What is dangerous about mom’s lack of sleep and what to do about it? How to get enough sleep with a newborn Create your own schedule.

Good evening! Just talk it out. The child is one year and one month old. He hasn't slept well since birth. I don't sleep with him. As absurd as it may seem, in a state of chronic lack of sleep, the adequacy and attitude of the mother is suspicious. I really only sleep 3 hours a night. I’ll say this: it’s simply impossible to live like this. Being a mother will seem not just difficult, but terrible.

In fact, after a year of sleepless nights, there is no strength or patience left. And here the instinct of self-preservation comes into play. I'm trying to find out the reason for my child's restless sleep. Well, no luck... all my friends have children (of the same age) who sleep soundly all night long... In the morning, a rested and cheerful mother spends a day of happy motherhood... It’s not like that for me... I greet the day with bruises on my eyes ... There is no one to complain to: relatives consider sleepless nights with a small child normal... everyone has gone through this. And they survived. What did you want?...that’s how hard it is for children... I tried to give the child away to my mother-in-law for the night, but after a sleepless night she waved it off! So I’m trying to understand in a logical way: what interferes with healthy small child fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning. I’ve been corresponding with sleep consultant Natalia for a long time, there are practically no results, and I’ve begun to hate the night (and early morning too: again, the whole day is like a squirrel in a wheel, and I no longer have the strength in the morning. Sorry for these feelings, but it seems to me that you will understand me. . And most importantly, the child is healthy: everything was examined. The pancreas is enlarged, but this does not affect sleep. During the day, the child is golden: active, plays. But at night... The neurologist prescribed phenibut and magnesium to normalize sleep at 6. Who would doubt this treatment, I’m thinking: start giving the child something to drink or drink it yourself, so that I can sleep at night without my hind legs.....

Now I’ll try to describe the conditions: sleep in ideal conditions, at night outside it’s plus 7-10 degrees, we sleep with open window. We observe rituals, quiet games before bed. I give calcium daily from 6 months. Now the dose is 6 tablets.

Falls asleep at 9 pm after a heavy dinner. And away we go...

12 o'clock at night: humming, tossing and turning, waking up crying. At 1 hour 30 minutes the same thing. Last night I woke up at 2:30 and didn’t fall asleep until 3:00. 30 min. Then beeping every 30-40 minutes. And so on until 7 am. At night he eats every 3 hours. I tried to wean it off, but it stays at night until I give milk. And in the morning my wife has to go to work.

I just want to hear from moms who have been through this. Let them tell me that everything will pass. I will be patient... Just don’t deprive me of hope that soon I will sleep all night without waking up. And that it will be soon...

Moms who have had a similar situation, please give me a word of support. I would appreciate your advice. Or maybe take the child to grandma. Will speak in good dream????

Young mothers know firsthand what sleep deprivation is. This is a harmful condition that affects nervous system. And strong nerves are necessary for any mother, because a baby requires so much strength. What to do? You need to learn to get enough sleep provided that you have a charming pink-cheeked “alarm clock” that sounds at intervals of 3-4 hours or even more often. How? Tips can be divided into several groups:

Optimize your daily routine;

Deal with the problems causing the child’s anxiety;

Provide a comfortable environment for yourself to fall asleep. This includes: a certain sequence of actions before going to bed, the comfort of the bed, the nature of the lighting and other things.

Master one of the rash techniques.

Now let's talk about everything in order.

Daily routine of a young mother: looking for time reserves for sleep

As a rule, a young mother must not only care for her newborn, but also perform a bunch of other duties: go to the store, cook dinner, clean the apartment, do laundry, iron diapers. Many mothers like to do this “in a calm environment” when the baby is sleeping or is sent for a walk with dad. But it's better to spend this time sleeping. Of course, taking several two-hour siestas every day is overkill. But you can easily afford to sleep for an hour during the day. Option: arrange a “quiet hour” for yourself not every day, but every other day. It all depends on the needs of the body.

The baby sleeps little and wakes up often

Little children have many reasons for concern: from colic in the tummy to a blanket that is too warm. Every little thing can make the baby wake up and wake up the mother. To minimize the likelihood of your baby waking up prematurely, it is recommended to answer the following questions:

• Did the baby fall asleep well-fed? If a baby falls asleep after barely sucking the breast, he may sleep much less than the required 3 hours. Within an hour or even half an hour, the baby will want to eat again.
• Is the baby's clothing comfortable? A thick seam or a protruding button can cause discomfort to the baby. Instead of a blanket that constantly slides down, it is better to use a sleeping bag or put the child to sleep in a special onesie.
• What's with the diaper? Children really don't like wet, dirty diapers. When putting your treasure to bed, make sure your baby's pants are dry and clean.
• Is the room too hot? Comfortable temperature for children is 22°C. If the room is cooler, you may need to dress your baby warmer. If it's hot, let him sleep in one slip or bodysuit.

And a few more points that you need to pay attention to.

• Bathing – great way calm the child and relieve stress. There are babies who, after a bath and evening feeding, instantly fall asleep in a sweet dream. Other little ones, on the contrary, from water procedures They get a boost of energy and don’t want to close their eyes for a long time. Which category does your baby fall into?
• Is the child overtired? If during the day the baby was in a crowded place (clinic, supermarket), this can cause a whole bunch of emotions in him. A bath with a relaxing agent will help: sea ​​salt, chamomile.
• Is the baby sick? Maybe he is worried about colic or gas in his tummy? There are many ways to combat colic: a warm diaper, dill water, laying on the stomach. You need to know these methods in order to be able to help your baby in time.

Comfortable sleep for a newborn

An important factor influencing the duration of sleep is the convenience and comfort of the baby.

A baby who is accustomed to the comfort of his mother’s tummy and has recently been born experiences a certain fear and anxiety if there is a lot of free space around him.

In order to solve this problem, unique devices have appeared on the market - cocoon-cradles for newborns, allowing the baby to feel protected. In such a baby cocoon, you can rock your baby to sleep, use it to carry the sleeping person and put him in the crib, without fear that precious sleep will be disturbed.
The best such device, according to neonatologists, is the Farla Baby Shell.

Comfort in the bedroom

You need to decide how you sleep most comfortably.

• Many babies sleep better if their mother puts them in bed with her. This may not seem right to your spouse. But you need to try to explain to your husband: it is better when a wife gets enough sleep with a baby at her side than if she walks around tired, having run to the crib during the night. This is a temporary measure for the very first months of the baby’s life. But there is a danger: in the future, it may be difficult to train your little one to fall asleep in his own bed. This must be taken into account and not delay the issue of “relocating” the child back to his crib.
• It may make sense to change the mattress, blanket or pillow, or purchase a special half-length bed that covers the entire body. A young mother has too little time to sleep, let it pass with maximum comfort.
• During the day, when there is little time to sleep, and you want to fall asleep quickly, you can use a mask like those issued on airplanes.
• Research shows that to fall asleep you do not need complete silence, but light, measured noises. There is a special device - a white noise source. It helps you fall asleep faster and not wake up due to extraneous sounds (a baby’s cry is not one of them).

Dream as it is

It’s a pity for a person to spend a third of his life sleeping: 8 out of 24 hours every day. Therefore, many are looking for ways to get enough sleep in 6, 5, 4 hours in order to devote the freed up time to something more interesting.

Techniques are widely used short nap in special forces. Yogis also have their own secrets in this regard. They say you can set yourself a goal and learn to get a good night's sleep in 4-5 hours. The technique is based on alternating the phases of fast and slow sleep. But while caring for your baby, you probably don’t need to conduct such experiments on your body. Just remember the following things:

• Sleeping less than 7 hours a day is fraught with decreased attention, fatigue, deterioration of immunity. The result is frequent colds.
• It is better to go to bed early, despite the fact that you will soon have to wake up and feed the baby. 1 hour of sleep before midnight is equal in value for the body to 2 hours of night sleep.
• The air in the room should be cool (don’t forget about evening ventilation), and the blanket, on the contrary, should be warm.
• No need to eat at night. This will keep you awake for a long time. Why take away precious sleep time in favor of digesting a hearty dinner?
• Short an evening walk with the baby will help both mother and baby sleep better.
• TV and computer create tension and make it difficult to “switch off” and fall asleep like a baby. Don't watch TV series before going to bed, don't read forums. Better - books and relaxing music.

Children from birth sleep shallowly and often wake up at any time of the day. This is nature. And there are periods when it’s unlikely that anything can be done about it. Just adapt. For example this first months of life, when the baby’s stomach is too small to go without food for a long time, and he himself is so helpless that he wakes up from the slightest inconvenience. Or periods when sleep deteriorates due to the imminent emergence of a new skill, the growth of new teeth. And intermittent restless sleep in this case can last for weeks.

At the same time, in order to feel healthy and happy, an adult needs get enough sleep every day. We all need 7-9 hours of sleep per day, of which we must sleep 5-6 hours continuously, otherwise it will be difficult to get quality sleep. It sounds like a mockery for Moms whose children have not yet learned to sleep peacefully, or are going through a period of restlessness. interrupted sleep, Related to natural process their development.

How to sleep for the mother of a baby who does not sleep? Some obvious tips:

Always sleep when your baby sleeps. At night - definitely. During the day - whenever possible, but preferably no later than 16.00, so as not to confuse your biological clock.

Sleep when someone can take care of the child themselves - go out with him for a walk, play in the next room. Don't refuse help. Ask for help.

If the baby is older than 1.5 months and you do not have problems with lactation, express and store in the refrigerator a supply of milk for at least 1 full feeding. Let Dad take part in the baby's process and give you the opportunity to rest from at least one feeding at night. The same applies to bottle-fed babies.

If you are annoyed by your child's long stays at night, remove the clock from the bedroom.

If your baby is over 6 months old and healthy, start sleep training. You can do this yourself by reading free information on websites baby sleep consultants, or by listening to them webinar, or in individual format consultations. The process requires patience and strict adherence to the chosen tactics and takes on average 2-4 weeks, but the result will give you several extra months (and sometimes years) of restful sleep.

Sleep in another room, and maybe use earplugs for a more restful sleep when someone else can “watch” near the child. For many mothers, it is difficult to get enough sleep in close proximity to the baby, because... they react sensitively to his every move.

To fall asleep easier when you can sleep, eliminate foods and drinks containing caffeine (coffee, cocoa, green and black tea, chocolate, cola, energy drinks) from your diet. There is still no clear opinion about whether caffeine penetrates into breast milk, but it definitely affects Mom’s hormonal and nervous system. So beloved by nursing (and non-breastfeeding) mothers, tea, if there is no allergy, can be replaced with warm berry compotes, herbal infusions(chamomile, linden, fireweed, rooibos).

Visit regularly fresh air, in the sun, find an opportunity for physical activity and walks. It is best to sunbathe in the first half of the day. But try not to exercise after 7-8 pm. Adrenaline released during sports is a bad sleeping pill.

Get into the habit of putting your smartphone and computer aside at least 1 hour before bed. And remember that there are programs that remove “blue rays” from the glow of the screen, and it is these rays that effectively destroy melatonin, a hormone that helps you fall asleep and sleep deeply and peacefully.

While a woman is pregnant, she becomes the center of the universe for all her relatives and friends. Everyone is worried: when is the birth, who will be there, how long is it, how do you feel, what do you want, but then a little bundle appears, and everyone forgets about mom. Now everyone is interested in who the baby looks like, how much weight he has gained, what he has learned to do, etc.

Mom may suddenly start crying for no particular reason. Mom gets terribly tired, worries about everything in the world and sometimes thinks of herself as the worst mother in the world, because, despite all her efforts, the baby either has a tummy ache, sometimes he can’t sleep, sometimes he cries for no reason at all. for some reason, sometimes he gains a little, sometimes a lot... There are advisers everywhere and she does everything wrong...

Feelings of guilt, loneliness, misunderstanding, anger, and resentment often overwhelm the mother. It seems that there is no light and every day is like Groundhog Day. With all this, the woman still does not get enough sleep, because in the first months, even a generally well-sleeping baby, often wakes up to eat, and interrupted sleep, even lasting 10 hours, can be safely divided into three, its quality suffers so much.

Each mother can compile her own list of consequences of lack of sleep, but we don’t want to talk about the problem without offering a way to solve it. So what to do?

Many mothers know this advice, but don't follow it. It seems too simple and at the same time not always possible (after all, you also need to do household chores), but we will still start with it: RELAX WITH YOUR CHILD! (children). That is, when the child sleeps, go to bed with him. Whenever possible, go to bed!

Children up to 3-4 months old can wake up every 2-3 hours at night and sleep during the day in short cycles of 20-40 minutes. Don’t ignore your body’s need for sleep; without it you will last even less than without food. If you cannot sleep for yourself, then sleep for the sake of your baby, because he needs a rested and kind mother.

It’s not for nothing that the first months of a baby’s life are called the fourth trimester of pregnancy. During this period, his nervous system is not mature enough and the child will often need help to fall asleep. During this period, do not be afraid to help him by rocking him to sleep and do not be afraid if he falls asleep at the breast. To establish breast-feeding co-sleeping during this period will be one of best options, and it will be easier to get up to your baby every 2-3 hours if he sleeps next to you.

The only thing worth remembering if your baby sleeps with you is safety, which means your baby should not sleep in a bed that is not fenced or has loose covers, blankets, or pillows. A child cannot sleep with his parents if even one of them has taken alcohol or sleeping pills. It’s definitely not worth talking about sleeping together if you sleep on a sofa or water mattress.

Tip 2: Ask for help and don't be shy about doing it.

Of course, maybe not everyone will decide to be alone with the baby, and it will be scary for the mother to leave such a baby, but why not let your family and friends, for example, cook dinner for your whole family or clean the house. If your family cannot do this, then ask your husband to provide you with more help around the house. It is possible that for a while you could afford a house help so as not to torment yourself for an unprepared dinner or an unwashed floor.

By the way, speaking of gifts for the birth of a baby, one of the best options would be a dishwasher or multicooker, which will allow you to spend less time on household chores.

Tip 3. Don't be a perfectionist and don't judge your motherhood one day at a time or even a week at a time.

Often we drive ourselves into certain frameworks and standards, and then try hard to meet them. But every child is individual, every mother is special. And you got exactly the child for whom you have enough strength, and the baby has exactly the kind of mother who will be the best for him.

It's not every day that we can cook a three-course meal, keep the house perfectly clean and look 100%. Think about what is more important for you and your child today: if lunch is not ready, then do lunch, and the floors will wait. Use a sling or carrier to keep your baby close. Prepare simple dishes that do not require much time, and let the delicacies remain for the period when the child gets older.

In order not to feel like a squirrel in a wheel, living the same way day after day, be sure to find something you like and devote at least half an hour a day to it.

You can play sports directly with a child in your arms, the baby will perceive it as a game, and it will invigorate you and put you in a positive mood.

Accept cold and hot shower, which will help improve the condition of the skin after childbirth.

Plan to “go out”, even if it won’t be so often, but only once every 2 weeks, but for a while nap on Saturday you could easily go meet your friends while grandma or dad watches the baby. These little joys are very uplifting and distracting.

At 4 months (plus or minus a month), babies experience the so-called sleep regression, or rather the child’s transition to adult sleep. Now he wakes up between sleep cycles. By this time, the mother needs to try to control the time she is awake, organize the right atmosphere for sleep, think through and observe rituals before bed, so as not to later struggle with a tired and irritated baby who stubbornly refuses to sleep.

In combination with bedtime rituals and a daily routine, the skill of falling asleep independently will allow the baby to sleep more peacefully at night, or rather, to fall asleep when waking up. If the baby has not mastered this skill, then the mother is often forced to get up to the baby every 40-90 minutes to give a pacifier or breast between sleep cycles, rock in her arms or with a fitball. And if these methods helped, then any mother would be ready to sacrifice her sleep and back, continuing to do this, but the baby’s sleep is superficial, fragmented and does not bring the expected rest.

1. Organize your baby’s daily routine, which can be something like this, based on the biological rhythms of a 4-8 month old child:
   6:30-7:00 - rise
   8:30-9:00 - baby will fall asleep for the first nap
   12:00-12:30 - second sleep begins
   15:00-15:30 - at this time, organize the third nap (this nap is the shortest)
   18:00-18:30 - going to bed night sleep
   At 8-9 months. the third sleep goes away in favor of an early bedtime.
2. Provide your child the right conditions for sleep: darkness - important condition for the formation of melatonin, the temperature should not be above 21 and below 18 degrees, humidity - will allow the baby to breathe calmly, White noise- will create a uniform background for sleep and allow you not to notice sharp sounds.
3. Create daily bedtime routines that will help your baby get ready for sleep. The ritual is performed for 5-10 minutes just before bedtime and may include: light massage, wish Good night, lullaby, feeding.
4. Eliminate negative associations, which for the most part prevent babies from sleeping peacefully. If the baby falls asleep and sleeps exclusively when moving or rocking, with the breast or with a pacifier, or may be able to sleep only in your presence, then the child has formed a direct relationship between this particular association and sleep. Breaking this connection is difficult, but quite possible! As with any learning, everything will take time and patience, but kids learn quickly, and the skill of independent sleep, not dependent on anything extra, is simply necessary for a child.
5. No one sleeps all night long, but a person who is able to fall asleep on his own will not even remember the moment of waking up in the morning. A baby who waits “every day” for his mother to help him fall asleep receives fragmented sleep that is unable to restore his physical and emotional strength.
6. Enlist the support of your family and friends and start taking action! Be patient and consistent, because first of all, in this way you show concern for the baby and his health, and secondly, you provide him with a kind and rested mother, which in total will make any child happy! And we are ready to help you, come to the nearest one and get step by step plan to improve baby's sleep.

Start implementing our tips in small steps to get away from the endless list of consequences of your mother’s lack of sleep:

1. Red and swollen eyes are the smallest thing that starts it all
2. Depleted from lack of sleep, the body begins to produce cortisol, which in turn destroys the collagen necessary for good condition skin
3. Cortisol also begins to influence the increase in appetite, which can trigger weight gain. In addition, lack of sleep increases the production of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger and cravings for foods high in fat and carbohydrates. It is lack of sleep, not pregnancy and childbirth that happens common cause weight gain after baby is born
4. Sleep deficiency affects reaction speed, concentration, ability to make decisions and generally think logically
5. “Our mother is beautiful, and when she gets enough sleep, she is also kind...” - this is not a funny joke for mothers. After all, insufficient sleep affects mental condition. If a woman does not get enough sleep, then it is much more difficult for her to control her emotions, she is constantly irritated, often lashes out at loved ones and seems as if she is about to explode. Recently, a lot has been written about the so-called cervical syndrome, which leads to injury and even death of the baby and most often this is associated with a mother who shook the child in a state of passion.
6. Lack of proper rest reduces immunity, because the body and its cells are restored during sleep. Lack of sleep affects the functioning of the pancreas, which leads to metabolic failure and the body begins to age earlier, the risk of heart attack increases, and the risk of hypertension increases by 37%.
7. People who have only a few nights of sleep may experience a state of microsleep at the most unexpected moment, with a loss of contact with reality. What can we say about a mother who does not sleep properly for months and years. With regular lack of sleep, coordination of movements worsens, and for a mother who constantly carries a child in her arms or drives a car, this can be life-threatening.
8. Chronic lack of sleep often leads to depression, part of which is apathy. It is very difficult for a mother who is in a similar state to care for the baby, and the child, feeling this, begins to demand even more attention and care, which the mother is not able to give him. It turns out to be a vicious circle, from which it is very difficult for a woman to break out.

Have you suffered from lack of sleep after giving birth? How did you cope? Write in the comments, your opinion is important to us.

Tired of pregnancy, exhausted morally and physically by childbirth, the young mother finds herself on the verge of new difficulties, previously unprecedented stresses associated with the need to care for such a long-awaited and beloved baby. She doesn't have time to come to her senses. Literally a couple of hours after the birth, the nurses bring the already washed child, leaving him in her full care. From this moment the care begins, the mother is taught to swaddle, put on diapers, lubricate the baby’s folds and much more.

Regardless of how much a woman has read specialized literature on child care, only practice gives her the appropriate skills and knowledge. Already from the first days, the mother understands the mood of the “cub”, his desires; no one else can do this. It is the mother who determines on a sensory level whether he wants to eat, sleep, or whether his tummy hurts. She worries about the newborn every second, gets up to him at night to feed him, calm him down, lull him to sleep and even just check if everything is okay. After just a few weeks, postpartum euphoria, caused by the indescribable happiness of the birth of a baby, passes and the mother fully feels the consequences. chronic stress and fatigue, caused, among other things, by insufficient quality and quantity of sleep.

During this period, the question becomes acute: how to get enough sleep with a newborn? Any book on child care proclaims an unshakable rule for young mothers: “The baby sleeps, you sleep.” Most young mothers experience “daytime insomnia”; they cannot fall asleep during the day, even if the baby gives them such an opportunity. In addition, women often find it difficult to fall asleep even at night, since the body and psyche experience unprecedented tension caused by recovery from childbirth and a qualitatively new load on the muscles, as well as a state of “constant vigilance.” Therefore, in order to get enough sleep with a newborn, you need to learn how to quickly relieve tension and calm the chaos of thoughts reigning in your head. Relaxing breathing, massage, muscle relaxation, yoga and even relaxing fantasies.

As soon as the baby falls asleep, the woman should also take horizontal position, comfortable position, stop worrying about the child. By the way, later the child should have his own children's mattress. If you can’t calm down, focus your attention on your own breathing, take a deep breath, followed by an equally deep exhalation, and do everything possible to relax as much as possible. Gradually your breathing will become slower, try to free yourself from anxiety, fatigue, tension, thoughts scurrying back and forth. Focus solely on relaxation. If thoughts, despite all your efforts, continue to “obsess”, replace them by reading your favorite poem or song to yourself. Before you know it, you will fall into the much-desired sleep, even for 15 minutes. This will certainly restore strength.

Of course, it is best to achieve the ability to sleep continuously for at least 5 hours. But how can you do this with a newborn? It is logical that the child should sleep no less than the specified time. Of course, it will not be possible to achieve such a result with a baby under one month of age, but gradually you can accustom him. The child must differentiate between day and night, so no games at night, eat, let out the air and go straight to sleep. Gradually, the intervals between night feedings need to be increased. To this end, it is first worth replacing one feeding with water (baby tea), thanks to this it is possible to achieve the following effect: the toddler’s stomach stops producing gastric juice, without making him feel hungry, since he is not given food anyway. Thus, the baby will wake up less often at night to feed, which means the mother will have more time to good sleep, sufficient to restore vitality.