Lead
After the baby is born, the first thing parents have to solve is the feeding problem. However, as the baby grows older, we will find that feeding the baby is a small thing, and sleep is a difficult thing!
The angel baby who originally slept obediently at night suddenly cried continuously at night, not only did sleep disorders appear, but also the number of night awakenings increased, and the baby always cried at night.
During the day, the baby sleeps less, and at night, he always cries and does not want to fall asleep, which makes the parents very annoyed, but helpless.
Some parents feel strange, obviously the 3-month-old baby can already sleep the whole night, why does the 4-month-old become sleep dregs?
Because the baby's sleep regression period has arrived.
Why does an angel baby turn into a sleeping scumbag baby?
In fact, this is not the baby is difficult to carry, deliberately crying, but the baby has entered the sleep regression period, during which the baby's sleep mode will change, from the baby sleep mode to the adult sleep mode conversion.
Sleep regression makes angel babies sleep dregs? 6 signals parents don't miss, 6 ways to deal with
Baby's sleep is not static, even if the sleep is very regular, usually very well-behaved baby, there may be a phenomenon of sleep regression, in fact, this is a normal phenomenon, but this sleep regression phenomenon is not long-term, but staged, after the end of the sleep regression period, the baby's sleep will slowly return to normal.
At what stages does sleep regression occur in infants?
Some babies experience their first "sleep regression" at four months of age.
From the time your baby is born to when you are 2 years old, you will experience 5 sleep regression periods:
The first time in the baby's 3-5 months, because the sleep pattern changes to adults, resulting in sleep regression
The second time is in the baby's 8-10 months, because the baby's large movements develop, triggering sleep regression
The third time was when the baby was 12 months old, and the sleep regression caused by entering a period of sharp rise
The fourth time was at the baby's 18 months, the baby's physical development and separation anxiety caused by sleep regression
The fifth time is at the baby's 24th month, and the baby's exploration and play with the outside world leads to a sleep regression
The sleep regression period lasts 1-4 weeks, but the development of each baby is different, so the appearance and duration of the sleep regression period will also be different.
What are the manifestations of the sleep regression period? 6 signals for parents to know
1. Shorter nap time
If the baby's sleep time during the day becomes shorter, or the number of naps during the baby during the day is reduced, the baby becomes more and more dislike of sleep, and parents should be wary of whether the baby has reached the sleep regression period.
2. Difficulty falling asleep
The baby, who had been lying on the bed and fell asleep quickly, suddenly became disgusted with sleep, and the baby became more irritable and unwilling to cooperate with sleep.
3. Increased number of night awakenings
Babies wake up more times at night than ever before, and the number of times babies feed at night increases, making babies more likely to be woken up and crying.
4. Appetite gets better
The baby's appetite increases, and it is not time yet, but the baby is hungry fast and the desire to eat is stronger.
5. Physical development affects sleep quality
The baby's teething period or an important stage of physical development such as turning over will cause various discomforts in the body and will also affect the baby's sleep.
6. Love to cry, more dependent on adults
The baby, who originally did not cry or make trouble, reached the sleep regression period, but became more crying, more clingy, and more eager for the love of adults.
How can parents help their children get through the sleep regression period? Parents learn 6 methods
1. Pay attention to the baby's sleepiness signal and reassure the baby in time
When the baby is tired and needs to sleep, the baby will do some suggestive actions to fall asleep, such as: the baby will rub his eyes, yawn, lack of concentration, or suddenly cry, the head rests on the mother's shoulder, the whole person is lazy.
If the baby lacks interest in what is happening and there is a sign of sleepiness, the mother should seize this opportunity in time to coax the baby to sleep.
If the parent misses the signal that the baby is asleep, it will be more difficult to coax the baby to sleep.
2. Increase the number of daytime naps to supplement your baby's lack of nighttime sleep
Babies during the sleep regression period, because of the number of night awakenings, will lead to insufficient sleep.
Mothers can let the baby take a nap during the day, adding 1-3 naps, which helps the baby's physical development and alleviates the irritability caused by the baby's lack of sleep.
3. Extend the interval between meals and reduce the number of night awakenings for your baby
The baby often wakes up at night, sometimes because the stomach is hungry, the mother should adjust the baby's eating interval appropriately, from 2-3 hours once, gradually adjusted to 4 hours, but each time to make sure that the baby is full.
Moms should separate sleep and breastfeeding, 30 minutes to 1 hour before falling asleep, and mothers should let the baby feed in advance so that they will not prolong the time to fall asleep.
If your baby eats enough, he will wake up less often at night.
4. Increase your baby's amount of exercise during the day to make it easier for your baby to fall asleep at night
If the baby sleeps more during the day, or enters the sleep regression period, it will affect sleep because of the reasons of physical development, so the mother should let the baby exercise more during the day, and the baby feels tired at night and is more likely to enter the sleep state.
5. Diversify the way to sleep to improve your baby's ability to sleep
There are many parents who like to put the baby to sleep and then put it on the bed, or put it on the bed when the baby is fully awake, but this practice is not right, it may make the baby more dependent on the parents and more difficult to fall asleep.
The correct way is that when the baby is sleepy but has not yet fallen asleep, the parents gently place the baby on the cot and let the baby slowly learn to fall asleep on its own.
In the case of conditions at home, parents can separate beds from the baby, and the baby has his own crib, which can allow the baby to gradually transition to independent sleep and reduce dependence on adults.
Babies who are in different beds with their parents in the same room take less time to fall asleep at night, wake up less often at night, and sleep longer continuously.
The way parents coax the baby to sleep is not limited to soft comfort, action comfort, language accompaniment, etc., before the baby learns to fall asleep on its own, in the sleep regression period, parents do not worry, to give the baby more patient companionship.
6. Avoid soothing methods such as milk sleep or shaking to let your baby fall asleep to reduce the factors that interfere with your baby's sleep
Milk sleep will make the baby more dependent on feeding, and sleep at night is more unreliable. The age-appropriate baby quits night milk, but the mother and baby sleep quality is better.
Many elderly people like to use shaking to let the baby fall asleep, and excessive shaking is easy to hurt the baby's body.
If the baby wakes up at night, the mother does not rush to wake up or pick up the baby, you can observe for a few minutes, the baby is not crying, the parents do not intervene, some babies can quickly fall asleep again.
However, if the baby continues to cry, parents should respond to the baby in time, the baby who wants to feed is fed in time, and the baby who feels scared should be comforted by the mother.
epilogue
The sleep regression period is not terrible, although the baby will be more difficult to carry, but as long as the parents can detect these 6 signals and use these 6 methods to cope, this will help the baby to successfully pass the sleep regression period.