Baby sleep from 0 to 3 months old |Parents.fr
From birth to its first three months, the rate of sleep of your newborn is not regular.However, it is now that the right reflexes are being implemented and that the link with his parents is created!Our advice to help him sleep well.
"So, is he doing his nights?!From the birth of your baby to his three, four or even five years, this is the question that seems to tap your loved ones.Grandparents who came for a weekend, your friends around a dinner, even your colleagues with a coffee machine: everyone wants to know if your cherub "makes their nights".But what does it mean to “make your nights”?Indeed, the recommended number of hours of night sleep and day naps is a large range, and many external factors can influence your baby's sleep.
How does a baby sleep at birth?
The first days of our baby's life, we feel like in another space-time, and all that we had tried to learn during pregnancy disappeared in the fog of our mind!How to make him take the breast or a bottle?At what rate should it be washed?But why can he cry well?Does he sleep enough, or too much?We take our marks...and him too.
At birth, our child's sleep of sleep is not yet circadian, that is to say that it is not stalled on the day / night work-study."The Circadian Sleep Organization is developing between the first and third month of the newborn," explains Anne-Sophie Diependele, a neuropediatrician working in the sleep unit of the Caen Caen.By then, it is still important to give landmarks to our infant so that it gradually adopts this rhythm: we must establish differences between day and night ”.
À lire aussiThis is why we recommend to parents from the first days to establish a change in brightness: we leave the shutters or curtains open, even if baby sleeps during the day, but we make the dark around him at night.We talk to him normally during the day but in a low voice, we exchange more actively during meal and change during the day and we are as calm as possible at night...These indications of course remain advice to be adapted according to your baby's needs.
What about naps?
The naps of the day are not yet well organized the first three months of baby.Depending on the babies, you can expect birth to an average awakening time ranging from 0 to 30 minutes.It is possible that in one month, its naps last only 15 minutes, with a time of awakening between each more or less long.You have to take into account the existence depetits and big sleepers...And this, from birth!Some may therefore have a sleep cycle of 15 minutes when others will have one hour.
What rate of sleep should a 3 month old child have?
On average, we consider that a child must have about:
I feel like baby sleeps a lot, even too much!
It is not necessarily worrying that baby exceeds the number of hours of average sleep for his age, even if it is always better to talk to his pediatrician.What should more alert is the behavior of the infant outside his sleep phases: is he sleepy?Does it struggle to wake up to take the breast or the bottle?Have you noticed another source of concern like a respiratory problem or fever?In any case, do not hesitate to consult your pediatrician.
À lire aussiWhen does baby make his nights?
Ah, the famous expression "to make your nights"!You have to have in mind that you consider that a child "makes his nights" from the moment he sleeps at night...5 to 6 hours in a row.At the age of two months, only one in four babys made his nights.Still a little patience so before you can enjoy the late morning until 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. from a pre-ado!
The question of weight is very important so that the child can sleep thus several hours at night: it is estimated that it is necessary to weigh approximately 5 kilograms so that the secretion of melatonin begins, a substance naturally produced by the pineal gland ofhis brain and regulating chrono-biological rhythms."This is why the biggest babies are also often bigger sleepers!"», Analysis Hélène Fouque, child psychiatrist and sleepworm, specialist in sleep disorders.
Are there a good number of bottles or feedings for the night?
The recommendations concerning the nutrients necessary for an infant report:
À lire aussiHow to sleep my newborn?
It is strongly recommended to sleep your child on your back in order to avoid the risks of sudden infant death.Your child will be able to fall asleep in another position only when he is able to turn alone.In addition, the bed must be adapted to its size, the mattress must be firm and there must be neither pillow, coverage, nor large plush that could suffocate it.
The place where baby sleeps must be ventilated about 30 minutes a day and the temperature must be between 18 and 20 ° C.If the atmosphere is too dry, you can, for example, place a bowl of water on the radiator.It is completely prohibited to smoke in this room.Regarding lighting, we try to instill the day / night alternation so the day, we favor natural lighting and we avoid making the full black, and the night we leave the room plunged in darkness.
Cododo, sharing of the master bedroom or installation in your own room as soon as maternity returns...There are several schools as to the best method to ensure the good rest of our newborn...And ours!In the West, our beds with their mattresses, duvets and pillows can be very dangerous for our toddlers.It can also disturb your sleep if you are constantly fearing to hurt your child by falling asleep.This is why it is rather recommended today not to share the bed of his newborn but, if possible, to share the same room up to her six months, so that everyone is reassured and thatthe feedings, in the event that mom breastfeeding, are simpler.
À lire aussiRestless, light or disturbed sleep, baby crying in his sleep,...What can be the reasons?
"The biological clock of the child is not yet settled on the day / night alternation, the rhythm you are going to give him is decisive so that his sleep is not agitated or disturbed", recalls Pascale Ogrizek, general practitionersleep specialist.Nap times, bedtime, but also meals, baths, outings...The more we punctuate the daily life of baby his first days and months, the better!
From the beginning of his second month, the child will also be increasingly receptive to bright or muscular stimuli.It is then possible that he is struggling more about falling asleep, so we try as much as possible to tone him during the day and leave baby in darkness and calm at night."It is very important to inform yourself about the sleep needs and the awakening times of your child with pediatricians or sleep specialists, I often meet parents who over-stimulate their newborn, who does not manageNot to sleep, ”insists Caroline Ferriol, a sleep specialist consultant and founder of the company Feedo.
But let's not forget that the rhythm and the best intentions in the world as new parents may not be enough: gastroesophageal reflux, allergy to milk proteins, colic, dental push...There are many small or big worries that can prevent baby from sleeping well.So do not hesitate to consult your pediatrician or a sleep specialist!
