Pediatrician Mom: It’s actually very simple to get the whole family to sleep well

The following article comes from Pediatrician Mom, author Xiami Mommy

Pediatrician Mom .

With the conscience of a mother with professional medical knowledge, I will speak for the baby and answer questions for parents.

This is the 4256th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

For many parents, it is impossible to have both a sweet sleep and a good sleep for the baby and the adults who take care of the baby. But when you understand the truth about baby sleep and master some methods to help your baby sleep well, you may be able to find your own balance between patience, tolerance and restraint, so that both your baby and you can have a sweet sleep.

"Let the baby cry until he falls asleep" or "Parents learn to tolerate"

Dr. William Sears, a famous pediatrician, said: "In the first few years after the baby is born, we need to help him develop a healthy attitude towards sleep, so that he can see sleep as a pleasant, peaceful, and necessary state, rather than something to be feared."

I think that Dr. William Sears' words are easy to understand for many new parents, but difficult to put into practice. Just on the issue of the baby's crying before going to bed, whether to "let the baby cry until he falls asleep" or "parents learn to tolerate" is difficult for the whole family to reach a consensus, and it is even more difficult to implement. So how should we understand this issue?

No one really knows how a baby feels if he is ignored when he cries. We also have no way of verifying how deep the impact of “letting a baby cry until he falls asleep” will be on his future, and whether it will really make him withdrawn. After all, the same parents cannot raise the same child twice. But we have learned from some mothers who have implemented the “letting a baby cry until he falls asleep” method that the baby will suddenly fall into extreme fear, sadness and helplessness. When crying, the whole body will tremble, gasp, and even scream, and finally become numb. The crying sound will change from irritability to hoarseness until no sound can be made...

It is true that babies fall into a deep sleep after crying themselves to exhaustion, but we adults also fall into a deep sleep after experiencing physical and mental trauma due to exhaustion, which is obviously not strong evidence that this method works. Moreover, doing so often yields little benefit and has "side effects": many parents suffer from guilt and selfishness when doing so; babies who cry themselves to sleep at night become more clingy and irritable during the day; some parents find that their babies start to vomit or even have seizures when they cry hysterically; when encountering special circumstances such as teething, illness, travel, or changing to a new environment, the baby's sleep problem will reappear and cannot be completely solved.

Obviously, "letting the baby cry until he falls asleep" is not necessarily the only solution for parents to train their infants to sleep, but comforting the baby as soon as he cries can really exhaust parents. So what kind of tolerance is considered appropriate?

Parents need to first understand that babies will not lie, and you should actively look for the reason for their crying and respond promptly; you also need to be patient to identify whether older babies are really "making trouble without reason". Before explaining the specific solution, I think parents should clarify one thing in advance: Are their requirements for the baby's sleep time and quality reasonable?

How much sleep should babies get in a day?

The sleeping habits of babies are very different from those of adults. When mothers do not understand this difference, they often have such concerns as: "Why does the baby sleep so much?", "Why does he always wake up? Is he uncomfortable?", "When will he be able to sleep all night?", etc. In fact, many concerns are unnecessary. Let's first understand how babies aged 0 to 3 sleep, so that we can understand whether there is a problem with the baby's sleep or you are too demanding.

The sleep needs of babies of different ages vary

Newborns: They have no concept of day and night, they sleep when they are full and wake up when they are hungry, and can usually sleep for 2 to 4 hours at a stretch. Starting from about 6 weeks, the nighttime sleep time gradually increases.

3 months old: Daytime sleep begins to become regular, with 3 naps often, and about 15 hours of sleep per day, including about 9 hours of sleep at night.

Around 6 months old: sleep 14 to 15 hours a day, often with two naps during the day, each lasting about 2 hours.

Around 9 months of age: Sleep about 14 hours a day, still take 2 naps during the day, but the nap time is slightly reduced.

1 to 2 years old: Sleep 13 to 14 hours a day. Most babies no longer take naps during the day and can sleep about 11 hours a night.

2 to 3 years old: Sleep 12 to 13 hours a day, usually with a nap.

Note: There are some individual differences in the sleep time and number of naps for babies, and it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate whether the baby has enough sleep. If the baby has a good appetite, good spirits, good mood, and growth and development are up to standard, you don't have to worry too much even if the sleep time does not reach the above general level. Compared with "whether the baby has enough sleep", the more urgent issue you need to solve is to help the baby develop good sleeping habits.

Sleeping for more than 5 hours in one go = sleeping until dawn

Parents all hope that their babies can "sleep through the night." In fact, studies have found that usually, if a baby can sleep for more than 5 hours at a stretch at night, it can be considered as "sleeping through the night."

You can take a look at the survey data of 500 babies aged 0 to 2 years old by German medical scientists on their sleep status. I believe you will be comforted and say, "Oh, it turns out that my baby is not the only one who tortures people like this!"

This article is reproduced from the WeChat public account "Xiami Mommy"