This is an automatically translated article.
For babies and young children, it is very important for them to be able to sleep well, to sleep deeply and to get enough sleep. One of the ways to make your baby fall asleep is to teach them to distinguish between day and night, keep their bedroom dark and quiet, and don't talk while they sleep.
1. How do babies sleep?
Most babies will sleep throughout the day and night, waking up only to feed (about every 2 to 3 hours). Because babies have small stomachs, they get hungry quickly, so they have to wake up after a few hours to feed.
At the same time, babies can't distinguish between day and night, so some babies will sleep during the day and wake up more at night. Normally, a newborn baby will sleep for about 8 to 9 hours during the day and an additional 8 hours at night, for a total of about 16-17 hours/day.
Most babies will begin to fall asleep continuously (6 - 8 hours) without waking by 3 months of age or when they are about 6 kg. Usually, there's no need to wake an infant to feed, but you shouldn't let your baby sleep for more than 3 hours without feeding. In special cases, such as premature babies, low birth weight babies, children with gastroesophageal reflux disease, etc., they may need to breastfeed more often.
2. Stages of an infant's sleep
Sleep for babies and young children, just like adults, is divided into many different stages. Depending on the stage, the baby can lie still or still move. There are 2 main types of sleep:
Rapid sleep (REM): This is light sleep, in this sleep the baby can dream and make rapid eye movements in the front and back direction. Although babies sleep a lot, about 16 hours a day, up to half is REM sleep. Older children and adults sleep less and less REM sleep. Slow sleep (Non-REM) has 4 stages: Stage 1 - drowsiness: The child will have symptoms of sleepiness such as drooping eyelids or may blink continuously, dozing off. Stage 2 - lethargy: At this stage, the baby may still move, startle, twist, and say "hey". Stage 3 - deep sleep: The baby will be quiet and not moving. Stage 4 - Very Deep Sleep: The baby will be quiet and motionless and difficult to wake. Baby's sleep occurs in cycles, sequentially from stage 1, then to stage 2, stage 3, then stage 4, then back to stage 2, and then to sleep. REM. In a baby's sleep there can be several sleep cycles as above. Babies may wake up when they go from deep sleep to lethargy, and then it will be difficult for them to fall back to sleep.
Một trong những cách làm trẻ dễ ngủ đó là dạy trẻ phân biệt ngày và đêm
3. How does infant awakening happen?
Newborns can wake up in many ways. If your baby wakes at the end of the sleep cycle, he or she will begin a quiet awakening phase. Babies still lie quietly during this stage, despite being alert and aware of their surroundings. During quiet awakening, babies can see things or stare at an object and respond to sounds and touch.
This phase will usually be transitioned to active wakefulness. During active wakefulness, babies also pay attention to all sounds and images, but the difference is that they move. After this stage, the baby will move more and may cry loudly. Newborns may experience increased arousal during the crying phase. At this point you need to calm your baby down by holding him close to you or wrapping him in a towel.
It's best to breastfeed your baby before going into the crying phase. During the crying phase, your baby may be too upset to breastfeed. For babies, crying is the last response when they feel hungry, after the baby has made some signs such as looking for the breast, putting his hand in his mouth...
4. Some ways to make children fall asleep easily
As early as 6 weeks, babies can learn to sleep well. In this age group, there are a few ways to make your baby fall asleep fastest:
4.1. Recognizing the signs of sleepiness in babies During the first 6-8 weeks after birth, babies will not be able to stay awake for more than 2 hours continuously. If you keep your baby awake for longer than 2 hours, he will be too tired and will have trouble falling asleep again.
Therefore, you need to be aware of the signs that your baby is sleepy such as blinking continuously, half-lidded, pulling ears, yawning. Don't worry, you will soon have a 6th sense to recognize that your baby is sleepy. If you notice that your baby is drowsy, put your baby in a crib or bed.
4.2. Teaching babies to recognize day and night One of the ways to make babies fall asleep easier is to teach them the difference between day and night. Some babies have a habit of staying up at night right from the womb. You may notice this when you see your baby kicking around in the womb more at night. After the baby is born, the baby still maintains this habit and it makes you tired because the baby refuses to sleep when you are already squinting. You will not be able to change this habit of the baby in the first few days after birth, but can only start teaching it when the baby is 2 weeks old by:
Daytime, while the baby is awake:
You should Play with children as much as possible. You should talk and sing to your baby during daytime feedings. Make sure there is plenty of light in the child's bedroom during the day. You don't need to eliminate all daytime noises such as TV, radio, washing machine... If your baby is nursing and shows signs of falling asleep, you should gently wake him up. Night:
Need to keep quiet at night and speak softly when feeding at night. Keeping the bedroom dark and quiet, not talking to the child much is a way to help the child fall asleep easily. It is necessary to teach children that the night is the time to sleep from the time they are 2 weeks old, it is not too late to teach them this.
4.3. Teaching your baby to fall asleep on their own is one of the ways to make your baby fall asleep. You can start teaching your baby to fall asleep on his own when he's 6-8 weeks old. You should put the baby in the crib or bed when the baby is sleepy but still awake. How you put your baby to sleep in the first 8 weeks after birth is very important. If you put your baby in a hammock or rocking cradle in the first 8 weeks after birth, the baby will get used to it and can't sleep if it's not rocked or shaken like that. Therefore, experts recommend that you do not hold your baby rocking, do not give your baby a pacifier to coax the baby to sleep right after birth.
You need to establish a routine before the baby goes to sleep like singing lullabies, listening to soft music, patting the bottom, gently scratching the head... but remember that you will have to do this every night, so you should choose What is both appropriate for your child and “workable” for you? You can hold your baby until he falls asleep and then put him down, not let him sleep in your arms and then put him down.
Không trò chuyện với trẻ nhiều là cách làm trẻ dễ ngủ
Newborns are like a blank sheet of paper, they will be a good, easy-to-sleep baby if you don't miss this time to teach them good sleep habits. Your baby's sleep is not only important for your baby's development, it's also important for you. If your child is restless at night, you will also lack sleep and not have enough health and spirit to take good care of your child. Therefore, choose wisely how to put your baby to sleep so that both you and your baby can sleep well.
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