Why is sleeping important for babies

Why Sleep is Important For Kids' and Babies' Development

The Importance of Sleep in Child Development

Besides the obvious, have you ever wondered why sleep is important to your baby? It’s time to dive into how sleep impacts brain development, and how it powers mental and physical development in your baby. Plus, get five tips on how you can encourage it.

Medically reviewed by a board-certified pediatrician

Ah, the sweet sound of a baby sleeping soundly. You’re probably relieved when they fall asleep—you can finally rest, too! But another reason to feel good about your resting baby is that sleep also plays an important role in infant brain development.

Stats on Baby’s Sleep

Bedtime and naptime are highly productive periods for your baby.

Babies spend 80% of their time in active sleep while in the womb
From birth to age 2, children spend more time asleep than awake
40% of childhood is spent in slumber
Half of their sleep is in the active phase (REM sleep) until 6 months of age

Not coincidentally, it’s during these early phases of life that the brain is busiest growing.

Phases of Baby’s Sleep

Just like adults, your baby cycles through two main kinds of sleep: active (rapid eye movement, also known as REM) and quiet (non-REM).

Active sleep. Key neuronal, or brain cell, connections are made. The brain literally lays down the tracks for everything it learns, pruning away little-used connections. Active sleep is when we dream.
Quiet sleep. The muscles receive increased blood supply, energy is restored, and tissue growth and repair take place.

Importance of Baby’s Sleep

While it looks like your baby is just catching z’s, the reality is that an enormous amount of physical and mental development happens during their sleep. An essential layer of fat called myelin forms around nerve fibers during sleep, and recent research shows connections between the left and right hemispheres of children’s brains are strengthened during sleep.

These developments help brain functions mature. They also influence critical abilities such as language, attention, and impulse control. Brain activity during sleep has a direct effect on a child’s ability to learn and may even affect developmental and mood disorders. Simply put, sleep builds your baby’s brain.

5 Ways to Support Your Baby’s Sleep

Now that you know the importance of sleep for your baby, help them get the rest they need for strong brain development. Here are five simple steps.

Recognize the Importance of Sleep.
Sleep is as crucial as proper nutrition in supporting your baby’s brain development. A Canadian study of toddlers found that those who got the most sleep were better at function and skills—including the ability to pay attention, set goals, and stay on task.
Know the Signs of Sleepiness.
Sleepy signs can vary by age and personality. Some little ones are eye-rubbers, while others get fussy.
Put Them to Bed Drowsy vs. Sound Asleep.
Over time this strategy may help your baby learn how to get back to sleep on their own when they wake up. All babies awaken briefly between their 1.5- to 2-hour sleep cycles. If you rock your baby to sleep, they might expect this when they wake up in the night.
Swaddling.
Some experts believe babies younger than 6 months sleep better when wrapped in a blanket. Others say tight swaddling interferes with the development of the hips. If you want to try swaddling, talk with your doctor about how to do it properly so that the blanket isn’t too loose, covers the head, or inhibits breathing.
Take Full Advantage of Alert, Awake Time.
By providing interesting things for your baby to engage with by day, you make them more likely to sleep well at night. You can do this by having fun conversations, bringing them outside to see the sights, and giving them colorful toys to play with.

Now that you know how important sleep is for your growing baby’s brain, you can rest assured every time they rest up! And, if you’d like to help them get better rest, here’s how to master the art of sleep.

The importance of sleep in your baby’s first year

Newborns spend around 70% of their time asleep, sleeping often, but in short periods. When they’re awake, they need feeding, changing and lots of TLC, which leaves parents exhausted. As this sleep routine is very different to parents’ sleep, many worry over whether their baby is sleeping well. There are then extra concerns when the baby goes through phases of change in their sleep pattern.

So, it’s understandable that your child’s sleep can add to your worries, but it’s also important that you’re getting enough sleep yourself. Our previous post in this series looks at the importance of sleep for parents and the first post looks at the importance of sleep during pregnancy. In this post we’ll be focusing on where it all starts: the first year of your baby’s life. We’ve taken a look at the science behind what affects babies’ sleep and the importance of good sleep for their development, along with some tips on how you can improve and encourage it.

Keep an eye out for more posts in this series, in which we’ll be looking at the importance of sleep as your little one grows.

How much should my baby sleep?

The chart above shows how much, on average, babies sleep during a 24-hour period. Of course, every baby is different and each baby’s individual pattern will change and evolve. Some babies can get by on less, and some may need more, so don’t worry if they aren’t sleeping for the average amount of time, or if their daytime and night time sleep patterns aren’t balanced in this way – they will gradually get into a rhythm as they grow. It is advised that at 0-3 months, they should sleep for more than 11 hours but less than 19, and at 4-11 months they should sleep for more than 10 hours but less than 18. If you think that your baby is sleeping too much or not enough, you should contact your healthcare professional.

A baby’s sleep cycle is different to that of an older child or adult. We looked at the sleep cycle of adults in the first post in this series: 4 stages of REM and non-REM sleep in 90 minute cycles, where only 20-25% of sleep is REM. Infants, on the other hand, have sleep cycles of around 50 minutes (for the first 9 months), and around half of it is REM sleep. REM sleep is used to consolidate memories and is critical to a baby’s development.

Shorter sleep cycles mean that they may wake more often, but they will normally just stir and fall back to sleep. They will wake up properly when they need to feed. In the first few weeks they may wake every 2-4 hours, but as their stomach gets bigger, they will take more in at each feed and only need to wake every 4-5 hours. It’s normal for your baby to have lots of night wakings when they are young, but then they learn to self soothe and fall back to sleep on their own as they adjust to the world. Remember to follow safe sleep advice when it comes to your baby’s sleep environment.

From around 6 months, your baby could stop needing night feeds so may wake up less often and eventually sleep through the night. According to Thiedke, “Children who previously slept through the night can sometimes resume night awakening, usually because of social factors rather than maturational ones. ” It may take a while and they may even regress, but don’t panic if your baby is taking their time to get settled into their routine. It may be difficult, but by not responding to your baby straight away, they can learn to self soothe and fall back to sleep by themselves (although you shouldn’t leave them to cry).

Baby sleep problems

Around 20% of babies in the UK are reported to have sleeping difficulties in their first year – so if this is happening in your family, you’re not alone. Erratic, disrupted sleep can just be temporary while your baby gets used to things, but there may also be underlying issues for these problems. If your baby is having sleep problems that are concerning you, you may need to contact your healthcare professional.

Baby sleep problems include:

Excessive sleepiness or insomnia

Although your little one will sleep a lot, they generally should not sleep more than 19 hours at 0-3 months, or 18 hours at 4-11 months. If your baby is sleeping for an excessive amount of time, it may be due to a growth spurt, teething or illness, but it can also be a sign of an underlying condition (discussed below).

It is possible that things can go in the other direction, and you baby may suffer from infant insomnia, which can also be a sign of teething or illness, or other underlying problems such as colic.

Disruptive sleep apnoea

Sleep apnoea is often thought of as a problem that arises as we get older but, although it is rare, it can occur in infants. This may be because of airway abnormalities that can cause the airway to collapse, obstructing their breathing. It has been found that infants have “both anatomical and psychological predispositions toward airway obstruction and gas exchange abnormalities.”

Sleep apnoea is more prevalent in premature babies. It affects 84% of infants who weigh less than 2.2 pounds, and 25% who weigh less than 5.5 pounds. Research shows that it also correlates with gestational age – it affects nearly all infants born at 29 weeks or less, 54% born at 30 to 31 weeks and 15% born at 32-33 weeks.

Look out for the signs of obstructive sleep apnoea:

Pauses in breathing lasting for 20 seconds or more
Patterns of repeated breathing pauses that last for less than 20 seconds
Related problems like low oxygen or a slow heartbeat

Other underlying medical conditions

If your baby is suffering from sleep problems, they may not be environmental or behavioural; it is possible that they have an underlying medical condition, such as:

A fever
An infection (ear, yeast, urinary tract, parasitic or respiratory)
Abnormal reflux

Sleep problems can also be caused by underlying psychiatric conditions such as mental health conditions(which are difficult to diagnose in babies but will become more apparent later in life) or ADHD. A study by Thunström found that around 25% of children with sleep problems in infancy will later qualify for the diagnosis of ADHD.

Separation anxiety

If you move your baby into their own room after 6 months, they may experience separation anxiety. It is completely normal, but it can be a difficult time. At around 4-7 months your baby will develop object permanence, which means that they can understand that objects (i.e. mum or dad) still exist even when they can’t be seen. This may lead to fussing or crying (instead of sleeping) when they’re left in their own room, but they will learn (over time) that this doesn’t mean you’re gone forever. This type of anxiety has been found to be more prominent in infants between 8 and 12 months. See the tips section below for advice on dealing with separation anxiety.

Genes

Some sleep problems may simply be down to your baby’s genes. We previously discussed how gene mutations in adults can affect sleep duration, and this is also an issue for some infants. Research by Touchette et al found that genes can have a big impact on whether children sleep through the night (specifically at night time rather than day time). It is also thought that if a parent suffers from insomnia, it can make their baby more predisposed to it.

Environmental factors

A study by Jian and Douglas looked at the relationship between mothers’ emotional availability and infant temperament and sleep. They found a correlation between parent-infant interactions and infant sleep problems, and that “high level of parental involvement, short response latency to infant awakenings, and active soothing at bedtime have been related to frequent infant night wakings in correlational and experimental studies.” Of course, it’s important to be there for your child and to make them feel safe, but too much involvement may lead to more disrupted sleep.

Being emotionally available at bedtime without overdoing it can make your baby feel secure and allow them to rest easier. Research by Jian and Teti looked at babies between 1 and 6 months and found that this emotional availability (interpreting and responding to a child’s signals, supporting them, interacting peacefully while not restricting or interfering with the child’s exploration of their environment) resulted in increased sleep time. Another study by Teti et al found that “parents’ emotional availability to children in sleep contexts promotes feelings of safety and security and, as a result, better-regulated child sleep.” So it’s important to find the right balance of emotional availability.

Moving your baby into their own room may also impact their sleep, but it’s important to stick with it rather than move them back and confuse them. It may seem like a mean thing to do, but not responding to their every noise and allowing them to self soothe can help to regulate their mood, help improve the quality of their sleep (and yours) and make them calmer and better at concentrating in the future. Other environmental factors may include noise, lighting, temperature and hunger.

What does sleep impact?

Growth

Babies double their birth weight by around 5 months, and triple it by around 12 months. This is a lot of growth in such a short space of time, and good sleep plays an important role in this.

Somatotropin is a growth hormone which is released throughout the day, but “approximately 80% of it is released soon after a child or adolescent is in the Non-REM stage of sleep.” So not getting enough sleep can stunt their physical development. A study by Lampl and Johnson showed a link between increased bursts of sleep and growth spurts in body length, which showed that growth spurts both occur during sleep and are influenced by it – it is thought that this may be because of the release of somatotropin during sleep.

Weight gain

It has also been found that short sleep duration can lead to childhood obesity. Research by Tikotzky et al found significant correlations between sleep and growth in babies’ first six months, and research by Taveras et al looked at 915 children and found that “daily sleep duration of less than 12 hours during infancy appears to be a risk factor for overweight and adiposity in preschool-aged children. ” So although good sleep helps them grow, less sleep can affect their weight in a negative way.

Mental development & learning

Your baby’s brain roughly doubles in size in their first year. They develop rapidly, and a lot of their learning is done while they sleep. Research by Ednick et al looked at a number of studies focused around sleep and mental development in infants and found correlations between normal sleep development and higher developmental scores, and “higher motor activity and night waking negatively correlated with mental scores.” They also looked at studies that showed that children with ‘difficult’ temperaments slept less, and that increased sleep correlated with ‘easy’ temperaments, although this is difficult to measure.

Just like older children and adults, sleep is critical when it comes to memory consolidation. According to Tarullo et al, sleep allows infants to strengthen their memories and things they’ve learned while awake, prepares them for the processing and exploration of their environment and allows them to “process sensory stimuli and learn about contingencies in their environment. ” This processing of information that happens during sleep is important, especially in the first year, as this is when a child is completely new to the world and is learning all about their bodies and their environment.

Immune system

Sleep is important for our immune system at any age, but it is especially important for babies, as their immune systems are still immature and not as strong as adults. It takes time for immunity to develop, and sleep plays a role in this. If a baby is sleep deprived, they are more prone to disease and infection, and it can affect their recovery time. Being ill can also negatively impact their sleep, disrupting their sleep cycle and giving them less quality sleep overall.

Tips on improving their sleep

It’s completely understandable that it may be difficult to get your baby to sleep for the recommended amount of time, or to keep things consistent. Some little ones may wake at regular times, fall back to sleep easily and start sleeping through the night at 5 months; others may have sporadic sleep patterns, cry and fuss when they should be sleeping and not sleep through the night until they are past their first year. This does not mean you are any better or worse at being a parent – you’re doing a great job.

The current recommendation from the UK Department of Health, the NICE Guidelines, the NHS and the American Association of Paediatrics is that, “the safest place for your baby to sleep for the first six months is in a cot in the same room as you.” After that, you may move them to their own room (if possible). See our blog post on co-sleeping for more.

We’ve put together a few tips that might help you if you’re having problems with your baby’s sleep.

Create a comfortable sleep environment

To create a comfortable sleep environment, it’s important that your baby isn’t too hot or too cold. The Lullaby Trust recommends that the room temperature should be between 16 – 20°C, and you should use lightweight bedding – “Babies who are unwell need fewer, not more bedclothes.” And “Babies do not need to wear hats indoors, nor sleep under a duvet or quilt.” Put your hand on their back or neck to feel if they are too warm – they may be clammy or sweaty if they are.

Other things that can create a comfortable environment are keeping it very quiet, or using white noise or lullabies to soothe your baby to sleep. Use these sounds only before bed to help condition your baby to learn the difference between night and day / sleep and awake time. You also do not want to have any fluorescent light around your baby before bedtime or during night feeds and changes, so a dim nightlight that’s free from blue light will reduce disturbances and help them to sleep better.

Establish a consistent bedtime routine

For example: bath, feed, cuddle, story time, bed. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, but it should be the same every night, and you should try to get them down at the same time each night. This can help to get your child into a rhythm that will eventually allow them to sleep through the night. It might also be an idea to adjust your own bedtime to around 10 pm or earlier, to allow for more sleep for yourself.

Put them into their cot when they’re drowsy but still awake

Look out for signs of sleepiness, such as yawning, looking away, fussing or eye rubbing. If you put your baby in their cot before they fall asleep, they will begin to get used to falling asleep without you. In turn, this can mean that they will fall back to sleep after night wakings without too much of a disturbance.

Keep activity to a minimum during night wakings

Don’t talk, play, turn on the light (use a dim nightlight to see), or use your phone while you wait for them to fall back to sleep. If you’re trying to soothe them, try stroking them in their crib instead of holding them, or sing soft lullabies instead of upbeat sing-songs. If they’re hungry, make sure they are having full feeds to reduce the risk of them waking up due to hunger soon after.

Be emotionally available but not overbearing

It’s important to keep your baby feeling safe and secure, but too much involvement may hinder their sleep. A reasonable level of emotional availability includes responding sensitively to your baby’s cues, using soothing bedtime routines, not initiating play or too much talking and not becoming impatient or irritable.

As discussed previously, they will wake a lot in the night but won’t always need attention – if you hear them stir, don’t respond straight away as it’s likely they will fall back to sleep. If they continue making noises or crying then they may need feeding, changing or attention. Self soothing will help their sleep cycles to link, improving their sleep quality and, in turn, improving their health and development.

Conquer separation anxiety

Although it will take time for your baby to get used to being away from you (either to sleep or being left with another caregiver), there are a few things that you can try to make this time a little bit easier:

Don’t leave them when they’re hungry
Create a goodbye ritual – try singing or talking as you leave the room and for some time while they can’t see you
Play peek-a-boo, or hide and seek in the same room while continuing to talk to get them used to you coming back
Keep smiling to show your baby that everything is OK
Don’t try to sneak away – be firm and let them see you leave

Don’t compare your baby to other babies

It may be difficult, but regardless of how your baby sleeps, as long as they are healthy and happy you shouldn’t worry if they’re sleeping differently to others. It may help to join a baby and toddler group to share experiences with like-minded people, or to try online forums. And don’t feel ashamed to ask for help – parenthood can be a huge challenge, and close friends and family are sure to be happy to be able to spend some time with your little angel.

We hope this has helped you to understand how important sleep is right from the very start of life. Look out for more posts, in which we’ll be looking at the importance of sleep as your baby grows.

Let us know in the comments below if you have any questions or tips on improving your baby’s sleep!

90,000 child's dream - a site about a child’s dream

07/28/2014

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How to establish a dream

9–18 months

Elena Muradova

Head of the Center Babysleep, first consultant on sleep in Russia, author of the BabySleep methodology

Mother of three children

Most parents will agree that good sleep is essential for a child's timely physical, mental and psychological development. nine0003

But the experience of BabySleep consultants shows that only a few people know that the quality of sleep directly affects almost all aspects of a little person's life, from his height and weight to school performance.

Child's crisis calendar

Case study

Elena Muradova

Head of the BabySleep Center, the first sleep consultant in Russia, author of the BabySleep methodology

The importance of healthy sleep in a child's life is underestimated. nine0003

At the start of each workshop, I usually ask parents to think for a few minutes about why it's important to get their little one to sleep well. Surprisingly, the reaction of the participants almost always occurs according to the same pattern:

The question is in the eyes - why, because it is already clear that sleep is very important for a child.
Intense reflections - it turns out that no one had really thought about this before (unlike, for example, “the importance of a balanced diet”). It turns out that parents do not have much information to give a specific answer to this question. nine0041
Feeling of responsibility for the child's sleep, awareness of the importance of this process, desire to work on the situation - after a collective discussion of the issue.

Changing sleep habits is not easy, but it's worth it

Improving a baby's sleep is almost always preceded by consistent work on the part of the parents. Often, the process of improving sleep involves changing some of the family's habits (for example, switching to earlier bedtime and early rise). And, as you know, changing habits is difficult. Our brain can resist new information, because it is much easier for it to work according to familiar and understandable "schemes". We resist, because changing habits is almost always a way out of the comfort zone. One side. On the other hand, this is the only way to get some other future. Or rather, the present, in which there are no 6-8 exhausting awakenings at night, many hours of motion sickness before going to bed and tears of a constantly sleepless child. nine0003

If your little one really has trouble sleeping and you want to help, you can get started today. You should not put off healthy sleep "for later" and wait for the baby to "outgrow this nightmare." It is important for a child to “pour out” his individual sleep rate at each age.

10 reasons to ensure healthy sleep for your baby

1. Development and growth of the child's brain

Most newborns are awake for no more than 50 to 60 minutes between long periods of sleep. Never again will a baby sleep as much as in their first 4-6 months of life. At the same time, the proportion of the so-called REM sleep (when the baby dreams) is 2 times greater than it is in an adult. nine0003

Such a difference in the structure of sleep is not accidental! The key task of the first half of a child's life is the maturation and growth of the brain. And this most important process occurs precisely in sleep: dreams contribute to the emergence of visual images, thereby stimulating brain growth.

2. Recuperation and energy storage
One of the main functions of sleep, both for children and for their parents, is anabolic (cumulative), bringing a feeling of physical rest, allowing you to restore energy potential. nine0003

The role of deep, non-fragmentary (without frequent awakenings) sleep of babies from 6 months increases many times over. In theory, we know that during deep sleep, there is a brief partial drain of blood from the brain to the muscles, which helps babies prepare for new physical activities. In practice, a 6-month-old baby who does not get enough sleep will most likely constantly “live” in his mother’s arms - rub his eyes and act up, and we are more likely to notice a baby of the same age who sleeps well next to his mother on the floor, enthusiastically practicing a new skill - to sit or crawl. nine0003

3. Attention and memory
Sleep is necessary for a child, first of all, in order to gradually streamline knowledge and ideas about the world. “This complex process involves the functions of attention, memory, systematization, and many others, in the implementation of which sleep takes the most direct and immediate part. Sleep disorders in children significantly reduce the productivity of these functions,” say somnologists. It is sleep that helps the child to learn new knowledge and skills, to consolidate them. nine0003

If you take your baby to developmental activities, but at the same time he does not systematically get enough sleep, the benefits of such a pastime are minimal. In our practice, there are absolutely real cases when an increase in the daily norm of sleep by 1-2 hours had a positive effect on a child's school performance. Not to mention the fact that more and more studies confirm the connection between the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and lack of sleep.

4. Growth and development of the body
Unlike an adult's body, a child's body is actively growing and developing. Scientists have found that growth hormone (somatotropic hormone) is secreted in the most significant amounts (80%) in the first two hours of sleep. Sleep deprivation in childhood can lead to stunted growth and physical development.

Knowing with what trepidation parents relate to the health of their babies, I immediately want to make a reservation: you should not look for a problem where it does not exist. But if your child goes to bed close to midnight, he is not getting enough of the deep sleep he needs for growth and development. nine0003

5. Psychological protection
The day of the child is filled with events and impressions. Sleep helps to relieve the colossal psycho-emotional stress experienced by the baby, especially in our time of “razvilki”, stimulants and electronic devices.

The process of cognition of the world - mastering everything new, unexpected for a child is inevitably associated with stress. Sleep acts as a kind of universal plant for the processing of psychological stress, negative emotions, and stress. With a lack of sleep, parents can observe emotional disorders and deterioration in the child's behavior. nine0003

Quite often we get letters of thanks that go something like this: “Before my baby could sleep well, I thought he smiled so little because that was his temperament. When he began to get enough sleep, it suddenly turned out that I have the most smiling baby in the world. Healthy sleep is one of the key factors in the psychological health of the baby.

6. Strengthening the immune system
Sound sleep helps the body resist infections. According to American studies, in infectious diseases, the number of cells that defeat a viral infection is reduced by 30% if a person does not get enough sleep. nine0003

During deep sleep, the body recovers, at this time the immune system is “charged”. That is why many children (and adults too) sleep more during illness - they are "treated" by sleep. There are, of course, babies who find it very difficult to fall asleep and sleep during an illness due to discomfort and pain (some, for example, can only sleep on their hands). It is extremely necessary during this difficult period (which, fortunately, passes quickly) to create all the conditions for a comfortable rest and sleep of the child, often acting to the detriment of the comfort of parents. But the faster the baby sleeps off, the easier it will be for his body to cope with a viral infection. nine0003

7. Great mood
This is a special point that everyone understands. When we do not get enough sleep, it can even be difficult for us to just smile. When the baby does not get enough sleep, the day is most likely to fail for all family members.

Good sleep sets a positive vector for the whole day. However, all children are different. Lack of sleep can make someone feel a little "snort", while other children who do not get enough sleep can turn into uncontrollable ones, do not respond to the words of adults, become "difficult" children. nine0003

8. Safety and sustainability
We will not be able to drive the car normally in a state of severe sleep deprivation. There is a high chance of falling asleep while driving. Just like adults, children are at great risk of falling down stairs or cycling if they don't get enough sleep. You may have noticed some "unsteadiness" in your babies during the day, when they did not sleep well at night or during the day.

If a baby "gathers all the corners" - this, of course, can be one of the stages of his physical development and a way of mastering space. But still, we recommend that you always, and especially during this period, monitor the daily norm of a child’s sleep, prevent overwork and the accumulation of fatigue. nine0003

9. Overweight problems in perspective
For several years now, our BabySleep Center for Child Sleep and Development has been monitoring research that suggests that sleep deprivation can lead to obesity in the future. At the same time, scientists argue that both children of the first three years, and schoolchildren, adolescents and their parents are at risk. The principle is always the same: when a person sleeps little, he starts to eat more. I would venture to suggest that almost every adult has faced the desire to go to the refrigerator once again in the late evening. There is a perfectly logical scientific justification for this desire. nine0003

For example, studying the relationship between body weight and sleep duration in schoolchildren, American experts found that children began to eat more high-calorie foods when they were reduced sleep. Scientists believe that this is due to a decrease in the production of a hormone responsible for the feeling of satiety. Because of this, the satiety signal reaches the brain with a delay and causes overeating.

In principle, it is not common for a person to think about what will happen in the distant future. However, given the growing trend of mindful parenting in general, I'm sure this argument for quality sleep in toddlers will be heard. nine0003

10. Mother's depression
The last reason, which is no less important than all the others, is the unstable emotional state of the mother, and sometimes depression when the child does not sleep well. It is not always easy to figure out what is the cause and what is the effect in each case. A baby whose mother is in an unstable emotional state sleeps worse and behaves restlessly in a dream (confirmed by research) or a mother begins to suffer from depression as a result of constant lack of sleep against the background of a child’s poor sleep (which, by the way, is also a very real situation). nine0003

In everyday life, people often refer to depression as simply long periods of bad mood. However, true depression is a very serious condition. A depressed person needs medical help. According to studies, up to 50% of women who suffer from lack of sleep during the first three years of a baby's life need medical help.

Regardless of the causal relationship, it is essential that everyone start getting enough sleep as soon as possible to prevent the problem from getting worse. nine0003

Is there a problem?

The purpose of this article is solely to inform parents of the importance and necessity of quality sleep in a young child's life. Just as you consistently and thoughtfully introduce complementary foods to your baby, we encourage you to monitor your baby's sleep throughout its growth and development.

We recommend that you observe, but do not panic and start worrying if everything is fine with your baby. All children are different and the concept of “sleep rate” is only an average guideline for parents who have questions and doubts. As in many other "childish" matters, here you should trust your intuition and observe the needs of YOUR child. If the baby does not get enough sleep, as a rule, this is immediately obvious: he rarely stays in a good mood, often falls asleep and wakes up in tears, throws real tantrums, especially in the evening. nine0003

Tips from practice

Quite often, especially if this is the first baby in the family, young parents do not think that the baby's tears and strong crying can be a signal: "Mom, I want to sleep." If your baby is one of those who does not fall asleep calmly when he gets tired, pay attention to the table of wakefulness between sleeps. As a rule, newborns can calmly stay awake for no more than an hour, babies under 4 months - no more than two hours.

Sometimes, after the age of 1.5 years, parents do not see a direct connection between "capricious" behavior and lack of sleep. Try putting your baby to bed before 8:30 pm for 5-7 days and see how his behavior changes. If he becomes more accommodating and smiling, then you are on the right track. And your most beloved, but “difficult” child really didn’t get enough sleep. nine0003

Another reality

Many things can be different: parents and children can get enough sleep! There is no need to see problems where there are none. But if there is a problem, then there is a solution.

According to the experience of our consultations, we can say with confidence that a sufficient amount of sleep for a child and, as a result, for his parents, can work wonders, qualitatively change people's lives.

Healthy sleep is a vital necessity for every child and one of the keys to happy parenting. nine0003

Please tell us in the comments what role sleep plays in your family's life? What has been the strongest motivation for you in an effort to improve your baby's sleep? Has your life changed since your sleep improved?

#useful

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How important is a child's sleep? - Club for moms. All About Pregnancy, Baby & Toddler Development

We all know how important sleep is. It gives our body time to relax and helps us prepare for the new day. For children, sleep is even more important. Your baby discovers new sounds and movements every day. Therefore, it is extremely important that he rests sufficiently between these periods of discovery, assimilating all new information. But did you know that the rest period is also important for the immune system of the child? nine0003

What is the importance of a newborn's sleep?

Sleep is often thought of as a passive activity when in fact it is an active process. Despite the limited amount of waking hours during which your little one can explore, there are still many important things going on during sleep. Newborn sleep is different from adult sleep, and your little one's unique sleep patterns can facilitate new learning. A child's brain develops and matures as it prepares to process and explore its environment. Research shows that children learn and process reactions to the world around them... in their sleep. nine0003

Sleep and the immune system

Enough sleep is essential for the proper functioning of the immune system. In other words, lack of sleep can adversely affect the normal functioning of the immune system. If a child doesn't get enough sleep, they are more likely to become ill when exposed to a virus, such as the common cold. In addition, insufficient sleep can affect how quickly the baby recovers from illness. During sleep, the immune system releases proteins called "cytokines". If your child gets an infection, the production of cytokines increases to fight it. However, if the baby does not sleep long enough, this can affect the amount of protective cytokines produced. In addition, lack of sleep also causes a decrease in the number of antibodies and cells that normally fight infections. nine0172 1

Thus, if a child does not sleep enough, his body will not be able to fight infections as well as if he had enough sleep. In this regard, it is important to create a thoughtful sleep program for your baby. And let's be honest: the moments when your child sleeps not only help his immune system, but also give you the opportunity to recover yourself. Everything is positive!

How to put your baby to sleep without unnecessary worries

There are people who need a little less sleep than others to feel good. However, everyone needs a night's rest. When your baby is just born, his sleep takes 60182 to most of the day. But as the child grows older, he begins to sleep longer without waking up: his sleep and wakefulness pattern is formed. At the same time, many parents understand that putting a child to sleep is not at all easy. Here are 2 simple tips to help your baby fall asleep faster.

https://www.aptaclub.lv/ru/zdorovje-mladenca/razvitie/vazhno-znat/sovety-dlya-spokojnogo-sna
https://www.aptaclub.lv/ru/zdorovje-mladenca/razvitie/ vazhno-znat/sovety-dlya-sladkogo-sna

Resource:

1. Eric J. Olson, MD, Lack of sleep: Can it make you sick? , 2018), https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/expert-answers/lack-of-sleep/faq-20057757

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