In the first months of a baby's life, he sleeps only for one reason - only when he gets tired. Therefore, to put the child to sleep, when he does not want it, is almost impossible, and vice versa - if the baby is fast asleep, it is unlikely that he will be able to wake him. The total sleep time of newborns per day is about 16-18 hours, which is twice the average adult's sleep time. It is in a dream that children grow up, visual, sound and motor impressions are processed, and the skills obtained during wakefulness are consolidated. It is proved that children remember the information received better when they are asleep soon after receiving it. In the first six months of a baby's life, sleep is a kind of barrier that prevents them from being overloaded. Thanks to sleep, children more effectively learn the patterns of behavior, improving the ability of children to understand their thoughts, emotions and impressions.
At night, the child's relationships are built up with the world around him, it is in a dream that he re-experiences those moments that took place during the day. As a result, the baby learns to communicate more effectively with people who surround it. Specialists note the fact that children who sleep well have a calmer temperament.
Some experts argue that lack of sleep and bad sleep of a child can adversely affect his immune system, which makes him more vulnerable to various diseases. At the same time, restful sleep promotes the full development of the immune system of the baby, which reduces the risk of diseases and leads to an acceleration of the recovery process. A quiet night's sleep reduces the risk of getting an infant with a trauma: a sleepy baby behaves more cheerfully and less impulsively. In addition, specialists have established a connection between sleep and the weight of children: children who sleep less than 12 hours a day in infancy, on reaching middle school age, often have problems with excess weight more often than their ones.
Recommendations for the normalization of sleep in infants
For the majority of children, it is easier for them to fall asleep in an environment with muted light, with quiet and calm music for 30-60 minutes. Such a situation helps the kids to relax better and easily fall asleep.
The main thing for newborns is not freedom, but safety and protection. Therefore, it is worthwhile to use only quality diapers that will provide effective protection of the baby's skin from irritation during sleep.
It is natural for infants to fall asleep during breastfeeding, sucking a bottle or pacifier. However, this can lead to certain problems: the regular falling asleep of a child in such conditions can lead to the fact that he begins to associate sleep with sucking movements, and it will be very difficult to wean the baby to sleep with the nipple. Therefore, for the baby to fall asleep on its own, it is necessary to make sure that he suckles the nipple before he falls asleep, and not in a dream. It is necessary to try to carefully take it from the chest, take a bottle or pacifier, so that the child falls asleep without anybody's help.
Many experts recommend that parents every four hours wake up a child in order to feed him. However, many newborns wake up more often. Over time, try to learn to determine when a child needs to be fed, and when he needs to just crouch so that he falls asleep again.
Most young children love constancy, something that is repeated every day. Therefore, it is worthwhile to come up with your own ritual of going to sleep. First, feed it, then muffle the light, shake the baby, sing a lullaby or massage with natural oil.