Parents nowadays pay great attention to the development of good habits for their children. There is a habit that should be cultivated as soon as a child is born, and that is sleep habits. During sleep, the amount of growth hormone secreted in the body is three times that of the day, which is very beneficial to the physical development of the child. Therefore, the quality of a child’s sleep directly affects the child’s final height and indirectly affects the physical and intellectual development of the child.
See how long should your baby sleep.
Babies of different ages have different sleep duration in one day. According to experts, under normal circumstances:
Newborns should sleep 20-22 hours a day
16-18 hours for 2 months baby
15-16 hours for 4 months
14-15 hours for 8 months
13-14 hours for 1 year old
2～3 years old is 12～13 hours
11-12 hours for 4 to 5 years old
The above-mentioned children’s daily sleep duration is for the entire group of children, and there will still be large individual differences for each baby. Some babies may not sleep for the length of time we say, but as long as the baby eats, plays, mentally and physically develops normally, and does not often get sick, parents do not need to worry too much.
Sleeping “full” baby is like this
So, how to judge whether the baby’s sleep is adequate? Experts have also given several criteria.
1. Can wake up automatically in the morning, and the baby will not cry when waking up, and the baby is in a good state of mind;
2. Energetic and active throughout the day, interested in what is happening around you;
3. Good appetite, no picky eaters, partial eclipses, etc.;
4. The growth rate of weight and height is normal:
At the same time, as far as weight is concerned, the average weight gain rate for babies from 0 to 6 months is 600 to 800 grams per month, and from 250 to 300 grams for 7 to 12 months. The weight of babies over 1 year should increase every month More than 150 grams.
In terms of body length: the baby should grow by 25 cm in the first year and 10 cm in the second year. After the age of 2 years, girls should grow by 4 to 6 cm and boys by 5 to 7 cm.
Good sleep habits must be cultivated from birth
According to experts, since the child is born, we must pay attention to helping them develop good sleep habits. In terms of feeding, you should develop the habit of regular, fixed-point, and quantitative feeding. Breastfeeding babies should be breastfed on demand during the neonatal period, that is, the baby can be fed when the baby is crying because of hunger or the mother is uncomfortable because of breast swelling, and should be fed every 2.5 to 3 hours in the neonatal period. Feed once; at the same time, as the baby grows in months, gradually reduce the number of night feedings. For artificially fed babies, they should be fed at points after birth, preferably every 3.5 to 4 hours. If the baby does not wake up at night, there is no need to wake up the baby due to breastfeeding.
In addition, parents can try to help the baby establish a good conditioned reflex, such as: draw the curtains, darken the light in the room, wash before going to bed, and drain the urine, put on comfortable and loose pajamas and turn off the lights after washing. Sleep and so on. At the same time, try to avoid creating bad conditioned reflexes for your baby, such as shaking, sleeping, sleeping with nipple in mouth, and so on.
These four tips create a sleeping environment for children
1. Create a pleasant sleeping environment: the room temperature should be kept between 22℃～25℃; humidity should be kept between 50%～60%; the room has good ventilation; the thickness and weight of the bedding are appropriate; the thickness and looseness of the clothes Appropriate; the height and hardness of the pillow are appropriate.
2. Keep calm before going to bed: avoid excessive excitement and strenuous activities before going to bed, refrain from telling irritating stories to babies, and refraining from watching excessively irritating TV programs.
3. Do not eat too much food before going to bed, especially the food that is easy to cause baby allergies.
4. Let your baby fall asleep with lullaby or story.
Lastly, a helpful hand 🙌 to our lovely parents 👪
Healthy Mum and Bub duo (Jen and Stephy) are excited to introduce Tiziana Docherty of Gentle Sleep Solutions(@Gentle Sleep Solution on Facebook and @gentlesleepsolutions_tiziana on Instagram) a newly qualified and certified sleep specialist for infants and children. While she has quite a bit of experience already, she is looking for test cases for a certain age group to even out her portfolio a little. It hasn’t happened as organically as she would have liked – she has helped many families with infants or older children in beds and only a few with babies in the middle.
If you have a little one between 6-18months that struggles with sleep and may need a little help please comment below or DM Tiziana Docherty @gentlesleepsolutions_tiziana
Here is a testimonial from a lovely mum and dad whose little one was in that age group ❤️
We have also included her usual consultation structure. First consultation is free. Price is in GBP however Tiziana are more than happy to help mums and dads in need globally if timezone allows.
Tiziana’s Facebook Gentle Sleep Solution page
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