Why does a child sleep poorly at night: how to establish a child’s sleep

Once again, the child did not sleep at night? Your nerves are strained to the limit, and you again did not get enough sleep and were exhausted, trying to calm your child? This is so familiar! We will analyze the causes of poor sleep in order to find out why children up to a year can sleep poorly at night. What exactly bothers your child and what to do about it? Find out the most common sources of nighttime sleep disturbance in children, as well as effective tips to deal with it.

Why does the child sleep poorly at night?

• Intestinal colic. This unpleasant phenomenon often worries newborn babies: pain in the abdomen, bloating and discomfort arise. The child is restless, crying loudly, jerking his hands and pressing his legs to his body (we read about colic and how to help a child with colic);
• Childhood fears. For the first time, they begin to bother children after the first year of life. A child may be afraid to be alone in a dark room, he may be frightened by extraneous noises or sounds coming from the street, the fear that his mother is not around and she may not return;
• Prematurely placed in a separate large bed. Sometimes parents are too in a hurry with this. And the baby may be uncomfortable sleeping in a large bed alone, he is not ready for this yet;
• Teething. Many children do not tolerate the teething stage. Gums become inflamed, sore and itchy, and at night, when toys and games do not distract the child, these sensations worsen and cause more unpleasant sensations (we read all about teething / pain / and how to help the baby);
• Not comfortable conditions. The nursery may be too stuffy or cold. It is possible that the mattress on the crib is too hard or vice versa too soft (how to choose a mattress for a newborn);
• Overwork and overexcitation. If the child was very excited and active in the evening before going to bed, then it will be harder for him to calm down in bed, and the dream will come out intermittent and not deep;
• Colds, fever, or pain. During illness, it is harder for children to sleep at night. Due to the high temperature, it can unpleasantly break the whole body, and nasal congestion or coughing does not allow normal rest at night, irritate and disturb;
• Weather sensitivity. Some children react sharply to changing weather, to an impending thunderstorm, the full moon has come. With a sharp change in weather, a child can become lethargic, passive, sometimes a headache occurs and blood pressure decreases. All this interferes with a full night's rest;
• New stages of development. A child may have a bad dream even after new achievements! For example, after a child begins to sit or walk, roll over, crawl, etc., in general, he has mastered something new;
• The abundance of emotional experiences. Sleep problems can begin on the basis of severe stress, nervous experiences, or a large number of emotions.Many children do not sleep well after meeting new people, moving or even going to an entertainment center;
• Fear of losing mom. Young children may experience the period of their first independence in different ways. Some become very restless, cry and get scared, even if Mom briefly goes to another room or to the kitchen. At night, it is difficult for a child to fall asleep if his mother is not nearby;
• Breasts begin to sleep worse at night, if the mother suddenly begins to reduce daily feeding and bedtime. The baby will require breasts longer and more often at night;
• Something is preventing the child from falling asleep. A working TV can prevent your baby from sleeping. The included light will also prevent the child from falling asleep normally at night.
• With a deficiency of vitamin D in the child's body. Lack of this vitamin can also negatively affect night sleep. The necessary analysis can be passed in the children's clinic, and if the study reveals a deficiency of vitamin D, the pediatrician will advise you to give your baby special vitamin drops (usually calcium is also included in their composition for better absorption).

We also read:

• When the kids start to sleep all night
• Why does a newborn baby tremble in a dream

How to establish a calm sleep?

We got acquainted with the main reasons, and now is the time to learn valuable tips in order to normalize your child’s night sleep:

• Do not let your child overwork! This always has a very negative effect on the duration and depth of night sleep. The child should be tired, but not overworked!
• It is very useful to perform the same actions every day before going to bed. This kind of ritual will help the child quickly tune in a calm mood, relax the psyche. For example, you can include calming songs before bedtime, read children's tales, collect toys with him and put them in place. You can independently choose or come up with an optimal ritual suitable for the child. It is important to observe regularity and perform these actions every time before a night’s sleep (interesting article on the importance of rituals);
• Pay attention to how the child behaves after an evening swim. If, after washing, he becomes alert and runs immediately to play, then in the water for evening bathing, you can add soothing decoctions of healing herbs, aromatic drops and essential oils. For example, an infusion of lemon balm leaves, mint or chamomile flowers will help relax the child's psyche and relieve overexcitation;
• It is important that the children's room has a comfortable temperature. And shortly before laying, it is worth ventilating the room so that the child has a deep night’s sleep and can easily breathe fresh air (pediatric specialists advise keeping the temperature in the room with the child between 18-22 degrees - here about it in more detail);
• Use the prevention of deficiency of important trace elements in the body of the baby, once a day, give your child a drop of vitamin D;
• Pay attention to the position in which your baby likes to sleep. Some children like to fall asleep exclusively on their stomachs. By the way, this pose perfectly helps reduce pain and reduce bloating with intestinal colic!
• If a small child is bothered by stomach pain and intestinal colic, then you should give him a special remedy before bedtime, so that at night the baby does not suffer and does not cry from pain. Espumisan drops for children, which effectively and quickly eliminated bloating, helped us very wellhere is a list of cures for colic);
• The same applies to the situation with erupting teeth. Do not make your child uncomfortable. Relieve it of unpleasant sensations by anointing the inflamed gums with a special soothing and cooling gel. For example, Kamistad or Dentinoksom (more TOP - 7 gels for gums);
• Ensure that the baby's daytime nap is of sufficient durationso that the baby does not overwork;
• In some cases (especially if the child is afraid of the dark or is keenly reacting to the mother’s departure from the room), the baby can be offered a joint sleep. Many children immediately calm down, sensing their mother’s presence nearby, begin to sleep much more calmly;
• Try to leave the child to sleep himself, maybe you distract him .. Sometimes it’s the mother who distracts the baby, preventing him from sleeping soundly!
• Do not force the child to overeat before bedtime, because a full stomach often interferes with the process of falling asleep, the body cannot rest fully if it is forced to digest food!

We also read: how to put a child to sleep without tears and vagaries

It is ingenious 🙂

Sometimes you just need to be patient and wait until the cause of bad sleep goes away by itself. For example, teeth will come out sooner or later, and intestinal colic will pass by itself when the baby reaches the age of three months. You can help your child easier to endure such unpleasant periods, more sympathize with him. To provide all possible assistance with colic, often laying the baby on the tummy.

And do not forget that it is very important to always put the children to bed at the same time, comply daily regime! It is simpler and easier for small children to fall asleep in the evening if the time for bedding is the same every day. The baby's biological clock adapts to your regimen. And if you send the child to bed every night at 9 o’clock, then by this time his whole body is already starting to slow down and prepare to fall asleep by itself, no additional tricks are needed.

We also read: the child is a month old and does not sleep well during the day (reasons)

The child does not sleep well at night: How to improve the baby’s sleep and sleep? - Dr. Komarovsky