Full day and night sleep very important for children of any age. During sleep, the child's nervous system rests and reboots, and the child himself actively grows. Sleep problems negatively affect mental and physical development baby. Disturbances are often found in infants: they cry and scream without waking up. Let's find out the reasons for this behavior in infants and older children. Let's look at options for how parents can improve their child's nighttime rest.
Features of children's sleep
Children's sleep differs from adults' sleep in a number of ways. Newborn babies and babies up to 6 months sleep most of the day. The sleep norm for infants is 20-22 hours, for one-year-old babies - 14-18 hours. Sleep allows you to replenish energy costs and consolidate the impressions that the baby received while awake. As children grow older, they will sleep less and less. By the age of one year, the child’s schedule will include daytime rest (no more than 3 hours) and night sleep (about 9 hours).
Before the “wake-sleep” mode improves, the child’s daily biorhythms will change, which will affect the duration and quality of night’s rest.
In the first months of life, the child sobs in his sleep, often wakes up, and this is considered normal occurrence. The daily routine has not yet been established; the baby cannot distinguish day from night, so through experiments he selects a comfortable time for rest.
Other features of sleep are associated with its phases. In babies, the phase predominates REM sleep. At this time, the brain actively processes all the information seen and heard received during the day. During the fast or deep sleep The child’s body completely relaxes and restores its reserves of spent energy. It is during this period that growth hormone is produced by brain cells.
During fast phase the child has movements of the pupils under the eyelids, movement of the upper and lower limbs. The baby grimaces and smacks his lips, imitating the feeding process. At this moment, the child may make sounds and sob. Sleep during the REM phase is very light. The child is able to wake up from his own movements and sounds, cry out and fall asleep on his own. A child's restlessness during sleep may arise in response to experiences experienced during wakefulness.
Reasons for babies crying at night
According to the famous doctor Komarovsky, the cause of crying in babies during sleep is increased excitability of the nervous system. Starting from 5 months, the bones and teeth of babies begin to actively grow, while the body needs calcium - the basis of any bone structures. If the child’s body does not receive enough of this element from food, the baby will become overly excitable.
The reasons why children cry at night also depend on age. Thus, infants may cry out from intestinal colic, and older children may cry out from nightmares.
Children under one year old
A child cries in his sleep with any inconvenience: wet underwear, high or low temperature in the room, feeling hungry. Parents are obliged to monitor how the baby sleeps and respond to his behavior during sleep if it goes beyond the usual limits. A child under one year old can wake up at night, sleep restlessly and cry in his sleep for the following reasons:
Older children
If babies under one year old have more sleep problems due to conditions external environment or diseases, then in older children everything is connected with emotional sphere. Why is this happening? The world of a child from 2 years of age and older is constantly expanding. The home environment is replaced by a kindergarten, a limited circle of relatives is replaced by educators and other children. Hence new impressions and emotions that the child’s nervous system cannot always cope with. The most common reasons why small children cry in their sleep:
What to do if your baby cries at night?
If a child cries in his sleep, Komarovsky and other pediatricians advise paying attention to the frequency of such cases. If a newborn is crying rare occurrence, then there is no need to sound the alarm.
When the baby constantly makes restless sounds, and tantrums in older children when falling asleep become the “norm,” the issue needs to be taken seriously. Komarovsky recommends identifying and eliminating factors that prevent normal sleep. Doctors recommend following the rules to ensure that newborns and older children sleep soundly and healthy.
A healthy baby sleeps so soundly that he does not even react to sharp sounds. But not always children's sleep so deep and calm. Every mother is familiar with the situation when a sleeping baby suddenly begins to scream and cry without opening her eyes. If this happens infrequently, then there is no serious cause for concern. And when such nightly “concerts” become regular, you should be alarmed. They can be a symptom of pathological changes in the baby's body.
Main reasons
Babies cry often. Until they learn other ways of communication, crying is the only way available to them to get attention. After a couple of months, almost any mother can determine by the nature of the crying and its intensity what caused it and what the baby wants. But this is during the day. But to understand why a child starts screaming in his sleep without waking up can sometimes be very difficult.Physiological
Not too intense crying during sleep is most often caused by purely physiological reasons - the baby experiences some discomfort, but not so strong as to wake up.
The baby may whine and toss and turn due to:
- wet diaper or panties;
- feeling of hunger;
- uncomfortable air temperature;
- low air humidity;
- uncomfortable body position;
- pillow too high or low;
- when sounds or light prevent you from falling asleep soundly.
These causes of crying are the easiest to detect and eliminate, so you need to start with them. If after this the baby continues to sleep peacefully, then everything is fine and serious problems No.
Psychological
The psyche of a newborn is still extremely unstable: he gets excited very quickly, and it takes some time to calm down. Therefore, daytime experiences often affect the quality of sleep, and not only negative ones. Stormy joy is also stress, albeit a pleasant one.
Sometimes a baby cries in his sleep without waking up because:
Important! If during the day the parents sort things out too vigorously in the presence of the child, this will definitely be deposited in his subconscious, and at night the baby will sleep restlessly. The baby feels very acutely emotional state loved ones, and negativity scares him.
There is also such a thing as a sleep crisis, which occurs several times during the first year of life and manifests itself in the fact that the baby, who previously slept peacefully, begins to wake up frequently or cry at night. He has physiological reasons and associated with age-related changes, occurring in the baby’s body. Typically, a sleep crisis goes away without any intervention within an average of two weeks.
Pathological
It makes sense to worry when the day has passed calmly, the baby has been provided with comfortable conditions for rest, in the evening he is full and happy, but at night he still starts crying and screaming. This may already be associated with acute or chronic diseases that need to be quickly diagnosed and treated:
- acute respiratory diseases of an infectious or viral nature;
- chronic ENT diseases in which breathing is difficult;
- otitis accompanied by severe ear pain;
- intestinal infections that cause fever and bloating;
- increased intracranial pressure causing headaches;
- neurological diseases that provoke panic attacks.
Often, parents whose babies regularly cry at night run to the doctor in horror, but it turns out that the source of the problem is common in infants. intestinal colic or teething. But it’s better to play it safe and take at least basic urine and blood tests, which will show whether there are inflammatory processes in the baby’s body.
It is also advisable to consult a neurologist - he will be able to identify pathological changes on early stage when they can still be dealt with quickly.
What to do
If a baby, lying in his own crib, bursts into tears, then first of all he needs to be calmed down. Moreover, this should be done carefully - the child continues to sleep and a sudden awakening will only increase stress.
Dr. Komarovsky advises doing the following:
- approach the crib and carefully place your hand on the baby’s tummy or head;
- with the second hand, check whether the bed is dry and whether there are any creases or folds that interfere with sleep;
- carefully pick up the baby in your arms and hold him close to you;
- if he wakes up, offer him some water or breast;
- if the child is wet, change his clothes and diaper;
- check the temperature and humidity in the room;
- If the baby seems hot, be sure to set a thermometer so as not to miss the onset of the disease.
Don't put him back to bed and leave immediately. If your baby is crying a lot, hold him in your arms until he calms down completely. Or put him in a crib, but at the same time maintain tactile contact: stroke his tummy or head, lightly massage his legs and arms. When your baby falls asleep again, watch him for a while longer.
Prevention of crying
To prevent a child from crying at night, he needs to create comfortable sleeping conditions and correct mode day. Komarovsky claims that a well-designed bedtime ritual in 90% of cases provides the baby with a good night's rest.
The main elements of this ritual for the baby should be bathing, changing clothes, laying out the crib, switching the lighting to night and soothing communication (lullaby, fairy tale, etc.).
But the quality of a baby’s sleep is directly affected by events throughout the day. Here are the TOP 5 important principles that can ensure a healthy baby sound sleep.
Daily routine
Ideally, your baby should wake up in the morning and go to bed at night at the same time. Naturally, with age the regime will be adjusted. But you need to do this smoothly, shifting daily by 10-15 minutes. And if you put your baby to bed every day different times, his body and psyche cannot adjust to sleep normally.
And don’t be afraid to wake up your child in the morning if the baby is too sleepy. Otherwise, he will not have time to get tired during the day, and sleep will not be sound.
Place to sleep
There is nothing more calming for a baby than consistency. Therefore, it is very important from the very first days of his life to decide where he will sleep at night. Many people now practice co-sleeping. If you decide so, let the baby sleep in your bed, but then put him next to him every day.
But it is better to immediately accustom the child to his own crib, which he will associate with a cozy and safe nest for sleep.
Feeding schedule
The mistake of many parents is that they overfeed the baby in the evening (at 17-18 hours), and he does not eat well at night. Naturally, after 3-4 hours of sleep at night, he begins to feel hungry - that’s where you get restless.
During the first “dinner” it is better to underfeed him a little. Then at night the baby will drink plenty of milk and sleep peacefully all night.
Active day
A healthy child is always full of strength and energy, which must be released during the day so that its remnants do not interfere with sleep at night.
But outdoor games, learning, communication with peers and visiting relatives must be planned so that they end no later than 16-17 hours.
good evening
Your baby's evening should be as calm and relaxing as possible. You shouldn't make noise or fool around after 17-18 hours. There are many other interesting activities: drawing, reading a book, building a house out of cubes. Try to keep your baby calm and positive during evening playtime.
It is also very important for the baby to have emotional and physical condition his parents, especially his mother. He is connected with her energetically and immediately senses if the mother is tired, dissatisfied with something, upset, or sick. He will cry because feeling unwell his mother causes him psychological discomfort.
When caring for your child, never forget about yourself. Make the most of your sleep time (ideally, sleep at the same time as your baby), and don't be shy about asking your family for help or admitting that you need extra rest.
One of the main principles that Komarovsky promotes: “ Calm mom - healthy baby" And this is very simple and valuable advice that is worth listening to.
Sound children's sleep is a fundamental part of healthy child development. Often, young parents in the first year of a baby’s life encounter problems with night sleep. A baby can start crying and screaming for the most basic reasons, be it hunger, stomach cramps or a full diaper. But there are times when mothers and fathers notice that the child is crying in his sleep and does not wake up. What to do in such a situation, how to understand and eliminate the cause of the baby’s crying? Let's try to figure it out.
Crying during sleep: possible causes
If parents began to worry about such behavior of the child in a dream, then this was probably not an isolated case. But there is no need to sound the alarm in advance. If a baby cries in his sleep, there is a completely understandable reason for this.
Children under one year of age.
In infants, the reasons for crying can be caused by the most harmless factors. If parents carefully monitor the baby, the picture of the appearance of crying will become clear very quickly. So, why do children cry in their sleep:
- colic/gas in the tummy– babies 3-4 months old have digestive problems due to swallowing air during feeding. Abdominal bloating causes discomfort in the baby, which he will certainly announce by crying or moaning in his sleep;
- teething– Children aged 6, 7, 8 and 9 months may experience painful sensations in the mouth. It's all due to swollen and itchy gums. Not everyone finds teething easy. sore gums they itch a lot. Because of these unpleasant symptoms the baby cries in his sleep without waking up;
- separate sleep– some babies feel uncomfortable if their mother is not around 24 hours a day, including during sleep. Even if the mother taught the newborn to sleep separately from the first days, at the age of 10-11 months the child may cry and toss and turn due to the lack of maternal closeness in sleep.
Children 1-3 years old.
In older babies, the above reasons for restlessness and crying at night may appear, but with less frequency. However, at this age other factors appear that can provoke disturbing sleep:
- violation of the daily routine– the sleep of a 1-1.5 year old child may suddenly become restless if there is a disruption in the usual daily routine. Unexpected guests, unplanned trip, or you're just celebrating New Year– the body of a child who is 2 or 3 years old will react with mini-stress;
- large portion of food before bed– an overfed baby’s stomach will be forced to work all night. When digesting food at night, you may experience discomfort, and the child will cry in his sleep.
Children 4+ years old.
Even children beyond infancy may cry in their sleep. If you notice crying in your child who is already 4 or 5 years old, pay attention to the following reasons:
- fear of the dark– at this age children develop their first fears, which can cause nightmares and bad dreams. At the age of 5, a child screams in his sleep after watching dark cartoons and films, so it is imperative to protect the child’s still fragile psyche from them;
- active evening games– before bedtime there is absolutely no need to excite the child’s nervous system. A very tired child cries in his sleep without waking up. There should be no throwing over your head, dancing or jumping after 19.00.
Crying in a dream. Doctor Komarovsky's opinion
According to E.O. Komarovsky, most probable cause crying in babies, if it occurs several times during the night, is increased tone nervous system. At five to six month old babies, active growth of bones and baby teeth begins. Calcium supplied from food may not be enough, and in this case increased nervous excitability occurs. The solution to the problem is to take calcium gluconate to meet the need child's body in calcium.
A child screams in his sleep - what to do?
The sudden cry of a baby in a dream can seriously frighten parents. But, according to the observations of pediatricians, such cases are not at all uncommon. A child may cry at night for the following reasons:
– increased nervous excitability;
– after suffering stress or an event that excited him during the day;
– many hours computer games or games with gadgets.
If a child periodically cries out at night, parents should seek advice from a neurologist to determine the cause of the night sleep disorder.
How to make your baby sleep more peacefully
When a child cries in his sleep at night, the concern of young parents is understandable. Something is bothering the baby, but he continues to sleep. In such situations, you can try the following options:
– don’t wake up a whimpering baby. See if there is visible reasons for crying: a dropped pacifier, a wet diaper, and if possible, eliminate them;
– sometimes the baby cries at night if it is uncovered. A blanket and plaid give small children a feeling of comfort and security. Try to cover crying baby, and in case of constant opening, purchase a sleeping bag and the baby’s sleep will become less disturbing;
– if everything is fine in terms of comfort for the child, but he cries a lot in his sleep, then stroke him gently on the back and comfort him in a whisper. A few minutes, and the child will further fall into a restful sleep.
There is no need to panic if a child cries while sleeping, this does not mean that he is sick or that it is to blame mental disorders. But it is, of course, necessary to find out why this happens.
Let's list the most common reasons for children crying in their sleep.
Nervous overexcitement
And such phenomena can be observed often. For example, during the day you took your child to the circus, in the evening guests came to you (it was noisy and crowded), and before going to bed he watched more than one episode of his favorite cartoon. And if such a string of events is normal for an adult, then The child’s psyche is simply not ready for this.
Just imagine: your baby perceives everything that is familiar to you completely differently. Dozens of discoveries in a day, a sea of impressions, a quick change in the external picture - what should a child’s brain be like in order not to react in any way to such events?
Not only can the baby be capricious in his sleep, the child can also cry before going to bed, even become hysterical. So why does a child cry a lot before and during bedtime?
Analyze if something similar is happening in your life? Do your guests stay up late, and does your “little tail” get a lot of impressions during the day?
And most importantly– isn’t the usual one knocked down?
Remember, for a child a certain routine is the key to healthy development
Feeling lonely
Why does a child cry at night? Not at all a rare reason, especially for children under three years. And if the mother is accustomed to sleeping with the baby from infancy, it will not be easy for him to get out of the habit.
Even sleeping in the same room is best completed before the child is one year old. Otherwise, as the child grows up, he will be extremely sensitive to the fact that he sleeps alone in his room.
AND you can't blame the child for that: This is not his whim, but your omission. How can I improve the situation? Only by reasonable, gradual actions:
- Give your child more attention during the day so that he doesn't need it as much at night.
- Alternate between “evening mom” and “evening dad” so that the baby is not sensitive to the change in his usual face (otherwise, you won’t even be able to think about spending the night with your grandparents until he’s 4-5 years old)
- Assign a toy that will be “for the elder”, right in front of the child, ask the bear to sleep with Mashenka today
- Don't solve the problem in one day, they say, that’s it, from now on you sleep alone
- Light toys, children's sconces, colorful bright stickers on the wall will slightly distract the baby from sad thoughts in the dark
- from a lullaby or bedtime story you can't refuse, but try not to lie down next to the baby, but sit by the bed, stroking the baby’s head
I had a terrible dream
Did you think children don’t dream yet? Of course they see, and how. And not a single child is immune from this, just get scared bad dream he is more than an adult.
Yes, and he won’t be able to understand right away that it was all an illusion. Only the calm face of mom and dad, gentle stroking, quiet kind voice will return the child to his usual state of comfort and security.
Again, make sure that the baby does not become emotionally overstrained during the day. After all, such overexcitation will happen main reason nightmares. By the way.
No need to wake up your baby if he whines in his sleep! See if the pacifier has fallen out, if the baby has opened up, just pet the baby. He can immediately fall asleep peacefully.
A 1-3 year old child cries in his sleep
Older children may also cry in their sleep.
A healthy child begins to cry in his sleep when hyperexcitability. Often this is a consequence of parents’ mistakes, when everything active games and watching cartoons occurs before bedtime.
On the contrary, an hour before bedtime you need to do something calm: modeling, drawing, reading books. Let all this be accompanied by music: quiet, calm melodies will be a good background.
If, with the proper daily routine, the child still cries a lot in his sleep, and he is not sick, there is a reason contact a neurologist. Childhood fears and fright can haunt the baby even at night.
It may be impossible to do without special medications.
Preschooler crying in his sleep
Child preschool age may already complain of fever and pain in the throat (ear, nose, etc.), so recognizing the disease in this case is easy. Why then can a child cry in his sleep? This may be a consequence:
- high loads (kindergarten, clubs, big circle communication)
- worries (family quarrels)
- terrible dreams (he does not talk about some of his fears and anxieties, but endures them in silence, which results in nightmares)
- stress experienced (parents punished, offended in the garden, scared by a dog)
Consultation child psychologist is quite appropriate in such cases: it will help parents find out the true reasons for a child’s crying in their sleep and determine the further path to solving the problem.
Of course, it’s impossible to hope that it will “outgrow” and “scream and calm down.” Remember that many fears are complexes comes from childhood. Help your child, who does not yet know how to cope with difficult situations on his own.
Small children and crying are such identical concepts that no one has any doubt: a newborn baby will definitely cry. This is understandable, because through tears and screams, the baby can communicate his wishes and inconveniences in the only way available to him.
If a baby cries during the day, then it is relatively easy to determine the reason, because in addition to this, he gives some other signs. What if it’s dark outside, you’ve laid down and are in the mood for a sound sleep, but you’re suddenly awakened by your baby’s crying. Why does a child cry in his sleep and not wake up? We will solve this riddle in the article.
Experienced parents know that infants sleep differently than adults and older children. The whole point is in the child’s daily biorhythms. His internal clock, which is responsible for the sleep-wake cycle, has not yet been perfected, and the process of establishing it is accompanied by various malfunctions, thereby the baby’s body seems to select its individual time through experiments.
Children under the age of one year unconsciously change the duration and frequency of their sleep several times. For example, a baby aged 0 to 1 month sleeps from 20-22 hours a day. A growing baby begins to sleep less and less, until by about a year he has only one 2-hour sleep during the day and 8-9 hours at night.
As for crying in your sleep, until your sleep pattern is established, night whimpering will be your frequent companion. In most cases, it is short-term and does not greatly affect the peace of mind of the child and his household. But if the crying is quite strong, frequent, constant and incomprehensible, and the newborn baby cries without waking up, then it’s time to think about hidden reasons such a phenomenon. It is possible that the problem will be easily fixable.
Hidden Reasons
If you have a burning question, why? infant cries in a dream, which means something needs to be done and the sooner the better. What can cause attacks of night crying that a newborn baby torments himself and his parents?
- Physiological reasons: inconvenience due to a wet or dirty diaper, sweaty back due to the hot air in the room, a reflexive desire to eat, a numb hand, dry mucous in the nose, interfering with breathing, etc.
- Fatigue. Many parents deliberately exhaust their child with active entertainment and walks before bedtime, hoping that he will fall asleep, as they say, without sleep. hind legs. The effect of such enterprise is exactly the opposite of expectations - instead of sleeping, the baby rebels, but he himself is not to blame for this, because this happens at the level of consciousness. The reason is the content of cortisol, a stress hormone that accumulates under heavy loads in order to maintain the body in working condition.
- Too much information. If a newborn baby has experienced many previously unknown impressions during the day, his brain will try to process and organize information received from outside throughout the night. While a child’s tired body is trying to sleep, his overexcited brain is actively working, and this is a serious obstacle to proper rest.
- Instinctive craving for mother. The baby’s desire to be near his mother is always strong – both day and night. Let's say you put your baby to sleep in your arms and put him in a crib. It seems to you that he is fast asleep and will not feel your departure. But this is a big misconception, because even sleeping children feel everything. As soon as he begins to miss his mother’s warmth, he will immediately try to whimper through sleep.
- Dreams. This may surprise some, but a newborn baby is also capable of dreaming. They are formed on the basis of his knowledge of the world around him. Since the child’s nervous system, as well as the brain, are not yet mature enough, his dreams are disordered and thus can frighten the baby. That's why he can cry without waking up.
- Negative experiences during the day. Quarrels between parents, accompanied by swearing; mother's irritation, even hidden; long trips; loud sounds heard on the street - all this provokes stress, which makes the child cry in his sleep.
- Disease. The onset of malaise is quite common reason, explaining crying. Perhaps the baby’s temperature begins to rise or he is worried about colic or teething, and he involuntarily communicates this by crying. If these reasons are excluded, problems remain with nervous system baby, which only a neurologist can diagnose.
There are many reasons and not all of them require intervention.
Sometimes it is enough to wait 1-2 minutes until the baby cries and he will calm down.
Ways to prevent crying in your sleep
In some cases, recurrence of nighttime crying attacks can be avoided by doing the following before going to bed:
- Remember the three basic needs of a baby: affection, food and cleanliness. If your newborn cries at night, try checking before bed to make sure these needs are being met.
- Establish rituals before bed, for example, bathing - feeding - reading (song) - sleep. This will help you get in the right mood for your upcoming vacation.
- Forget about active games before going to bed - they only cause proven harm.
- Provide your baby with fresh, humidified, cool air in his room. Equally important is clean, comfortable underwear.
- Try to avoid a tense situation in the family - it is your baby who suffers first of all.
- Decide on a daily routine as soon as possible, because its absence can cause crying in your sleep.
- Do not overfeed your baby before bedtime. Even adults have nightmares from overeating, especially children.
- Consider your attitude towards co-sleeping, because it has been proven that children sleep better next to their mother.
- Don't turn off the light near your baby's crib - leave a dim nightlight.
It is not so easy to find out why a child cried in his sleep, but it is worth doing. By finding out what exactly causes your baby to cry and taking appropriate actions before bed, you yourself will be able to sleep peacefully.
