How can the parents caring for the baby adapt to these constant changes? There are two ways to organize the mode of the crumbs day. The first is to offer the child a universal scheme, described in many childcare allowances and made without taking into account the individual characteristics of the organism. This regime of the day is suitable for children receiving artificial nutrition, and for those kids who do not have the opportunity to be close to their mother. The second way to adjust the regime is to follow the individual biorhythms of the baby, taking into account the periodicity of his needs for sleep and nutrition. This option is ideal for mothers who have chosen breastfeeding and have the opportunity to take care of their own child. About this method and talk in more detail. Nutrition and the regime of the day of the child per year is important for both the baby and the mother.
Feeding on demand
Sometimes in the medical literature he is called "free feeding" .What is meant? Mom applies the baby to his chest in response to any request for sucking from his side. Usually the need for milk is expressed by babbling, discomfort, sometimes even crying. children are already giving completely understandable signs, they can pull the pens themselves to the breast or invent their own ways to ask for milk. (This variant of feeding does not imply the use of breast substitutes (nipples, pacifiers or bottles) and the character The World Health Organization recommends free-feeding as the most optimal for the development of young children.Sometimes, sometimes on-demand feeding is associated with chaotic and numerous attachments to the chest, while an artificial juxtaposition with feeding is done "according to the regime ". Meanwhile, there is nothing more rhythmic and predictable than a baby's need for milk! It is true that each infant sets the rhythm of feeding itself - the frequency and duration of the application. It is true that these rhythms can drastically change from month to month. But with close observation of the baby, any mother can catch a clear mode, according to which the child asks for a breast! And this will be exactly the regime that fully corresponds to the physiological and psychological needs of the growing up baby. What is the general scheme of frequency of application to the breast in the "free feeding" variant?
- Newborn period (first 1-2 months): the baby sucks the breast for a long time, feeds mainly during the superficial phase of sleep, necessarily applied to the breast at night. Can ask for a breast literally a few minutes after the previous sucking, and can take breaks until 2 o'clock in the afternoon and up to 5 hours at night.
- 2-4 months: intervals between long-term feedings increase, and short "meetings" with the chest during wakefulness lasting from a couple of seconds to several minutes are clearly allocated .The total number of attachments to the breast is on average 12 times per day.
- 4-6 months: the most productive and high-calorie feeds are gradually grouped around the periods of sleep. The child sucks at falling asleep, can ask for a breast in a dream, and also at the moment of awakening. There are short-term applications for various important occasions during the day.
- 6-9 months: during the waking hours the crumb is active and mobile, about the chest remembers quite rarely. But night suckling increases, there is a need to feed during a day's sleep (about this crumb "signals" about 40-60 minutes after falling asleep in the afternoon.) The desire to apply to the breast after waking may disappear, but at the same time there are feeding for falling asleep and "drinking "thoracic
- 10-12 months: the total number of daily meetings with the breast stably keeps at the level of 10-12. This can be both prolonged feeding around the dreams, and short attachments during wakefulness for different reasons. There are night sucking in a dream. If the mother has adapted to feed at night while lying down and even learned to doze during his attachments, such a night life "does not lead to chronic fatigue." And as the children suck at night without awakening, it is also not harmful to them at all!
Sleep
Sleep is the main regulator of the rhythm of life with a small child. Do we all know about the peculiarities of a child's dream and about what it is for? In a dream, the human brain processes and synthesizes information, the body breaks down nutrients and cleanses the body.
Sleep is divided into two phases:
♦ a deep phase, when the activity of the brain is minimal, breathing is rare, the body is completely relaxed, the eyes are tightly closed, and all metabolic processes of the body are slow;
♦ superficial phase - fast sleep, drowsiness, when a person sees dreams, is very close to awakening. The body can shudder, eyes are half-closed, eyeballs move, rapid breathing, metabolic processes are activated.
It is from the presence of the superficial phase of sleep that the successful growth and development of a young child directly depend. Therefore, it takes the main time from the total length of rest. In neonates this figure is about 80%, decreasing to 12 months to about 50%. This is a useful dream, about which they say "the baby grows in a dream!" A successful transition from a deep phase to a superficial one and back guarantees breastfeeding: if you offer a breast to a child who is worried in a dream, he will peacefully suck again, The sleep regime of children from birth to the year is constantly changing, but these changes have obvious patterns that allow parents to plan their lives and adult affairs.The first 2 months: the crumb in many ways reproduces the rhythms of sleep and wakefulness He can get back to sleep 15-30 minutes after waking up, sleep for several hours, periodically sucking in his chest, or he can wake up 15 to 45 minutes after closing his eyes, total sleep time reaches 20 hours 2-4 months: the periods of wakefulness are increasing, the individual peculiarities of the daily biorhythm are gradually manifested: when the baby is ready for nightfall, how often he needs milk at night, how late is his final awakening in the mornings, how many s sleep in the daytime. On average, you can expect 3-5 days of sleep lasting from 40 minutes to 2-3 hours.
- 6-9 months: in connection with the appearance of numerous qualitative changes in the life of the baby (teething, the development of new movements, the introduction of complementary foods), sleep can become more intermittent, restless. However, there is still a three-day day rest regime, and features of the daily biorhythm clearly appear.
- 9-12 months: the baby goes to a two-day nap, night feeding becomes very short. In the morning, on the contrary, the crumb can suckle the breast for a long time, literally, until the time comes for the whole family to get out of bed! After a year, the picture of sleep is completely simplified: the child passes to a one-time daytime dream, which will persist for several more years. Well, the night attachments to the chest will last as long as the mother decides to preserve breastfeeding.
Dysfunction of the day
Above we mentioned that the main regulator of the rhythm of a baby's life is a dream. Therefore, all problems with falling asleep immediately affect the organization of the regime of the day! Why can such violations occur? Causes that affect the quality of sleep and the ability to fall asleep are quite a lot. We list the most common.
1. Mom does not give the baby to fall asleep breast (for example, trying to get sick in a wheelchair or on pens, accustomed to a pacifier).
2. The child refuses the breast, conflicts and cries when trying to feed him.
3. The kid is sick, experiencing strong physical or psychological discomfort. In this case, on the contrary, he will constantly want to suck his breast, sleeps, not letting it out of his mouth.
4. The teeth are chopped. During the period of maximum soreness of the gums, daytime dreams become short, frequent attachments to the chest during wakefulness and at night.
5. The kid learns new motor skills: upheavals, crawling, standing on legs, walking.
6. Significantly changing daytime sleep: the child then sleeps during the day, as before, then does not want to fall asleep at the usual time for him. Typically, the reduction in the total time of daytime sleep occurs due to the disappearance of the last night's sleep.
7. The kid does not have enough impressions during wakefulness, he misses! This problem is typical for children who sleep mostly on the street, and the rest of the time their mother is busy with the necessary household chores. The problem is corrected by changing the organization of walks: with children older than 3-6 months it is better to walk, grabbing a part of the wakefulness or only in an unsettled condition, and to lay the bed exclusively at home. So Mom will have more time for household chores, and the baby will receive much more incentives for development if the mother is nearby. In addition to walks during wakefulness, you can come up with many interesting activities with the baby: hiking, meetings with people, getting to know the world around you, getting involved in household affairs, playing games by age, studying the properties of objects, developing special activities, bathing, playing with water, gymnastics or massage.
The regime is a joy
How wonderful it is when life with an infant gives adults only positive emotions! And as the kid himself is pleased to see sensitive and caring parents! Knowledge of the needs of the child, the ability to respond to them in time, the desire to competently organize breastfeeding and caring for the baby, an understanding of his individual regime of the day - all this makes it easier for mom and dad to plan their own adult life, and also gives a deep sense of satisfaction with parenting.