How to help your child to sleep healthy and safe

Has your child ever woken up in the morning with a bad mood? Yes, this happens, but there is a sudden change in his mood during the day without any apparent reason. Does your child find it difficult to focus for periods of time during a certain task he is doing, when this task is appropriate for his age and development?

To these and other questions, the answer lies in the problems and problems of sleep. A child’s sleep is of great importance and has a great impact on his psyche, mood and development. Whenever a child gets a sufficient number of hours of sleep during the day and night, the positive impact will be on his life, and vice versa.

Sleep greatly helps children to: renew energy and vitality in the body, contribute to building memory and store information, strengthen the immune system, focus and ideal awakening, and by this we mean: increasing the period of time in which the child is in the maximum concentration, to achieve an ideal learning state, helps the child In making decisions and not being confused, it helps in the metabolism in the body. During the hours of deep sleep, growth hormone is secreted, which is at its highest levels, and this contributes positively to all areas of development in children.

This is in addition to the positive reflection on the atmosphere of the home and family. When parents and children get a sufficient number of hours of sleep, the atmosphere is comfortable and pleasant at home, and vice versa.

What do we mean by sleep problem? Many times when we ask parents or doctors about the concept of a "sleep problem", the response is related to the number of times the child wakes up during the night, but it is true that the problem of sleep in children is related to the child's ability to sleep independently at night (a five-month-old child).

Often the child is in a state of stability in terms of sleep and sleeps well throughout the night hours and for long periods, and suddenly when something changes occurs, he begins to wake up several times during the night and needs a longer time to sleep or to return to sleep. This case has a logical explanation, as these changes usually occur and stop if the child is independent in his sleep or linked to others in the way he sleeps. ( Harvard )

When we talk about changes in the child’s environment, the following is intended: the appearance of the child’s teeth (teething) in the first months of his life, various vaccinations, a transient disease, his departure from the daily routine and entry into a new educational framework (nursery or kindergarten), such changes are reflected in the program Children sleep at night.

If you are going through a difficult period and your children have sleep problems, you should ask yourself the following:

Does my child have the skill of independent sleep and sleep alone without assistance at the beginning of the night and during the night?

If the answer is yes... this period will be transient, if the answer is no... this period will often not pass easily, and sleep problems in children do not usually disappear with the passage of time, but change and change according to the age of the child (Example: an 8-month-old child He sleeps with the help of his parents and sleeps on his hands. Only at the age of two years, when the child grows up and matures physically, can he switch hands to sleep next to the parents), and therefore it is preferable to work with the child and train him in order to give him the skill of independent sleep in his first months.

What do we mean by independent sleep? In it, the parents put the child in his bed after the night weather, wish him a good night and sweet dreams and kiss him, and then the child enters the bed, fully awake and without any external factor from the parents (milk, for example) to sleep, and even a pacifier is not considered an attachment factor or an auxiliary factor, If the child is able to return it to his mouth alone, and even the transitional purpose that accompanies the child, if the child is attached to one of them (a certain garment, sheet, towel, etc.), it is not considered an attachment factor and an external helper because he no longer needs external help from the parents in the case of sleep independent.

Tips that help parents to acquire the skill of independent sleep for children: a fixed daily regimen, which helps the child feel safe and secure and helps him arrange and gradual things in his brain, the quick response of parents to signs of fatigue in the child, such as rubbing the eyes and ears, yawning, crying, excessive nervousness and imbalance in body movement.

Night ritual, it is important for the child to set a time for the night ritual before bedtime, and this contributes to the process of filtering and gradually reducing the temptations and stimuli in his surroundings. The night weather contains a quiet bath, dinner and a story, then turn off the light, not to associate any external factor with the sleep process (milk bottle) ( gsu ).

Morning ritual. The morning is related to the sunrise. When the child wakes up in the morning, we have to go out of the bedroom to the living room, open the window to see the light, and light the room. This process reinforces the concept of night and day for the child.

Breakfast is preferably not immediately after waking up so that the child does not associate waking up with eating. Hence, this is a simple overview and one of a series of contents that parents can follow, in order to raise our children and prepare them for a healthy and comfortable sleep behavior because, as research indicates today, proper and adequate sleep is the secret One of the secrets of future success.

Eight tips for a peaceful sleep for your

child The frequent waking of children at night causes some mothers to worry, as many of them believe that the lack of sleep in children affects their development. How can this problem be overcome and help children sleep peacefully?

Newborns sleep regularly after two months, as their sleep rate increases at night, which helps parents restore their ability to sleep quietly, so that the cycle of repeated awakening returns to some children at night in the sixth month and continues until the child reaches his second year. This phenomenon worries some mothers, but German pediatrician Andrea Schmeltz sees this as a natural thing. The child at this age increases his ability to move and learns a lot, as he discovers new things daily and is processed in the brain at night, which prompts the child to wake up frequently.

The German website "Wesen Eltern" concerned with family affairs reviewed a set spark of tips that can help children sleep peacefully.

1. Stay away from putting the child to bed before seven o'clock in the evening, the number of hours of sleep for children does not exceed 11 hours continuously.

2. Try to delay the date of eating milk until the early morning hours, as some children are accustomed to eating breakfast early, which makes them feel hungry and prompts them to wake up.

3. Stay away from naps. If your child takes his first nap early, you can help him sleep longer in the morning instead of waking up for several hours between early and nap time.

4. Stay calm in the morning, especially when you need to go out early. In the early morning hours, sleep is not deep and the least noise that prompts the child to wake up.

5. When the child needs a long time to be able to sleep at night, you should not wake him up early, and try to delay all sleep schedules during the day, which makes him tired and pushes him to sleep at night.

6. Try to make your child's last nap early and at least four hours before bedtime.

7. When the child stays awake for long periods of time in bed at night, try to put him in bed shortly before he sleeps and wake him up at the usual time, so as not to compensate for the lack of sleep in the daytime hours.

8. If your child does not sleep continuously and wakes up almost every hour, you should reduce the time your child spends in bed at night, and limit it to the actual hours of sleep.

When should your baby sleep? How many hours of sleep is appropriate for him according to his age?

Children's sleep schedules are an obsession for mothers and fathers, especially in the first months after birth, as the sleep pattern varies from one child to another, and the hours that the child should sleep according to medium his age.

Here is everything you need to know about children's sleep schedules, according to the American website Very Well Family.

Children's sleep schedules A child's sleep

The schedule depends on his age, so it is normal for a baby of one or two months to continue to wake up during the night to eat, while a child of five or six months can sleep through the night.

When does the baby sleep regularly?

After 6 months of age, a baby's sleep should be regular, and waking up at night is only a problem if your baby is older and still wakes several times a night.

So it is important for parents to understand how a child's sleep changes as they age, so that they can deal with their child properly, and know when their child's sleep pattern may be indicative of a problem.

How many hours children sleep by age

The question of when a child sleeps at night is a concern ezproxy for all mothers and fathers, and it is also a matter of the child's age.

Newborn sleep A newborn

a baby can sleep up to 19 hours a day, although the National Sleep Foundation suggests that a newborn's sleep period ranges between 14 and 17 hours, and this period is often divided into periods of two to three hours, interspersed with awakening slightly. To eat and then go back to sleep again.

The number of hours the child sleeps in the first months

your child completes his first month, he begins to sleep for 14 hours a day, and he will sleep for one long period during the first part of the night, extending to four or five hours, followed by waking up and eating every two or three hours.

As for sleep during the remainder of his first year, it may look like this:

13 hours by the completion of three months, including about eight hours of sleep during the night.

Some infants this age begin to sleep through the night and take three or four naps during the day.

12.5 hours by completion of six months, of which approximately nine hours are during the night.

Infants this age should be able to sleep through the night and take one or more naps during the day.

12 hours by completion of nine months, including about nine hours during the night, and two naps during the day.

12 hours by completion of 12 months, including nine to ten hours during the night, and one or two naps during the day.

Keep in mind that when we say eight or nine hours during the night, it usually means eight or nine hours straight without getting up.

Although some babies don't sleep very long, by the time they are three or four months old, you can usually expect your baby to sleep for at least five to six hours, ideally longer. Talk to your pediatrician.

Children's Sleep Problems

While older children and those in nursery school may resist falling asleep and may wake up during the night, infants' sleep problems typically involve waking several times during the night.

As with sitting and rolling time, sleeping through the night is a developmental stage that your child must reach. So it may be true that your four-month-old baby gets up once to eat normally.

On the other hand, if your baby still wakes two or three times during the night by the end of the sixth month, there may be a sleep problem that can be worked on. Usually, the best way to fix your baby's sleep problems is to establish a bedtime routine and teach Your baby can fall asleep on his own, and this usually means the baby will fall asleep without rocking, feeding, or using a bottle, and you can still do all of these things, and all you have to do is make it a little earlier in the bedtime routine, and put your baby in his crib while he is Sleepy and still awake, then keep going and try to do all the same things, the same way, at the same time, every night.

In just 4 days

, nothing compares to a mother’s joy at the birth of a healthy child, but the greatest suffering occurs in the infants not sleeping for long hours, so mothers complain that they are unable to continue their lives, especially since children sleep intermittently, which means the repetition of waking times at night, for For the mother, and her inability to continue her family responsibilities in the morning.

But what mothers do not know is that they can regulate children’s sleep, and develop a plan for a daily routine that helps sleep, and a study conducted at Liverpool John Moores University has proven that there is a relationship between a child’s exposure to light in the afternoons, and his sleep for longer hours at night, according to the British newspaper Telegraph, and found The study found that children who slept well at night experienced poorer light between the hours of noon and 4 pm, compared to those who did not sleep at night, and attributed this to the ability of light to stimulate the early development of the biological clock, which regulates a number of bodily functions, including the secretion of melatonin. It is an important factor in balanced sleep patterns.

We may make mistakes against our children by isolating them completely during their first birthdays from any external source, especially light. Are there other mistakes?

Sleep mistakes for infants

- not sticking to a daily routine to get the child used to sleeping during it, and chaos in the hours of sleep.

Allowing the child to stay awake and not creating the appropriate atmosphere for him, such as dimming the lights, for example.

Putting dolls next to the child, which contributes to distracting him, which means not sleeping.

Do not turn off electronic devices and keep them away from you and your child at bedtime, and according to the “Circle of Mom” website, the waves produced by these devices disrupt the natural sleep cycle.

- Postponing the regulation of children's sleep due to teething - for example - may make it more difficult after passing that stage.

Very high expectations. You may have heard of babies sleeping through the night at eight weeks old or napping for two hours, twice a day, and you wish your baby was too, but it is important to know that babies are different. Babies wake up to feed between the ages of three and four. months at least.

How do you help him sleep then?

A swaddle (a piece of cloth that is wrapped around a child's body) makes him calmer and sleeps better and longer.

Limit the length of naps during the day, so that his sleep at night is not affected.

Use white noise, for example, a fan can be placed in the middle of the room, not directly directed at the child, so that he gets used to the presence of a certain amount of noise if you go out to a party or visit a family.

Maintaining the cycle of waking up, eating, playing and sleeping; It encourages full breastfeeding, makes the child need to breastfeed regularly every two hours, for example, and not whenever he wants, and prevents him from linking breastfeeding to sleep, which saves the mother from trouble if he wakes up at night.

Choose an appropriate daily routine to help him sleep, such as singing a song, for example, taking the child to his room, closing the curtains, or taking a warm bath.

Don't talk too much if your baby wakes up at night, and if he cries, give him some time to reset himself to sleep again.

Put him in his bed if he is drowsy, and this helps you to accustom him to independent sleep in the future.

Changing the diaper before bed and not leaving it until he wakes up at night, so that there is no difficulty in falling asleep again.

Understand how your child sleeps. Do not think that the more you leave him awake for longer periods, it helps to increase the length of his sleep at night, but on the contrary; A tired child sleeps for shorter periods.

But they can be helped to get a quiet sleep, and the main password to achieve this is “routine”, and with your application of the previous tips, you can sleep at night, after developing a strategy as follows:

- On the first day, start the routine and make him wake up early, and open the curtains, so that he can distinguish between Night and day, linking night and sleep, day and wake up, and at night give him a warm bath, with dim lighting, to help him relax, and all of this must be done at a specific and fixed time.

- On the second day, put him in his bed at the bedtime you specified, even if he cries, he will reset himself to sleep, do not worry about his crying, this position will not reduce his sense of safety, and in most cases this will not last long.

On the third day, do not give in to his crying, respond to him every ten minutes, then increase it to 15 minutes, and make eye contact with him, and touch him with your hand to calm him, but do not allow him to get out of bed.

On the fourth day, do all the steps of the previous routine, and make sure the child is clean at night, the lights are off, and do not allow the routine to be broken in the coming days, whatever the reasons.

Does the child's sleep hours differ at the time of study?

Sleep is a necessary physiological state in order to grow and live well; When the body relaxes, the muscles relax, nerve connections are reorganized, memory is strengthened, and toxins are removed and excreted. On the contrary, lack of sleep leads to a physiological imbalance of the body that negatively affects many of its vital functions, so there is a strong health and mental importance for the child to sleep for sufficient hours during a time. the study. The meeting and Dr. Ibrahim Shoukry, a pediatrician consultant, for explanation and detail.

The number of hours of sleep that the child

needs The school child needs 8-10 hours of sleep, in order for the child to grow and get full and good concentration, he must take an adequate amount of sleep, according to the ages, the preschool child, i.e. from 3 to 5 years, needs Between 11 and 12 hours, and children in the age of 6 to 12 years of age, which is the age of starting school, need between 8 to 10 hours, preparing children to get adequate sleep.

It is necessary to have a regular bedtime

It is very important to adopt a regular sleep schedule in order to have a good regime during the school days, to get in the habit of getting up early every day, including the weekend, so that the body can continue its habits.

There are children who have difficulty sleeping early, but they can do some exercise - not directly before bed - during the day, which allows them to sleep very easily. eat just enough for dinner; As the difficulty of digestion negatively affects the quality of sleep, and not very little either; Because hunger causes an imbalance in the depth of sleep.

avoid electronic devices; Video games, television, computers, smart phones, electronic panels, which contribute to raising the level of excitement before bed, not to eat all drinks or foods that contain stimulant substances, such as coffee, tea, stimulant or sugary drinks, especially in the afternoon It is recommended to take a warm bath before bedtime, as it helps the child to relax and increases the depth of sleep.

importance of early sleep for students

helps the body to grow properly; As there are growth hormones secreted during sleep that are responsible for maintaining the health of the child from deformities, short stature, poor body construction and many other diseases.

Sleep helps to increase the mental abilities of the child, and helps the strength of focus, comprehension, understanding, memorization and learning as well. Taking the child enough hours of sleep helps to improve the psychological state and mood, and prevents the emergence of tension and nervousness towards some actions.

Sleep activates the body, and helps the child to perform the daily activities in his school with all activity and concentration, without getting tired and exhausted from the smallest things. One of the benefits of sleep is also to strengthen the heart and reduce the incidence of damage to blood vessels, as it protects against many other serious diseases.

Tips for a sound sleep at the time of study

The body’s biological clock must be adhered to by sleeping in the evening, and waking up in the morning so that there is no disturbance that leads to insomnia. Children should not take many drinks before bed because this leads to him going to the bathroom more than once at night.

Preventing the child from playing right before bedtime because this activates the blood circulation and calls him to wake up. Offer a cup of milk to the child before bedtime because this helps him relax, and helps him read stories before bed; To help him sleep in comfort.

A child getting enough sleep is a healthy and useful thing. As for increasing the child’s sleep hours than usual, it affects him in a negative way and teaches him laziness. The hours are sufficient to get a deep and calm sleep; To bear the burden of the school day and focus, it is recommended that youngsters of the first school age sleep from eight until six or seven in the morning, depending on the school time. Learning, memory and focus.

Damage to the child’s lack of sleep The

A student's staying up weakens the immune system, sleep deprivation can affect the hormones in the body, a child who does not get proper rest, for at least 9 hours, becomes irritable, moody or cranky, has a shorter attention span.

He faces difficulties in concentrating, remembering and solving problems, and the child may have a deficiency in magnesium, which is one of the most powerful relaxing minerals used to improve sleep. after eleven ; To be able to wake up at six or seven with a present mind.

Staying up late weakens memory, the student finds it difficult to solve problems, faces a problem with concentration, feels depressed, weak in the immune system, increased pain, it is important to provide the right atmosphere for sleep in terms of calm, cleanliness and ventilation of the place and eating light foods before bedtime.

Does your child sleep in a bright or dark room?

Doctors often advise parents to ensure that children sleep early, but the advice has expanded to also include making sure to turn off the lights in the room for a better sleep, so why is it preferable for children to sleep in the dark?

Doctors and health experts advise that children should sleep before nine o'clock in the evening, because of the importance of this matter in their healthy and sound development. As the activity of growth hormone increases during the night hours, why is it preferable for children to sleep in a dark room? Melatonin is the hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle, and this hormone is secreted during the night and in the dark, and its secretion leads to a feeling of drowsiness and the desire to sleep. The child stays awake longer and cannot fall asleep quickly.

In the end, you should stay away from the wrong habits before bed, which are lighting the room, turning on the TV or the computer, and also paying attention to following the correct habits before bed, which are closing the lights and curtains, taking a warm bath before bed, or drinking a glass of warm milk before bed.

Damage to late sleep

There are many health damages to the child if he sleeps late, namely:

Effects on growth

Sleeping well helps in the child’s growth and better brain development, especially night sleep, and therefore sleep deprivation hinders the development of mental and physical health he has.

Feeling tired and exhausted

When the child sleeps late, he often does not get enough sleep, to wake up in the morning and feel tired, which affects his mood and his abilities to perform various daily activities and interact with others.

Sleeping

too much can also make the child get used to staying up late and sleeping for a long time during the day, which wastes a large part of the day, which the child can benefit from, and sleeping for a long time has many negative effects on the body, and can lead to headaches and feelings of tension.

Insomnia

As a result of getting used to staying up late, it is difficult for the child to sleep normally at night, and he may have difficulty falling asleep and staying awake for a long time, so that he can fall asleep.

Imbalance of the diet The

child needs to obtain healthy and integrated nutrition, and in the case of sleeping late, his diet changes, as he does not get breakfast on time, and he can wake up at lunch time, and therefore he misses the nutritional value of breakfast, and staying up increases From the opportunity to eat a lot of food at night, especially unhealthy foods that children prefer, which causes weight gain and obesity.

Not benefiting from the day

Waking up early allows the child to do many useful daily activities for him, whether playing sports or enhancing scanmail his talents and skills, but sleeping late and waking up late will affect the system of the day and make it difficult to do any activities.

Imbalance of the immune system

As a result of not sleeping well, disorders occur in the functions of the immune system, which increases the risk of various diseases.

Ways to help get to sleep early

Get up early: When the child gets used to waking up early in the morning, he won't be able to resist going to bed early at night.

It is recommended to provide natural lighting in the child's room in the morning, as this helps him to wake up quickly and feel energetic.

Sharing the child for his bedtime: The child cannot be persuaded to sleep early while he finds all family members awake around him Microsoft , and therefore parents must share the child at bedtime, as it is a healthy thing for all family members.

Creating the sleeping atmosphere: by turning off the lights or making them dim, while stopping any sounds or sources of disturbance for the child, setting a daily bedtime: so that the child gets used to sleeping at this time, and the internal clock adapts to feeling sleepy at this time every day.

Applying a daily sleep routine: With regularity in the daily sleep routine, the task of sleeping will be easy, and the sleep routine consists of taking a warm bath, brushing the teeth, drinking a cup of warm milk, and a bedtime story.

The child’s doing different activities: This is in the first half of sleep, as this helps the child release the energy inside him during the day, and tends to rest and calm at night. Avoid stimulating activities before bed: because it can increase the child’s activity, such as movement games or watching TV. Sit in front of the tablets.