HOW BABIES' DREAMS EVOLVE AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW

One of the first questions they will ask you as parents will be if your child sleeps well or even if he already sleeps. Babies' dream is a complex subject, more than we imagine, which often raises a debate between family and friends about how much and how a baby should sleep. Today we are going to talk about how childish sleep really is and how it evolves, a very important information to better understand and assimilate nighttime awakenings.

My baby wakes up at night, is it normal?

Most babies get wake up quite frequently at night. Although every little one is different, babies wake up because sleep is a Evolutionary process, just like crawling, walking or talking. Is it true that nobody tells us that we should teach our baby to crawl? Well, the same thing happens with sleep. Over time, some will need more and others less, the baby will sleep all the time.

Is it true that nobody tells us that we should teach our baby to crawl? Well, the same thing happens with sleep, it's evolutionary

When they are born, babies have only two of the five phases of sleep We have adults, phases that will be acquired as they grow. Newborns only have the deep sleep phase and the REM phase. In this way they wake up more frequently to be able to feed, every time they need it.

Understand that night awakenings with a natural and vital cause For children it is reassuring because it will help you understand their sleep pattern. If your child wakes up often, he is a child completely normal and healthy, so you should not worry and, above all, you should not try to "learn to sleep" because he will do it alone.

Stages of childhood sleep

Although childhood sleep evolves as the baby grows, during its first years of life it goes through different stages with some apparent setbacks. While of the 0 at 3 months Most likely, your baby will have a calmer and calmer sleep, and sleep more hours, after 3 or 4 months dream will be lighter and can wake up when moving from one sleep phase to another.

From 4 months to 7, approximately, your baby will have a most predictable dream and you will see how he establishes his own routines and creates a dream pattern. The most characteristic, and annoying, of this stage is that the dream of the beginning is lighter, becoming deeper with time, so it is very common that if you leave them in your crib newly asleep wake up.

Micro-awakenings are very common between 6 and 7 months, which often become a real awakening

Around 6 or 7 months, babies already have 4 phases of sleep. How good! You do not sing victory yet, because at this stage the micro-awakenings, which often happen to be directly an awakening. Adults, although we are not aware, we also have micro-awakenings, for example, when we turn in bed or we cover ourselves with the blanket if we have uncovered. The difference is that we already have all our phases of sleep well established and do not flinch, because we are able to sleep alone again.

This stage can be a bit hard, as some babies wake up every hour and a half or two hours. Also, match some important milestones in baby development, such as the start of complementary feeding or the appearance of the first teeth.

From 8 months onwards babies already have all of his sleep phases, but they must still practice sleeping like adults. This stage can be extended to approximately two years, and it is also frequent, although less and less, nighttime awakenings. Many of them go hand in hand with new learnings like crawling, walking, talking or sphincter control, or other issues, such as the appearance of teeth, the beginning of daycare, the appearance of fears and nightmares ... Any change in the child's life, however insignificant it may seem, can influence his sleep pattern.

How to reduce nighttime awakenings

Although, as we said, it is an evolutionary issue and it is not convenient to try to teach the baby to sleep with methods such as letting him cry or ignore his demand, there are some practices that will help you better manage the situation, facilitating the rest of the whole family.

Establishing fixed routines from the birth of the baby will help you sleep better

A good example of this is the establishment of fixed routines from the birth of the baby to help you relax, such as listen to music to calm him or give him a bath before bedtime to help you fall asleep. On the contrary, practices such as watching television or performing activities that over-stimulate you can affect your sleepiness and make it cost you more to fall asleep and wake up much more.

Take one or several naps during the day, depending on age, far from what it may seem, is also key to a good night's rest. A child who is excessively tired at night for not having rested during the day translates into a nervous and upset child, so much that it can cost you to calm down and fall asleep.

Practice the colecho It is also very beneficial for the baby, who falls asleep more easily, wakes up less times and, in case the mother has opted for breastfeeding, has the most accessible and accessible food. Sleep with your baby, too, it will improve the rest of the whole family and it will reduce your awakenings, so you can rest better.

A good way to practice colecho safely is to do it in a cot attached to the bed, as the Chicco's Next2Me, which has enveloping walls so that the baby feels protected and a collapsible side that allows to be very close to the baby, facilitating breastfeeding by being able to breastfeed almost without moving from the bed.

Baby's sleep is one of the issues that most worries parents. Understanding how it works and what can be done is key to being patient and trying to find solutions that facilitate the rest of the baby and his parents.