleep through the night without waking up. Often, children at this age cause a lot of anxiety with their poor sleep. What to do if a one-year-old child often wakes up at night?
First of all, you need to find out the cause of sleep disorders. Sleep problems and frequent awakenings occur in the following situations.
- Violation of the daily routine.
If the baby gets up late and goes to bed late, moves little during the day, he will have problems sleeping. Try to organize an acceptable daily routine and stick to it. Have your child wake up and go to bed around the same time. Spend more time outdoors. A well-walked child sleeps better than one who has spent the whole day within four walls.
- Refusal of daytime sleep.
Paradoxically, but often the baby does not sleep well at night because he did not get enough sleep during the day. Overexpenditure, fatigue, overexcitation - all this creates difficulty falling asleep and leads to frequent awakenings at night. Provide little man the ability to sleep peacefully during the day - and you will eliminate one of the causes of poor night sleep.
- Excited before sleep.
Active games, loud music, cartoons in the late evening - all this provokes sleep disturbances in one year old baby. To help your baby sleep well at night, enter a bedtime ritual. Two hours before going to bed, turn off the TV and eliminate all sources of noise. Dim the light in the nursery, straighten the bed. Let the process of going to bed be slow and gradual so that the child has time to switch to a night's rest.
- Cutting teeth.
Starting from the age of 6 months, most children erupt milk teeth. Closer to the year, 8 teeth should appear, and the rest will follow them. When a tooth passes through the gum, many children cry, refuse to eat, and sleep poorly. Special dental gels with an anesthetic effect will help to alleviate the condition of the baby.
- Hunger.
Many children as young as 12 months are still on breastfeeding or drink artificial mixture. If complementary foods do not make up a large part of the diet, the child may simply remain hungry at night. Not eating during the day, the baby wakes up at night in search of his mother's breast or a bottle of formula. Reconsider the daily diet of your crumbs - perhaps it is worth increasing the amount of food or shifting dinner in time?
A 1.5-year-old child often wakes up at night
Many parents think that older children are able to sleep through the night without waking up. They are in for a big disappointment, because at 1.5 years old, babies can also suffer from sleep disorders in the same way. What to do if the child does not sleep well and often wakes up in the middle of the night?
The causes of night awakenings in children older than one and a half years are exactly the same as in one-year-old babies. Hunger, discomfort, disruption of the daily routine, overexcitation - all this leads to poor sleep at night. The problem is that calming a one and a half year old child can be much more difficult. An older baby already weighs a lot, and you can’t rock him in your arms or in a sling. In this situation, parents have to look for other ways to solve the sleep problem.
At 1.5 years, a new item is added to sleep disorders. At this age, many children see vivid and rich dreams, which reflect all the events of the past day. Emotional and sensitive babies can have nightmares from which they will wake up at night screaming and crying. In some cases, it will be possible to cope with the problem only with the help of a neurologist or a child psychologist.
Older children often have night terrors. The baby may refuse to fall asleep alone in a dark room and ask to be in his parents' bed. Whether it is worth letting the child into the family bed is up to you. For some children, this practice allows you to fall asleep and sleep peacefully until the morning.
How else to make it easier to fall asleep and improve night sleep?
- Create a bedtime ritual. Let the baby know that at a certain time it is time to finish all the work and go to bed.
- Eliminate overexcitation in the evening. May your sleep be peaceful.
- Think about what cartoons your baby watches. Some children are prevented from falling asleep by too active and aggressive cartoons.
- Encourage your child to fall asleep with their favorite toy.
- Make sure the child is not hungry. Offer your baby a glass of kefir or warm milk before going to bed.
- Don't forget to air the room before going to bed. Sleeps much better in a cool room.
- Let your baby know that you are always there, and he can count on your help if he has a nightmare.
When should you see a doctor?
In most cases, poor sleep is not associated with any diseases of the nervous system. The organization of the daily regimen and the satisfaction of the basic needs of the child can eliminate sleep problems. But there are situations in which sleep disorders are associated with pathological processes in the brain.
In what cases should you see a doctor?
- The child does not sleep well, despite all the measures taken.
- The baby has serious somatic diseases that can cause poor sleep (diseases of the heart, lungs, digestive tract).
- The child has or has had neurological problems in the past.
- Sleep disturbances are accompanied by sleepwalking.
- The kid is disturbed by frequent nightmares.
- Waking up, the baby does not react to others and constantly cries.
- Sleep disturbances are accompanied by twitching of the limbs or convulsions.
- There is marked weakness throughout the day.
If you find any of these symptoms, you should be examined by a neurologist.
