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This article is expertly consulted by Master, Doctor Ngo Thi Oanh - Pediatrician - Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Ha Long International General Hospital. Uncle Ho has over 10 years of experience working in the field of Pediatrics and has strengths in examining, diagnosing and treating respiratory, digestive, urological, and child nutrition diseases.Scientific studies have shown that, in the first 3 years of life, children have achieved 80% of the amount of brain cells needed for their whole life, especially in the first 30 days after birth, children have up to 80% of the amount of brain cells needed for their whole life. brain cells compared with 3 months of age.
1. The role of sleep for young children
Get enough sleep to help children increase their concentration, stay alert and intelligent. When children do not get enough sleep, they often have symptoms such as fatigue, slow response, not positive to social interactions. Sleep plays a very important role in the physical and mental development of children. When children get enough sleep, the spirit of children is always excited and active, helping children to grow taller because during sleep, growth hormone is secreted to stimulate the physical development of children. Many scientific studies have shown that sleep deprivation is closely related to obesity, distraction, fatigue, and behavioral disorders that make children irritable, impulsive, and hyperactive.
2. How much sleep is enough for babies?
Infant sleep often does not follow a certain pattern. Newborn babies often sleep more during the day than at night, in their sleep they can move, smile, grimace,... these are completely normal expressions, parents do not need to be alarmed. .
The first weeks after birth, babies usually sleep 18-20 hours at any time of the day, each sleep of a baby can last from 30 minutes to 3 hours.
With babies from <6 months old: Babies begin to sleep on demand and begin to form a sleep-wake cycle, napping during the day is about 3.5 to 5.5 hours shorter than newborn babies.
Children from 6 months to 1 year old: At this age, children have slept according to their circadian rhythms, sleep has started to go on time and the total amount of sleep in this age group is about 14 hours per day.
Trẻ từ 6 tháng – 1 tuổi: Ở độ tuổi này trẻ đã ngủ theo nhịp sinh học
3. Sleep characteristics of infants
Most babies sleep more than they are awake and the average sleep time of a newborn is 16 hours a day, but a baby's sleep is often not continuous but interrupted because the baby's stomach is often small. food, so every two to three hours the baby will wake up to fill his stomach and continue to fall asleep.
If you see a baby sleeping for more than three hours at a time, parents do not need to worry to wake the baby up because experts have proven that a healthy, full-term baby does not need to be woken up to breastfeed. But if your baby wakes up frequently, rest assured that this is only temporary.
In the process of child development, the newborn age is the age that needs the most sleep, the child's sleep needs will gradually decrease and enter the circadian rhythm as the child's age increases. Sleep plays a very important role in the development of a child's brain, body and spirit, because when sleeping is the time when the child's brain cells develop the most and this is also the time when the child's body produces Growth hormone helps in the development of bones and muscles in children.
Children need to provide enough elemental zinc/day for them to eat well, reach the correct height and weight and exceed the standard. Zinc plays a role in affecting most biological processes taking place in the body, especially the breakdown of nucleic acids, proteins... Organs in the body when zinc deficiency can lead to a There are a number of diseases such as neurological disorders, irritability, etc. Therefore, parents need to learn about the role of zinc and guide them to appropriate zinc supplements for their children.
In addition to zinc, parents also need to supplement their children with other important vitamins and minerals such as lysine, chromium, B vitamins,... errands.
Please regularly visit Vinmec.com website and update useful information to take care of your baby and family.
