What are the reasons for babies' restless sleep?

The baby's sleep and eating habits are usually the two aspects that give parents the most headaches. Poor diet and sleep will affect the baby's development and even the baby's brain development. Some babies are particularly restless when sleeping at night and often cry, which will also affect the parents' sleep quality. Let us also understand the reasons why babies sleep restlessly.

1. Lack of trace elements:

Low blood calcium levels cause increased excitability of the brain and autonomic nerves, which can cause the baby to sleep restlessly at night. Calcium and vitamin D supplements are needed. If calcium is deficient, the baby's fontanelle will not close properly; if zinc is deficient, the corners of the mouth will generally ulcerate.

2. Too hot or too cold

3. Too dry, with mucus in the nose

4. Playing too excitedly before going to bed:

Go to bed on time: 0.5 to 1 hour before the baby goes to sleep, the baby should be calmed down. Do not play too excitedly before going to bed, and do not tease the baby too much. This prevents your baby from having difficulty falling asleep due to being too excited or nervous. No stimulating TV shows, no tense or scary stories, and no new toys. Create a good sleeping environment for your baby. The room temperature is suitable, quiet and the light is dim. The covering should be light, soft and dry. Let your baby urinate before going to bed.

5. Pay attention to whether there are pinworms outside the anus.

Provide good cleaning and care for your baby before bedtime.

6. Many mothers think their babies are hungry when they see them wake up crying at night, and then they feed them. In fact, this is a very bad habit. Doing so will instead cause the child to develop the habit of wanting to breastfeed when he wakes up at night.

7. Indigestion, indigestion, getting angry or eating too much at night

Food accumulation, indigestion, and overeating can also lead to disturbed sleep. It is recommended to feed solid foods such as porridge and noodles at least two or three hours before going to bed, and then drink a little milk before going to bed.

8. Breastfed babies are addicted to milk. (This happens to many breastfeeding babies)

9. If you must breastfeed at night, please pay attention to:

Try to maintain a quiet environment. When feeding or changing diapers at night, do not let your child wake up completely (it is best to be in a semi-asleep state). In this way, it will be easier to fall asleep after feeding and changing diapers.

Gradually reduce the number of feedings and do not let your child develop the habit of feeding at night.

10. If your baby wakes up because he wants to pee at night

You can give him diapers so that the baby's sleep will not be affected by peeing. If you use diapers, they must be too tight.

11. When you find your child is sleepy, put him in the crib immediately

It is better to let your baby fall asleep on his own if you hold or rock him to sleep every time. Then whenever he wakes up at night, he will need you to hold him or rock him to fall asleep.

12. Don’t let your baby fall asleep with a pacifier

Pacifiers are for babies to suck milk, not for sleeping. If some children fall asleep with a pacifier in their mouths, please gently remove the pacifier before putting them to bed.

13. Baby crying

If your baby cries before going to bed, don't react immediately. Wait a few minutes, because most children will fall asleep naturally after waking up at night for a few minutes. If the child keeps crying, parents should go over to comfort him, but do not turn on the lights, play with him, pick him up or shake him. If the baby's crying gets worse, wait two minutes and check again, and consider whether he is hungry, has urinated, has a fever, or has any other signs of illness.

If the baby has no other reasons for discomfort, a large part of the reason for waking up frequently at night is habit. If you hold him or feed him immediately every time he wakes up, it will form a vicious circle. It is recommended that when the baby wakes up at night (he should be groggy), do not hug him immediately, let alone tease him. Instead, pat him immediately, comfort him and try to make him fall asleep. Generally, if a baby is in a drowsy state, he will slowly fall asleep.

The baby is older now and sometimes wakes up at night, whimpering. At first I had to hold him all the time, and then he would wake up completely, and it would take him a long time to fall asleep again. Later I thought maybe he was dreaming, so I just watched him from the side without disturbing him. Sure enough, after a while, there was no sound and he continued to sleep.

14. The quilt or sleeping posture is uncomfortable

15. Separation Anxiety

(What we often call "shyness" is called separation anxiety in English). This is most serious when the baby is 9-18 months old. In addition to being attached to/unwilling to be separated from parents and very familiar people, being afraid of strangers, and having a strong sense of self-protection in unfamiliar environments (my son's performance: very active at home, never stopping, laughing and shouting, a little bully; once outside, his expression is serious, unsmiling, and he pouts and is about to cry when teased by strangers), it is manifested in waking up more often during sleep at night, sleeping lightly, and being alert to the outside world (in addition to frequently crying in the middle of the night (but not waking up), my son sometimes turns over and sits up shortly after falling asleep or before really waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning, and cries when he can't see adults. I usually pick him up, coax him, pat him, and put him on the bed in less than a minute to continue sleeping. But if he cries in a daze in the middle of the night, this trick will not work, and you can only wait until he is tired and falls asleep by himself). The book doesn’t mention any effective methods because this is a stage in the baby’s growth and development (of course, babies are individual different and some babies will have no problems).

Many babies have restless sleep, but they cannot find any reason. Through my introduction, parents can analyze the above reasons and help their babies find the reasons through the method of elimination, so that they can take appropriate treatment methods. Finally, I wish every baby can have a healthy body and a happy childhood.