How to put a child to sleep: advice to parents with the comment of a psychologist

Healthy sleep is one of the main conditions for the proper development and growth of the child, so it is very important to adjust the sleep and wakefulness in the first year of life. In this article, you can learn about the conditions that need to be created for a child’s sleep, and also get some recommendations on how to put your child to bed easily and quickly.

The content of the article:
Sleep baby from 0 to 6 months
Sleep baby from 6 months to 1.5 years
Sleep baby from 1.5 to 3 years
General recommendations
Psychologist's comment

Day routine and bedtime ritual

Regardless of the age of the baby, parents must work out a certain mode of the day to make it easier to put him to sleep. When a child knows what to expect, he feels more relaxed and confident.

Repeating day-to-day sequences of simple actions allow the child to predict what he now faces, so he easily gives in to a familiar ritual.

What is a bedtime ritual? This is a fixed sequence of actions that will prepare the baby for sleep, giving him a signal that it is time to calm down and go to bed. Depending on the age of the baby, it may differ and contain different actions that will precede falling asleep. The main thing is to repeat them day after day in order to develop the habit of the baby.

Sleep baby from 0 to 6 months

The first half of his life, the baby spends nearly two thirds of all time in a dream. A healthy child at this age should sleep from 16 to 18 hours a day. It is very important already at this age to learn how to put your child to sleep in such a way that he would fall asleep in a calm atmosphere, without tearful crying and long motion sicknesses.

Joint dream

Today, the method of sharing sleep is very popular, which is that the child does not sleep in a separate bed, but together with the parents in their bed. This choice may be due to the fact that the child does not sleep well away from the mother, or the mother’s desire to constantly be with the baby.

If you are practicing joint sleep, then laying down the child should not cause you particular difficulties: feeling the presence of mom nearby, feeling its smell and warmth, the child will fall asleep pretty quickly, if nothing bothers him.

The benefits of sharing sleep

Many modern doctors are in favor of this option, since it has a beneficial effect on the establishment of good lactation due to frequent breastfeeding at night. In addition, joint sleep allows the mother to get more sleep, because she does not have to get up several times during the night to feed the baby.

Cons of sleeping together

When a child sleeps with his parents from birth, he becomes very accustomed to this, so it is quite difficult to train for separate sleep. According to statistics, most children are taught to sleep on their own only from the age of 3-4 years.

Of course, joint sleep brings inconvenience to both parents in terms of rest: they can not fully relax, because they are afraid to hurt the baby in a dream. In addition, many couples are beginning to experience problems in intimate life due to the constant presence in the bed of the child.

Separate sleep

There are many supporters of separate sleep, when the child sleeps in his crib from the very first days of his life. To teach a child from that age to sleep separately is quite simple, the main thing is to be confident in your decision and persistent. A week later, the baby will get used to the fact that he sleeps separately from her mother, and laying down will be much easier.

Pluses sleep

The baby initially gets used to sleep separately, so you are freed from retraining and the vagaries that will be associated with this process. Parents do not move away from each other in intimate terms.

Cons of separate sleep

The only process that can be disturbed by separate sleep is breastfeeding. But if you feed the baby for the first six months on demand, rather than by the hour, and do not introduce primkor ahead of time, then problems with lactation can be avoided.

Approximate ritual of going to bed for a child from 0 to 6 months

Of course, every mother has her own ritual of putting her child to sleep with SS. Most of them include such actions:

quiet quiet games;
bathing and changing a diaper;
light relaxing massage;
lullaby;
feeding.

Doctors and experienced mothers strongly advise against teaching the baby to motion sickness in her arms: later it will be very difficult to wean him from this, and with age the child gains weight, therefore it becomes harder to rock him. It is better to put him close, hug, stroke him, a little pat on the back, singing a softly lullaby.

If the baby is sleeping in the crib, shake the cradle, humming softly until he falls asleep. As soon as he closes his eyes, do not move away from the bed: shake it for another five minutes so that the baby falls asleep more firmly.

If a child cries and cannot fall asleep for a long time, then something bothers him. Provide him with full comfort before bedtime: feed him tight, change the diaper, give him medicine for colic or toothache if he has his first teeth cut.

Sleep baby from 6 months to 1.5 years

Having passed a half-year boundary, the child becomes more curious, begins to explore the world around with interest, therefore less time is given to sleep. A healthy child at this age should sleep at least 14 hours a day.

The value of the daily routine at this age still remains paramount. It is likely that teeth may become the source of problems with falling asleep during this period, so before going to bed it is necessary to lubricate the gums with a special gel or give an anesthetic pill or suspension half an hour before sleep so that the child can calmly sleep without being distracted by pain (you can only use drugs by prescription in the most severe cases, when the gel does not help).

Before a night's sleep, it is recommended to withstand the longest waking interval, so that the child has played enough and tired. It is necessary to put him to bed only at the first sign of fatigue:

capricious whine;
gape;
the child rubs his eyes with his palms, asks for pens.

At this age, you can begin to read fairy tales before bedtime. Of course, the baby still does not understand the meaning of instructive stories, but will begin to get used to the new ritual before bedtime. After bathing and feeding, put the child on your knees, sit comfortably next to a table lamp, turn off the main light, open a colorful book and calmly and slowly read a couple of fairy tales.

Evening feeding will help the nursing baby to sleep, and if you have already completed lactation, you can give the baby a small bottle of warm milk or kefir, put him in a cot and leave the room. Sucking soothes small children, and they easily fall asleep.

Sleep baby from 1.5 to 3 years

Starting with the age of one and a half years, the child must be taught to the regime of the day, close to the schedule of the kindergarten. That is, the baby should sleep 1-2 times a day (a total of 2-3 hours), and sleep at night should be about 10 hours without a break.

Of course, this is only a guide to which you want to strive, but all children are individual, so you should not worry if your baby is sleeping more or less for a couple of hours. The transition from 2 daytime dreams to 1 should occur gradually, no need to do it by force: the child will get used to sleep less, and gradually he will not need a second dream.

At this age, children are very active physically, so they need to ensure a day filled with events and discoveries so that the baby can sleep easily in the evening. It is recommended to walk in the fresh air 2 times a day half an hour before bedtime. After the walk, absolutely all children fall asleep better!

As for sleeping in the fresh air, it is better to stop practicing it at this age, so that the child does not have the wrong opinion that the street is meant for recreation.

In order for a child from 1.5 to 3 years of age to fall asleep quickly, rituals must also be observed, as before:

fall asleep at the same time;
whenever possible, the same person should lay down the baby;
before bedtime it is advisable to let the child calm down (play alone, listen to fairy tales).

General recommendations

Buy a night light for the nursery. The muffled light will allow the baby not to be afraid of the dark and, at the same time, will calm him before going to bed.
Try not to play outdoor games before going to bed - this will only excite the baby, which will affect his behavior. It is better to prefer quiet games: drawing, modeling, reading fairy tales, the designer.
Do not put the child to sleep by force, even if because of this regime will be violated: if the baby does not want to sleep, play with him, talk about what happened to him during the day.
Do not overfeed the child after 1.5 years before bedtime, but do not make him hungry. The best option is a light dinner 1 hour before bedtime.
2-3 hours before bedtime, turn on low, slow music, this will help calm the baby.
Hyperactive children can be quieted before bedtime by adding a few drops of chamomile, lavender, fennel, rose or bergamot oil to the bath. These aroma oils have a mild sedative effect, help with sleep disorders and calm the nervous system.
Ventilate the room well before going to bed, even if it is winter outside: fresh air is indicated for healthy sleep. If possible, get a humidifier, it also helps to sleep better.