Dr. Komarovsky on how to put the baby to sleep

A child who always pleases his parents with a strong childhood sleep does not occur as often as one would like. Usually, even a calm and balanced baby turns into a little tyrant or a crybaby when it comes time to go to bed. If mom and dad will accustom baby to sleep by the rules, but do not let this delicate process take its course, then the child will have no problems with sleep. Accordingly, there will be no problems with lack of sleep and fatigue of his parents and other family members.

An authoritative children's doctor and the author of numerous articles and books for parents on children's health, Yevgeny Komarovsky, knows how to properly teach a child to go to bed. And he always willingly shares this knowledge with his parents, who in no way can adjust the rest of their baby.

Puzzled about the organization of children's sleep, parents should immediately after returning from the hospital. And even though a newborn baby sleeps up to 20 hours a day, this is the right time to establish the first “running in” of sleep and wakefulness. If this is done, then rarely at an older age the baby will have trouble falling asleep.

But if the crumbs did not help from the very beginning to live according to a certain regime, then the situation may get worse.

The rules of children's sleep will tell Dr. Komarovsky in the next video.

Night and day sleep are very interrelated. If a child sleeps badly in the daytime, then, most likely, and at night he will have difficulties with a quiet rest, which means that the whole family will not get enough sleep.

Of course, all children are different, as are the families in which they grow up, but the doctors tried to calculate the daily need for sleep for children of different ages. In their opinion, the child can develop normally only when the duration of his sleep is at least approximately approximated to these, rather average, standards:

• Newborns and children up to a month 9 hours of daytime sleep and 11-12 hours of night (with breaks for snacks) are given.
• Up to 2 months the child usually has 4 daytime dream episodes and 10 hours of night rest.
• By half a year The baby can sleep 2-3 times during the day, and at night he sleeps at least 9-10 hours. Feed him at night is not necessary.
• For two days of sleep, the crumb goes into 7-9 months, the duration of the night stay remains the same. 10 hours at night and 1-2 days of sleep for 2 hours are needed for a child aged a year or slightly older.

Once again, these norms are fairly general, and babies are not at all obliged to comply with these figures and recommended values ​​with pharmacy accuracy.

Children sleep differently than adults. According to the researches of scientists from Great Britain, they have a different structure of sleep, a different pace of alternation of slow and fast phases.

Children under 6-7 years old see dreams not as often as adults think, but more often they suffer from parasomnias (these are the very sleep pathologies that so much complicate the process of normal rest of the whole family). Most often parosomnias express nightmares, speaking, involuntary movements of the limbs during sleep, sleepwalking. All this is characteristic of perfectly healthy children, there is no talk about diseases of the nervous system.

The famous pediatrician notes that the value of sleep cannot be underestimated in any way. The child needs it no less than good nutrition, vitamins, fresh air and parental love and attention.

Evgeny Olegovich names ten main components of normal sleep:

• Everybody's dream is important! This means that the child should not sleep at the expense of the insomnia of the mother who kills him all night or the fathers who have to go to work in the morning. We must strive to ensure that all family members are asleep at the same time and get enough sleep.
• You need to sleep in the regime! A child should sleep when it is most comfortable for mom and dad. Time to bedtime is determined by parents, based on many factors - work schedule, family rules. But it is important once choosing it, to adhere to such a regime constantly.
• Sleep place. The joint sleep of parents with a child practiced now has little in common, according to Komarovsky, with a healthy childhood sleep; In this matter, it is also better to decide for reasons of convenience for parents - if you want to sleep with a child - please. But Yevgeny Olegovich still recommends that you give your baby a crib. If the living space allows, it should stand in the children's room, if not - in the parents' bedroom.
• Awaken without regrets! If the child sleeps well in the afternoon, and then he can’t lie down in the evening, then Komarovsky advises not to be afraid to wake the baby if he has exhausted the whole daily limit dreams. So it will be easier to put the child when the time comes to bedtime.
• Nutrition. After eating, some children want to play and actively rejoice in satiety, others (and most of them) start to fall asleep after eating. Komarovsky recommends optimizing the baby’s feeding regimen so that before bedtime (evening or daytime) feeding is more satisfying and dense. This will help the baby to fall asleep more precisely when the regime is set for a quiet hour or a night's sleep. And if the child pulls to play after food, then it is better to feed him in advance, an hour and a half before the estimated time "H".
• Microclimate. Laying the baby will be much easier if parents remember that it is difficult to sleep in a hot and stuffy room and sleep is nasty. The optimal microclimate parameters are indicated by the doctor as follows: air temperature is not less than 18 and not more than 20 degrees, and air humidity is 50-70%. Do not forget to ventilate the bedroom or children's room before every sleep.
• Bathing. Laying the baby literally in 5 minutes is quite possible, Komarovsky says, if you bathe him before bed in cool water, and then put him to bed and cover him with a warm blanket. The crumb will warm up and begin to fall asleep even without motion sickness, on which grandparents so insist.
• The bed must be correct! No downy feathers and soft blankets, warns Yevgeny Olegovich. Only an even and hard mattress, preferably a special children's orthopedic, so that it does not “fail” and does not bend. Baby up to two years, the pillow is not needed at all. After this age, you can sleep on a pillow, but it should not be too big and too soft. And no feathers! They can cause strong allergy.
• Delicate problems should not bother! Komarovsky advises parents to carefully consider the choice of the diaper for the baby. The higher quality it is, the better it will be to sleep the child. And if the child already goes to the pot, then before bedtime you should definitely take him to the toilet. Gradually, this will go into a ritual, which in itself will remind the child of the imminent departure for sleep and mentally prepare him for it.

There is no benefit in baby rocking for the child’s health, but there is no harm either, however, says Dr. Komarovsky. If the child refuses to fall asleep without it, then the parents need to know that the baby wants and requires a heart-rending ohru not for motion sickness.He has a need (conditioned by nature) for a sense of security. Naturally, in the hands of the baby feels protected.

If you want to download - please, says Eugene Olegovich. But remember that it is harmful to the health of parents, who can spend this time on something more useful than motion sickness.

If the baby cries until it is taken on arms, and begins to cry again, as soon as he is put back in the crib, then it is a question of a bad habit that has developed from the wrong attitude of mom and dad to the needs of the baby.

In this situation, families face a difficult choice - to give the child a shout and then enjoy the silence, since he will fall asleep anyway, or take it all the same and shake. If it is easier to shake and do it then every day, or even several times a day, then you need to choose the second.

Yevgeny Komarovsky emphasizes that parents who have decided to suffer a cry and remove the question of rocking motion once and for all are by no means heartless or bad. In addition, the goal is quite well discernible over the horizon - the children's cries of protest basically continue only for a few evenings, and then the sleep of the whole family will become calm, strong and healthy.

More information about motion sickness - in the next video.

• The more actively the child spends time between periods of sleep, the easier it will be for him to fall asleep. Activity in this situation does not imply viewing cartoons. It is good for a baby to do gymnastics, massage, for an older child - active games in the fresh air will do.

• Restless sleep is often caused by an abundance of impressions. Children under the age of 3 are very sensitive to everything new. You shouldn’t watch this new cartoon or visit, and you shouldn’t arrange noisy holidays just before falling asleep. It is advisable to complete all entertainment at least two hours before the evening bedtime procedures - bathing, toilet and bedding.

• Very often, says Komarovsky, the parents of fat little children, who have been taught to eat a lot and eat tightly since birth, complain about problems falling asleep and sleep disturbances. Digestion, which is occupied by the body, if you eat just before bedtime, does not make sleep sound. That is why it is better not to overfeed the child.

• If the child is very disturbing and impressionable, parents can make him a “friend” - a plush toy with which he will always go to bed every evening. The main thing, then do not forget to take this “friend” with you if you are to travel, travel, spend the night somewhere at a party or with relatives. Therefore, as a three-year-old child without a habitual bear, he flatly refuses to fall asleep and in his own way will be absolutely right.

About what to do if the child has a bad dream, see the video of Dr. Komarovsky.