Practice sleeping for the first 6 months of life

Sleep is indispensable to help children develop well, in which sleep and adequate sleep are two important factors. However, the sleep rate and sleep level of the baby in each neonatal period are very different. How can parents help their babies sleep properly and enough?

1. Newborn (0 - 6 weeks old)
The baby is feeding very little at this time, slightly losing weight. The child does not have a day and night rhythm, or a biological clock. In the first week, children sleep a lot, from 16-18 hours, but usually sleep from 15 minutes - 4 hours each time. This time, the baby's sleep has not entered the rhythm of day and night. So the mother should take advantage of rest and recover health after giving birth.

Most children don't take a long night's sleep. The study of young children at this stage by Richard Ferber - a US pediatrician (the author of Solve your child's sleep problems) has shown that: Children have only one single sleep of about 4 hours, and sleep. at any time. Premature babies can sleep longer. In fact, the light and the effects at this time, such as changing the way the caresses, the way to breastfeed, do not have much influence on the sleeping pattern. Your baby may have a few changes such as: when he was about to sleep or just woke up, he was suddenly startled, his eyes looked up and up when he changed from shallow sleep to deep sleep. That is the normal behavior of the rhythm - sleep.

Babies will sleep more deeply when they are fed enough. A newborn's stomach is very small, so mothers should only breastfeed a certain amount each time and feed their baby every few hours. Most babies feed 3-4 hours apart. The baby will wake up and ask to breastfeed when the baby needs breast milk. After full, the baby will sleep again. However, parents need to remember not to let an infant sleep for more than 5 hours without waking up. In this case, the mother can wake the baby up, feed the baby, and then put the baby back to sleep for a while. When the baby sleeps, the mother should wrap the baby in a thin towel, helping the baby feel safe and protected as if lying in the womb. This method is simple, but it is effective for your baby to sleep more deeply and no longer startle when he sleep.

For children aged 0-6 weeks, the number of daytime sleep times should be 4-8 times, the number of sleeping hours is 15 minutes - 1 hour, the interval between sleep times is 45 minutes - 1 hour and the time to start sleeping at night Usually 9:00 - 11:00 pm, the number of hours of nighttime sleep is 8-14 hours. Thus, the total number of sleep hours a day is 14-18 hours.

For children aged 6-12 weeks, the number of daytime sleep times should be 3-4 times, the number of sleeping hours is 30 minutes - 2 hours, the interval between sleep times is 1 hour - 1 hour 45 minutes and the starting time Regular night sleep is 8:00 - 11:00 pm, the number of night sleep hours is 8-13 hours. Thus, the total number of hours of sleep during the day is 11 - 15 hours.

For children aged 3-6 months, the number of daytime naps should be 3 times, the number of sleeping hours is 1-2 hours, the interval between sleep times is 2 hours and the usual starting time for night sleep is 8:00 - 10:00 pm, the number of hours of nighttime sleep is 8-13 hours. Thus, the total number of sleep hours in a day is 12-14 hours.

Source : Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, R. Ferber, MD & Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, M. Weissbluth, MD

2. Second month (6 - 12 weeks old)
About 6 weeks, children can smile at their parents, it is called social smiling. Smiling is a sign of social cognitive development. Along with that smile, the baby's sleep is reorganized so that the longest sleep falls in the evening, the amount of sleep at night is also about 8-13 hours.

At this time, children are more active, paying more attention to portable toys such as cars, planes, baby carriage, emotional expressions also increase. However, parents will also feel more upset because the child is at the peak of irritability, awakening. Babies awake, refusing to sleep, stay awake and fussy is getting worse. At the end of the day, parents are tired of the baby, but it's okay. Just understand the cause of the incident, which is the immature nervous system, lack of inhibition. The brain will develop gradually, strong enough to inhibit excess action, but it takes time.

3. From 3-6 months of age
At this stage, the baby begins to have some changes: keep the head straight, smile more, maybe laugh loudly or squeal. Babies sleep better at night, but daytime sleep is still short and erratic. Babies are sensitive to the need to sleep, and can easily sleep. Parents need to distinguish when a baby cries, irritability is due to fatigue, demanding play or sleep.

Children ask to play

Babies like to play with their parents rather than lying alone, so they may forget to sleep to play. Moreover, when playing with many stimulating toys, babies feel like a fascinating new world and forget to sleep. At this time, children like to look at things around them, hear rhythmic sounds or lullabies.

Fatigue and tired children

Mostly due to not getting a good day's sleep, because of too many unusual external stimuli that the child has to deal with. At this age, to want to sleep well, children must be placed in a quiet place, or in a place where, after waking up (about 1 hour - 1 hour 45 minutes), the child can take a nap immediately. The allowable wake limit is only 2 hours because the brain is not perfect at this time, but with 2 hours the baby is tired, because too tired it is easy to fall asleep. If left for too long, being stimulated too much, the baby will be too awake, easily provoked and difficult to sleep. To maintain sleep, the room temperature must be sufficient, not too hot or too cold. So you should take the initiative to know the time to sleep for your baby. Keep awake after nearly 2 hours, let the baby sleep again

Children ask for sleep

The third month, children are more exposed to the outside environment, there are many stimuli affecting sleep. Children are also more sensitive to the quality of sleep because the circadian rhythm begins to appear during daytime sleep, so it is the parent's task to create a habit of caring for the child's biological needs. When your baby wants to sleep, put him in a cool, quiet place, and too when he eats.

Most 3-month-olds sleep about 14 hours a day, with two-thirds of them at night. If possible, it is best to have the baby fully sleep in the crib. However, by doing so, your baby may cry or refuse to sleep while in the crib. Parents can know when their baby's sleep is best based on:
- Child's behavior
- Sleep time during the day
- Wake time

Thereby knowing between the needs and requirements of the baby, and after the baby sleeps about 5-10 minutes, even 20 minutes, the mother can leave the baby. However, there should be no rigid rules that should be decided depending on the baby's condition, because the child's nervous system is not yet complete. And so is creating conditions for children to develop their ability to lull themselves to sleep. When you are sleepy, you should help your baby to sleep, not to let the baby cry too much. Here are simple methods to help mothers put their babies to sleep more easily:

Perform familiar movements before putting your baby to sleep day and night.
Many parents give their baby a bath, read stories or feed their baby before putting their baby in a crib. Making this same routine without any changes is extremely important when placing your baby in the cradle, letting him know that it's time to go to sleep.

Put your baby in the crib when he shows signs of sleep.
Stand beside and gently pat your head, patting to let baby fall asleep. You can also sing or talk gently with your baby. If your baby tries to move, or rolls back and forth, gently place him on his back as he did at first - this is the best sleeping position for babies to limit sudden infant death. You can also place a thin blanket on your baby's tummy. If your baby cries, avoid carrying the baby out of the crib, because doing so will make the baby quickly fussy and cry to get out of the crib. Simply continue to stroke your baby's head and talk until the crying stops and falls asleep.