March 21, 2022 is the 22nd World Sleep Day, and this year's theme is "Good Sleep, Healthy Peers", which aims to further appeal to the public to attach importance to scientific sleep and pay attention to sleep health.
Outpatient doctors often see parents with dark circles to consult what to do if their children do not sleep well? Today, the otolaryngologist of Xi'an Children's Hospital teaches you a few tricks to get the "sleeping dregs" baby.
Most of the sleep patterns of newborns do not follow the circadian cycle, manifested by sleeping day and night, lasting 3-4 hours per sleep;
During the 2-4 months of age, physiological rhythms gradually begin to appear, most of the sleep is carried out at night, but there are also daytime naps;
At 6 months of birth, take a short nap 2-3 times a day for a total time of 3.5 hours;
Nap 2 times a day at 9-12 months of birth, for a total time of about 2-3 hours;
Nap time gradually decreases after 18 months of life, and about 68% of children stop napping by age 4.
The best healthy sleep times for children are:
Infants aged 4-12 months should sleep for 12-16 hours within 24 h (including naps);
Children 1-2 years of age should sleep for 11-14 hours (including naps);
Children 3-5 years of age sleep for 10-13 hours (including naps);
Children 6-12 years of age sleep for 9-12 hours.
How to help your child develop good sleep habits? The doctor told parents to first establish a sense of falling asleep ritually
When it is time to sleep, parents should dim the lights, turn off electronic devices, and create a suitable sleeping environment, because noise, lights and air will also affect their children's sleep.
Scientists have investigated the bedtime habits of more than 600 children aged 3-5: Those with sleep problems are often still watching TV after 7 o'clock. Therefore, parents try not to let children play mobile phones before going to bed, one will make the child's brain excited, and the other is that the blue light on the screen will affect the secretion of melatonin and disturb the body's biological clock.
Parents can work with their children to establish a set of "bedtime procedures", such as bathing, pulling curtains, telling stories, hugging, kissing, saying goodnight, etc., using these "signals" to quiet the child's body and remind themselves that "I am going to sleep after doing these things".
Next, help your child build the belief that the bed can only be a place to sleep
Try to fix sleep time
The development of the biological clock takes a period of time, and parents try to stipulate the time for children to sleep and get up, so that the child's body develops a regularity. Parents should let their children know that it is not necessary to sleep when they are tired, but that they must sleep when the time comes. For example, if you decide to go to bed at 21:00, you must go to bed at 20:30, and when you get to bed, don't do anything unrelated to sleep.
Firmly enforce your sleep rules
Once the sleep rules are established, the parent's execution is more important than the child's compliance.
It is not recommended to ignore the child's sleep time when going on vacation and arbitrarily modifying sleep habits because of the child's needs. Some children can't sleep after lying in bed, and they will get up or run out from time to time for these reasons: "I want to drink water." "I want to go to the bathroom again." "I have a good idea, do you want to listen?"
In this case, parents can make some "permission tickets" for their children, such as the right to use only three "permission tickets" after going to bed every night, and each request will be used up until it is used up. In general, most children can abide by such a game-like convention.
Finally, the doctor told parents that the child's physical and mental health is based on sufficient sleep and good quality, and parents should pay more attention to their children's sleep and help them develop good sleep habits from an early age, which will benefit children for life.