Many mothers will encounter the problem of babies waking up at night, waking up every 1-2 hours every night, or to breastfeed or hug and coax, in short, there is no one to live in. Even if my mother is worried and crazy, she is still helpless... Why do babies wake up frequently at night, and how to solve them?
Don't worry! Childcare is here to help!
The reasons for frequent night awakenings of babies are divided into physiological factors, pathological factors, environmental factors and psychological factors.
Physiological factors
Babies under 3 months of age grow quickly and feed at night, so they wake up frequently at night. 4-5 months after birth, almost all babies wake up 2-3 times a night. Babies over 6 months old can sleep for up to 5 hours at night. During teething, the baby will feel uncomfortable, so it will also increase the frequency of night awakenings.
Pathological factors
Stuffy nose
dyspepsia
Intestinal colic
fever (otitis media), etc
environmental factors
Babies are very sensitive to changes in their environment when they sleep. If the quilt covered by your baby is too thick or too thin, it will affect your baby's sleep.
Psychological factors
Separation anxiety, psychological stress, being frightened during the day, or being too tired.
According to the specific performance of each night awakening of the baby, we can roughly divide the baby's night awakening into two categories:
First, there is a need for night awakening
If the baby wakes up hungry at night and finds that the baby sucks heavily and eats a lot when feeding him, it means that he is really hungry.
The mother needs to feed, record the time when the baby wakes up because he is hungry, and observe the baby's digestion cycle at night. If the baby wakes up at night because he has a bowel movement, we need to change the diaper and also record the time when the baby wakes up at night because of diaper problems.
Second, habitual night awakening
This type of baby will wake up every day and must be nursed or comforted to fall asleep. Even if you want to drink milk, it is symbolic to eat a few bites and not eat, in which case the mother can stop feeding and use another way to comfort the baby, such as caressing the baby's forehead or patting the shoulder.
What should I do if my baby wakes up frequently at night?
- Identify signs of fatigue in your baby:
When the baby rubs his eyes, pulls his ears, yawns, becomes irritable and other reactions, it means that he is sleepy, and when the baby is sleepy and not too tired, coax him to sleep, so that the baby's sleep quality is relatively high, and the frequency of night awakenings will be greatly reduced.
- There are certain fixed routines before going to bed:
Do not engage in excessive activity and eat before falling asleep.
Do the same things in the same order every night so that your baby can also calm down and fall asleep.
- Establish a regular sleep schedule
Going to bed at a fixed time each night can make your baby's body clock more regular. It is recommended to put your baby to sleep around 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. A regular routine can help your baby sleep more peacefully and reduce the number of night awakenings.
- Teach your baby to distinguish between day and night
When your baby is 2 weeks old, he can be taught to distinguish between day and night. For example, communicate and play more with the baby when he is awake during the day, and do not talk or play with him when he wakes up at night; Keep the lights dim and your voice soft to let your baby fall asleep on his own.
Some mothers reported that their babies need to accompany the pacifier every night to fall asleep, how to quit the pacifier? Next decomposition.