The norms of sleep: from 0 to 6 months

From 0 to 3 months

Typical sleep at this age

At this age, the newborn sleeps quite a lot — about 17 to 18 hours a day for the first few weeks and 15 hours a day to three months.

Children almost never sleep more than three or four consecutive hours, day or night. And that means that you too will not be able to sleep for hours. You have to get up at night to feed and swaddle your baby, and during the day you will be playing with him. While some babies sleep through the night as early as 8 weeks of age, many babies do not reach this target, until they are 5 or 6 months. You will help your child more likely to achieve that result, from the very start planting it good sleep skills.

How to inculcate habits of healthy sleep?

Here's what you can do at this age to help your child to acquire the right skills sleep:

Learn the signs of fatigue child

First six to eight weeks, your child will not be able to watch more than two hours. If you do not lay it up longer this time, it will be overworked and unable to sleep well. Watch until you notice that the baby is sleepy. He rubs his eyes, tugging at his ear, under his eyes dark circles appear weak? If you see any other signs of sleepiness, send it straight to bed. Soon as you learn the daily rhythms of your child's behavior that you will develop a sixth sense, and you will instinctively know when he's ready for bed.

Begin to explain to him the difference between day and night

Some babies — Owl (some hints at it, you may have noticed during pregnancy). And while you may want to turn off the lights, the child can still be very active. In the first few days you will not be able to do anything about it. But once the baby is about 2 weeks, you can begin to teach him to distinguish night from day.

When the child is alert and active during the day, play with them, turn on the lights in the house and in his room, do not try to reduce the usual daily noise (sounds phone, TV or dishwasher). If he falls asleep while feeding, wake him up. At night, do not play with the child. When you go into his room to feed, dim the lights and noise, do not talk to him for too long. It will not be long, and your baby will begin to understand that night — to sleep.

Give him a chance to fall asleep alone

When a child is between 6 and 8 weeks, start to give him a chance to fall asleep on their own. How? Put him to bed when he drowsy but still awake, experts advise. They advise against travel sickness or breastfeeding before bedtime. "Parents think that if they start to teach a child too early, it will not do anything — they say — but it is not. Infants acquire the habits associated with sleep. If you rock your baby to sleep every night for the first eight weeks later why he has to wait something other? "

What difficulties might arise?

By the time your child reaches 2-x or 3-x months, he may wake up at night more often than necessary, as well as develop negative associations connected with sleep.

Newborns have to get up at night to eat, but some may accidentally wake yourself up before they really need feeding. To avoid this, try to swaddle your baby (cozy wrap it in a blanket) before being put to bed for the night.

Avoid unnecessary associations connected with sleep — your child does not have to depend on motion sickness, feeding to sleep. Put your baby to bed before he goes to sleep and let him fall asleep on their own.

From 3 to 6 months

Typical sleep at this age 

Congratulations! Now all of your night-ups every two or three hours behind (we hope). By 3 or 4 months, most babies sleep 15 hours a day, 10 of them at night, and the rest is divided among three day-dreams (their number is reduced to two, when your child reaches 6 months).

At the beginning of this period, you can still get up once or twice a night for feedings, but by 6 months your baby will be able to sleep through the night.But it will depend on whether you bring up his skills healthy sleep.

How to inculcate habits of healthy sleep?

Establish a clear night mode and day dream and stick to it.

As long as your child is a newborn, you can decide when to put him in for the night, watching for signs of sleepiness (rubs his eyes, picking at his ear, and so on). Now that he's got a little older, you have to set it for a certain time of night and day sleep.

The evening is a good time for a child — between 19.00 and 20.30. Later, he will most likely be too tired and it will be hard to go to sleep. Your child may not look tired late at night — on the contrary, it can seem very energetic. But believe me, it is — a sure sign that a child go to sleep.

Similarly, you can set the time of day dream — to plan it for the same time every day, or go to the touch, putting the child sleep, when you see that he is tired and needs a break. Either approach is acceptable, if the child is sleeping enough.

Begin to establish a ritual of divergence to sleep

If you have not done, then aged 3-6 month's time. The ritual of a discharge of a child to sleep may include the following: make him a bath, play with him in the quiet games, read one or two bedtime stories, sing a lullaby. Kiss and wish him "Good night."

No matter what the ritual involves your family, you have to perform it in the same manner, at one and the same time each evening. Children need consistency, and sleep is no exception.

Wake up your child in the morning

If your child is sleeping more often 10 o'clock at night, it is advisable to wake him in the morning. By doing so you will help him recover mode. Compliance schedule a night's sleep may seem not difficult, but remember that your child needs to sleep on the regime and during the day. This will help in awakening the same time every morning.

What difficulties might arise?

Two problems — nocturnal awakening and development of the negative associations associated with sleep (when your child gets used to depend on motion sickness or feeding, as prerequisites for sleep), and relate to infants and older children. But by about3 —6 months may be another problem — the difficulty in falling asleep.

If your child has trouble falling asleep at night, first make sure that he stays up too late (as we have mentioned, overtired child with difficulty falling asleep). If this is not the case, then he may have developed one or more of the associations connected with sleep. Now is the time to get rid of them. Baby must learn to fall asleep himself, not reassured, through your arms, chest, or a pacifier.

Kaka tactics to get rid of associations to choose — you decide. The easiest option — to wait until the child "vykrichitsya and fall asleep," is not for everyone.