How to keep the baby from falling asleep?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Master, Doctor Vu Quoc Anh - Pediatrician - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.

1. Why do children sleep so hard?

According to pediatricians, the phenomenon of sleep deprivation and difficulty sleeping in children is not uncommon, due to the following causes:
According to normal physiology, infants and young children are born in the first few months after birth. often have short and not deep sleep, so it is easy to wake up and experience the phenomenon of sleep deprivation. Babies who are breastfed are hungry quickly, so when they are hungry, they will become restless, difficult to maintain long-term sleep. In a few cases when the baby is sick, the body's discomfort also affects the baby's sleep, even many babies will find it difficult to sleep if they are not cuddled and comforted by their mothers. In addition, in infants and young children, the nervous system is not yet fully developed, making it easy for babies to startle, fuss and sleep easily.

2. How to keep the baby from falling asleep?

There are many cases where the baby after birth has difficulty falling asleep or falls asleep but does not maintain sleep for long enough. Each baby will have different ways of expressing sleep deprivation such as lying still, staring at one place, crying for a long time or crying loudly.
So how to keep the baby from falling asleep? Mothers can refer to some of the following methods:
2.1 Create a habit of sleeping on time for babies Normally, after birth, even though babies are crying and upset, it is still very easy to fall asleep immediately. During the first 6 weeks after birth, parents should let the baby breastfeed and sleep on demand whenever the baby wants.
However, most babies sleep and feed at intervals of 30 minutes to 1 hour. Therefore, to create a habit of sleeping on time for the baby, parents can record the time between the baby's feeding and sleeping to change and relax the feedings, helping the baby sleep longer. Besides, this also creates the initiative in terms of care time for both parents.
2.2 Fill your baby's stomach before sleeping Many mothers have a habit of lulling their baby to sleep right in their arms and then putting them down on the bed, but many babies who are fast asleep easily wake up and cry. Therefore, it is best for mothers to feed the baby, when the baby shows signs of sleepiness, put it down on the bed so that the baby has a continuous, unstimulated sleep.
In addition, to make it easier for the baby to sleep, the mother can pat the baby or gently rub his back. It is much better to feed the baby and put it down on the bed before the baby goes to sleep than the baby falling asleep in the mother's arms and easily falling asleep when the mother puts him back in bed.

2.3 Watch for signs of sleepiness Some of the most common signs when a baby wants to go to sleep are lethargy, yawning and being more sluggish. Parents' job is to observe and record these expressions of their child to feed the baby and sleep immediately.
If the baby sleeps too much, the body will not be able to secrete melatonin to soothe fatigue, leading to the child falling asleep, constantly fussing, having trouble sleeping, not sleeping deeply...
2.4 Absolutely no vibrations Shake to lull the baby to sleep Shaking to make the baby fall asleep has become a habit of many mothers today. When the baby is crying continuously, the caregiver will hold the baby in his arms while shaking and singing a lullaby. Some mothers even leave the baby in a hammock or electric cradle and give it to them.
However, even though the baby can sleep in this way, the sleep is not deep, over time the baby will be dependent on shaking to sleep and when the mother puts the baby down on the bed, the baby will cry and refuse to sleep.
Therefore, in order for the baby not to sleep hard, the mother should not create this bad habit for the baby. The best sleeping environment for your baby is on a flat, smooth, airy and low-noise bed.
2.5 Create a familiar sleeping position Even at a very young age, your baby can already feel everything around him. Therefore, in order to limit the baby's sleep, the sleeping position should be fixed, should not change much so that the baby gets used to it. Many babies sleep well only when placed in the right place, in the right place in their bed.

2.6 When the baby is fast asleep, don't breastfeed. Many mothers make mistakes in how to take care of their babies. Some mothers take care of themselves mechanically, like every 30 minutes - 1 hour, they will breastfeed their baby once, because of this method, even if the baby is sleeping soundly in the middle of the night, the mother will force her to breastfeed. It is this seemingly accurate job that causes children to lose good sleep and gradually makes them more restless and difficult to sleep.
2.7 The baby's sleeping space must be comfortable, dark enough, and quiet The baby's sleeping space is also very important, in order for the baby's sleep to be deep and maintain enough time, the baby should be sleeping in a cool room, avoiding drafts , comfortable and quiet. When the baby is sleeping, the mother should minimize the light and noise because these factors cause irritation and make the child uncomfortable, more easily sleeping than usual.
2.8 Using repetitive sounds In many special cases, babies love to hear even sounds and only stop crying when they hear noises like hair dryer, soothing music...
Do That is, when the baby's sleep has problems, the mother can use the same sounds, helping the baby to be more comfortable and easier to fall asleep. In addition, the mother can use white noise to make the baby feel familiar, safe, easy to fall asleep, and eliminate the baby's sleepiness.
For children to be healthy and develop well, it is necessary to have a nutritious diet in terms of quantity and quality balance. If children are not provided with adequate and balanced nutrients, it will lead to diseases of excess or lack of nutrients, which adversely affect the comprehensive development of children in terms of physical, mental and motor skills.
Parents should pay attention to nutrition for children to improve resistance. At the same time, add supporting foods containing lysine, essential micro-minerals and vitamins such as zinc, chromium, selenium, B vitamins,... snacks and less digestive problems.
Parents can learn more:
Why do you need to supplement Lysine for your baby?
The role of zinc - Guidelines for reasonable zinc supplementation
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