The child does not sleep well at night: we are looking for reasons. Doctor Komarovsky about what to do if a child sleeps poorly at night and often wakes up. Why does a 3-month-old child sleep poorly at night?

Doctors, who have received sleep research tools since the mid-20th century, claim that more than half of modern children have sleep problems, and this number is constantly growing in our prosperous “disoriented” times.

What can a mother who is falling over from lack of sleep give her child?

What can a mother who is falling over from lack of sleep give her child? There is no strength for active developmental games, the house is neglected, the tense psychological situation in the family leads to a reduction in breast milk, the baby does not eat enough, does not get tired during the day and wakes up crying all night, and the next morning everything starts from the beginning. “Well, he’ll outgrow it! - they convince themselves alone, shifting responsibility for what is happening to the innocent child. “Clear mode! Go to bed and let him scream!” - others bring up forgotten methods of ignoring the child’s condition.

And there are also unscrupulous researchers who claim that women are naturally able to sleep in fits and starts without harm to themselves. Selfish fathers read the comments of scientists, and then sincerely wonder why they are not considered “real” family members: “Did you bring money? There is food on the table, the TV in the hall is free.”

Even the dog, the family pet, supports the exhausted mother with silent sympathy. And the head of the family “according to the state” is supposed to, together with the mother and baby, look for ways out of the situation that has arisen. The baby also feels better and looks healthier when he sleeps safely for the prescribed amount of time. Our task is to eliminate possible ailments and help him master this difficult task.

Why does my child sleep poorly?

What can prevent the baby from sleeping peacefully at this time and giving the mother the opportunity to fully rest for his own good?

“Children’s” problems: your baby turned out to be a “night owl”, which means that it will be late for him to go to bed. You will try in vain to force him to lie down; he, reacting to your irritation and despair, will scream until he wants to sleep.

Unfortunately, the child’s biological rhythm does not depend on parental attitudes. And the healthy habit of getting up early only works in some cases, regardless of the age of those tested. That is, you can get used to getting up at 6 am and starting to work, but scientists testify: physiological processes in the body remain inhibited until the “natural” time of awakening.

And if a night owl child goes to parents who are early risers, they will have to find a compromise: active time in the “general” middle of the day, mandatory naps for the mother, quiet games in the morning and evening.

Isn't this combination of interests of all family members similar to the daily routine so disliked by modern mothers? Alas, psychologists testify that the first generation of those whom their parents freed from the regime at one time, giving seemingly unconditional love and protection from stress, approached their 20s with a number of behavioral and psychological problems. Life has again confirmed the obvious postulate: it is good in moderation and in place.

“Adult” problems: colic, gas, teething, baby illness, confused day and night - here insomnia is understandable, and the need for help is obvious. But after six months these problems are solved. And after each of these disruptions, family life returns to normal again, taking into account the interests of all its members.

If other dysregulation (changes in muscle tone, increased excitability) is added to sleep disturbances in a child of the first year of life, it is worth consulting a neurologist. In such cases, a diagnosis of “perinatal damage to the nervous system” is sometimes made and appropriate treatment is selected.

But in this case, the doctor will answer the parents’ questions. How to respond to sleep disturbances if the baby is healthy?

I dreamed about something

Often parents are worried about whining or crying in their sleep, or the baby waking up at night. What to do: if you haven’t gone to bed yet, quietly approach, touch, stroke without speaking, and move away again. If the whining wakes you up, you should listen, and if there are no demanding notes in it, it will soon subside. If the baby does wake up, put him to bed in the usual way, without engaging in conversation with him or trying to distract him with play. Your task is not to “calm down”, increasing the load on the baby’s nervous system, but to give him the opportunity to calm down on his own.

The ability to self-soothe by the age of 1 year already develops in 60-70% of children. With panicky attention and fussy behavior of parents, the skill of self-soothing is artificially delayed, and initially natural awakenings develop into sleep disorders.

Leave passionate hugs and passionate declarations of parental love until the morning. It always only increases the baby’s anxiety - does that mean there is something to save from? Replace it with the belief “You are fine.”

At night, everyone is calm, everyone is fine, everyone is sleeping - this is confirmed by your measured, even breathing, to which the baby will willingly adapt, smooth movements, muted light in a bluish-green tones.

For some, the so-called “white noise”, the sound of a waterfall, the singing of birds helps - sounds that affect the subconscious and indicate that “there is no danger nearby - after all, the birds are singing calmly.” There are many such forgotten “helpers” stored in our genetic memory. However, on particularly stressful days, tea with valerian or motherwort for the mother and a bath with herbs will not harm the child.

Methods for improving baby's sleep

Demand creates supply, and today a number of special methods have been developed to promote calm falling asleep and sound sleep in healthy babies: this is the Esteville method, and the Ferber method, and “Silent Night”, and even “100 simple ways to put a child to sleep” by Svetlana Bernard.

Let us note right away that all of them are recommended only to parents who are confident in the need for such practice for themselves and their child. All of them require a thoughtful approach to application and consideration of the characteristics of your child and family traditions. And none of the methods came without harsh criticism from mothers who were “passionate” about parenting.

Recommendation: Read the suggestions contained in a particular method. Write down on a piece of paper your problems and proposals for solving them that you agree with. Invite your spouse to do the same. Together(!), determine ways to improve sleep that are right for the three of you. And stick to them relentlessly for at least a month or two. After all, fixing something broken is always difficult, and only endurance, patience and reasonable love help here. And may sweet dreams and days full of energy be your reward.

So, at first glance, it seems to you that absolutely nothing should bother the baby: he is well-fed, and the pediatrician claims that the baby is absolutely healthy and no deviations from the norm were found. So why is your three-month-old baby having such trouble sleeping at night and during the day? And how to help him, how to determine the cause of this crying?

Let's roughly outline the list of what you need to pay attention to first of all, which is why the child does not sleep very well.

1. Wet or dry?

It seems that you already manage your baby’s personal hygiene so skillfully, and what he “did” in the diaper does not confuse you at all and does not plunge you into a state of shock. Previously, you were probably afraid that you would take it wrong, remove the diaper incorrectly, or adjust the water supply incorrectly. Now these problems have disappeared by themselves, you are already dexterous and maneuverable.

Baby doesn't sleep well during the day at 3 months

But sometimes a mother, burying herself in everyday chores and leaving the baby to peacefully gaze at her through the bars of the crib or the mesh of the playpen, does not immediately understand that the baby has just (or even not just) freed himself from excess burden and longs to be clean. No wonder: the temperature “in the diaper” is quite high, as is the humidity level. Therefore, feces irritate the baby’s skin and cause acute itching and burning.

Therefore, if you hear a baby crying invitingly, check his diaper. After all, if you are a supporter of the fact that they need to be changed every 4 hours, you can keep your baby in a dirty diaper for a whole 4 hours - and then the crying will not end when you wash it. The bottom will suffer greatly from such treatment, and the baby will be tormented by itching and pain from irritation for a long time - the child does not feel well in such conditions. Therefore, make it a habit to check your baby's diaper as often as possible.

2. Hunger.

So what if, just an hour ago, in your opinion, your baby ate a good meal, or rather, drank a lot of breast milk (ate a decent portion of formula). What if he wasn’t full at all, but simply satisfied the gnawing hunger that visited him again an hour later. And so he cries, asking for more, and you keep fussing around him, not even suspecting that the hourly feeding regime that you introduced for the sake of convenience simply does not suit your baby.

Try giving him a little more formula or giving him breastfeeding again - see if he begins to eat greedily? If yes, then it’s probably time for you to increase the portions of food, since the baby does not eat enough and sleeps poorly as a result.

3. Gas and intestinal colic.

A problem that most often occurs in infants up to 3 months of age (less often - up to six months, although there are isolated cases when the children's gastrointestinal tract completes the formation process and begins to act as expected even at the age of one and a half years). It is difficult to prevent the occurrence of this unpleasant situation, since both gas and colic occur in 90% of three-month-old children, and they have little dependence on their parents.

But you can also help. First, figure out whether it’s because of colic that he can’t sleep at night? This is very simple: feel your baby's belly. When a child has gas, the stomach resembles a tightly stretched drum, the abdominal cavity inflates and it seems that the baby has something very hard inside. In addition, while crying, if a child of three months or older is lying in a crib or you are carrying him in your arms, he begins to strongly arch his back - this is another sign that the baby has terrible intestinal colic.

You can help your child! Buy some dill water at the pharmacy - use it as a preventive measure, regardless of whether the child currently has colic and gas or not. A teaspoon at night is an excellent prevention of bloating.

About an hour before bedtime, give your baby a little massage and exercise. With your warm hand, massage the baby's abdominal area, moving in a clockwise direction. You can lubricate your hand with baby cream. In addition, gently but persistently press the baby’s bent legs against his tummy, 10-15 times will be enough. And the baby will definitely enjoy this warm-up. In principle, any exercises related to raising the legs and stroking the abdomen help get rid of colic.

If you notice that your baby's belly is swollen and hard before going to bed, place a warm heating pad on his stomach - you can buy a special one for children at the pharmacy, it is small and has a comfortable round shape. You can simply put your hand, or put the baby’s bare belly against your stomach - this also helps get rid of colic.

In extraordinary and particularly noisy cases, when the baby does not calm down from any of your actions and is simply turning blue and choking from crying and pain, give him Espumisan or some similar drug, this is a sure way to help the baby. However, do not overuse it and remember that the less chemicals you give your child, the healthier he will grow.

Also, a child may cry because he is cold or hot, or he simply misses his mother’s warmth, and this makes him feel bad - do not deprive him of these little joys in life! And to check whether the baby is comfortable in specific temperature conditions, just feel his neck. If she is sweating, undress the baby, if she is cold, dress her.

As you can see, there are several reasons why a three-month-old child may sleep poorly and often be capricious. It is a parent's duty to understand and eliminate all these troubles so that the baby grows and develops, fueled only by positive emotions!

In this article:

Many young parents, tired of their baby's frequent awakenings at night, think about what a child's sleep should be like at 3 months. It is generally accepted that at this age children first develop a routine, thanks to which an obvious ratio of hours of sleep and wakefulness appears.

How much time per day should a child sleep? All babies develop on their own individual schedule, so this question is difficult to answer. Even experts give only average numbers, since most babies have different sleep patterns.

How much should a 3 month old baby sleep?

The main tasks of a newborn baby - eat enough and sleep a lot, gaining strength. He will need them for full growth and development. Therefore, after that, the babies sleep day and night, waking up only for the next feeding and.

A 3-month-old baby, unlike a newborn, begins to behave a little differently. He develops a need to explore the world around him and communicate with his parents, which is why the baby experiences longer periods of wakefulness.

At this age, the baby does not yet realize that he is tired and wants to rest. For this reason, parents should know how much a baby sleeps at 3 months and how much sleep he should have during the day and at night.

Daytime nap

The average amount of daily time that a baby should have for rest in the third month of life is 15-17 hours. Of course, this figure depends on the individual characteristics of the baby.

The total duration of daytime sleep for a 3 month old baby is from 4.5 to 5.5 hours. The baby can fall asleep for 40-90 minutes three to five times during the day.

Night sleep

A 3-month-old child should sleep from 10 to 12 hours, periodically interrupting night sleep for feedings as many times as he needs. Many children at this age wake up every 3 hours. But the most persistent ones are already beginning to withstand a 5-hour rest, usually in the first half of the night, without mother’s breast or bottle.

Both options are considered normal. If the baby is healthy, eats with appetite and looks quite cheerful, there is no need to worry.

Why does a child refuse to sleep?

A baby's sleep changes at 3 months. At this age, babies begin to become interested in everything that happens around them, as a result of which their daily routine may change. From a recent “sleepyhead”, by the age of three months a baby can turn into a fidget who sleeps poorly during the day and is capricious at night.

Sleep disturbances in infants occur due to various reasons.

If a child at 3 months begins to sleep poorly during the day and at night, the reasons may be as follows:

  • disease;
  • family situation;
  • organization of recreation;
  • failure .

If day or night sleep is ignored and there is no effect from motion sickness, the child’s well-being should be assessed.

Need to analyze:

  • whether his appetite has changed;
  • how many hours did the baby sleep last night;
  • number of awakenings.

If a 3-month-old child does not sleep well, regardless of the time of day, it is possible that he has a tummy ache from or has begun to hurt. Health problems primarily cause sleep disorders. Therefore, if a 3-month-old child sleeps restlessly at night and hardly rests during the day, you need to contact a pediatrician, who will try to find out the reason for what is happening and tell him what to do.

Some babies strive to sleep on their stomach almost from birth. Many young mothers follow the lead of their baby, believing that this position soothes stomach cramps. But experts are categorically against this approach.

The method of lying on your tummy for a few minutes during the day, but not sleeping in a similar position, solves the fight against flatulence. Of course, all children are individual, but a child should not sleep on his stomach at 3 months. This prohibition applies to all children under six months of age.

If your baby sleeps on his stomach, he may not wake up from a lack of oxygen caused by inhaling vomit or nasal congestion. This position also negatively affects the formation of his spine.

In case of frequent conflicts in the family, the baby begins to experience anxiety, which also affects his daily routine. What to do if a 3-month-old child sleeps little or poorly during the day? Perhaps think about the home atmosphere. In a family where calm and peace reign, all conditions have been created for the harmonious development of the baby.

Also, the fact that the baby does not sleep well at night is affected by the microclimate in the children's room. High ambient temperatures, dry air, too warm bedding - all this leads to restless sleep. It is not difficult to solve this problem by creating conditions for a comfortable stay. A mother will not encounter the fact that her 3-month-old child sleeps poorly and anxiously if the room temperature is about 22°C and the humidity is more than 50%.

And another reason why your baby’s sleep suffers is a busy day or overstimulation. For example, a baby may sleep restlessly because of guests who arrived the day before or a large number of new impressions. Active knowledge of the world consumes enormous resources of the child’s body, so it is not surprising that against this background, a child’s daytime or nighttime sleep at 3 months will be temporarily affected.

Additionally, the problem when failures occur in the mode appears due to the fact that the baby has confused day with night. This situation is familiar to most parents. If a child at 3 months sleeps a lot during the day and rests in the form of intermittent sleep for 40 minutes at night, then he does not feel the difference between the times of day. In this case, it is important to show him this difference by adjusting the baby’s daily routine.

How to accustom a 3-month-old baby to a routine?

Of course, infants will not follow a strict daily routine, as pediatricians advise. But you need to try to put your baby to bed at least at the same time.

It is also necessary to take into account that children at this age should not stay awake for more than 2 hours. Even if it seems that a child at 3 months is still active during the day, although he has not slept for a long time, this is a mistake. After two hours have passed since the previous sleep, you need to put the baby to bed by any means, otherwise difficulties will arise with this later. Such deviations from the regime lead to the child not sleeping well during the day or night.

Additionally, you should take your baby for a sufficient walk every day and wash him shortly before putting him to bed, preferably at the same time. If the weather permits, two daytime naps outside, an evening swim and a hearty dinner eliminate the situation when the baby does not sleep well at night.

What to do if your child doesn't sleep well?

In order for your baby to fall asleep easily, the home environment should be calm and comfortable. Optimal temperature and humidity in the room, ventilation during the day, bathing and a hearty dinner no later than eight o'clock in the evening will allow a 3-month-old child to sleep as long as it takes to rest.

If you put your baby to bed later, he will most likely be more capricious and tired, and the process of falling asleep will take an indefinite amount of time. Therefore, the child’s activity should not be a priority for a young mother. By putting your baby to bed at the same time, you can avoid many sleep problems.

Children who have confused day with night need to be shown the difference in the day. A lot of light and noise indicate hours of wakefulness and short sleep; dim light and silence indicate the onset of long rest.

If your baby sleeps a lot during the day and doesn’t want to go to bed at night, you don’t need to follow his lead. Let there be more light in the room in the morning, the TV on, household members talking loudly, and in the evening, on the contrary, soothing music will be turned on, communication is conducted in a whisper, and the room is illuminated only with the help of a table lamp.

Of course, solving the problem will not be easy. It will take a lot of time and patience for a baby to stop confusing day and night. But the benefits of the achieved regime will have a positive impact on the well-being of both the baby and his parents.

Knowing the answer to the question of how much sleep a baby should sleep at 3 months is too little. It is also necessary to take into account the needs of your baby, since all children are individual. Some are born bright fidgets, others, on the contrary, are ready to sleep a lot day and night, becoming real “sleepyheads” for their mother.

How much sleep per day does a 3 month old baby need? On average, the duration of rest at this age is 14-17 hours during the day. To get closer to this figure, parents must provide their baby with a comfortable environment for relaxation and try to establish his routine. Sufficient walks in the fresh air, regular bathing, a well-established or calm atmosphere in the family can help with this. Under these conditions, a healthy, cheerful child of 3 months will not have problems sleeping well during the day or at night.

Useful video about how and how much sleep a child should sleep

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What to do when a child sleeps poorly at night, often wakes up and cries, and sleeps for 30 minutes during the day. Why does a baby sleep poorly at 1 3 5 6 8 9 months, a year.

When I was still pregnant, I read books on child care, breastfeeding and sleep. From birth, we practiced falling asleep on our own without motion sickness; for two months I practically did not lull Maxim to sleep; he fell asleep on his own, slept for 6-7 hours at night, and woke up only to refresh himself. I was proud of myself and happy about our success. As the world became more interesting and attractive, our falling asleep became more and more painful.
3 months - "I want to sleep with mom!" 4 months -“I’ll twirl and wag my arms until you swaddle me!” 5 months - “I want to sleep in my mother’s arms with a pacifier!” 6 months - "Swinging, songs, mommy's hands, daddy's hands, milk, mommy's bed...is there anything else?" 7 months - "Sleep is for the weak, I will crawl even in my sleep", 8 months - “He falls asleep on his own and sleeps in his own crib.”9 months -“I want to wake up in the middle of the night and play for a couple or three hours.”
What haven't we tried? Our experience and useful tips.

Let's start with how much a child should sleep before and after one year.
Age Waking time
Daytime sleep duration
Number of daytime naps
Duration of night sleep, hours
Total amount of sleep per day, hours
0 - 1.5 months
approximately 1 hour
1 - 3 hours
5 - 6
7-10 (consecutively 3 - 6 hours)
16 - 20
1.5 - 3 months
1 - 1.5 hours
40 min - 2.5 hours
4 - 5
8 - 11
14 - 17
3 - 4.5 months
1.5 - 2 hours
40 min - 2 hours
3 - 4
10 - 11
14 - 17
4.5 - 6 months
2 - 2.5 hours
1.5 - 2 hours
3 10 -12
14 - 16
6 - 8 months
2.5 - 3 hours
24 hours
2 - 3
10 -12
13 - 15
9 - 12 months
3 - 4.5 hours (if one nap during the day, then more)
2 - 3 hours
2 10 - 12
12 - 15
1–1.5 years 3 - 4.5 hours (if one nap during the day, then more) 2 - 3 hours
1 - 2
10 - 12
12 - 14
2 years 4 - 5 hours
1 - 3 hours
1 10 - 11
11 - 14

The data in the table is indicative; depending on the type of the child’s nervous system, it will differ. Based on this data, you can create a rough daily routine and make sure that the child does not get overtired. Pay attention to the signals.

Babies do not have a sleep routine when they are born. The fact that you have this mode does not occur to them. Sleep and meal times do not have a fixed pattern in the newborn brain. Its behavior is randomly distributed over a 24-hour period. This is the same social contract again. They take. You're giving.

John Medina "Rules for Your Child's Brain Development"


Signs that your baby wants to sleep during the day:

  • rubs eyes, nose, ears, face;
  • loses interest in toys or activities;
  • begins to whine and be capricious;
  • the mood clearly deteriorates;
  • looks sleepy, lethargic;
  • a “second wind” opens and excessive activity begins;

In the first months of Maxim’s life, I didn’t think about the time of wakefulness and sleep; he himself fell asleep without problems on the rug after games, on a chaise longue, in a crib, but the older he got, the more difficult it was for him to fall asleep on his own. I thought that he was simply not tired, there was not enough physical activity, and when he wanted, he would fall asleep on his own! I was very mistaken; he himself fell asleep by two o’clock in the morning.

I confused daytime sleepy whimpers with the desire to eat and fed Maxim every 2 - 2.5 hours, but he did not refuse. In fact, at these moments he wanted to sleep, but due to overwork he no longer understood this. After I started keeping track of time, he almost never falls asleep on my chest. During the day we eat after sleep (daily routine according to the EASY-eat method > activ > sleep > your time | feeding > activity > sleep > mom’s free time while she sleeps).

Improve your child’s daytime and nighttime sleep patterns; most often, poor sleep problems are associated with overtiredness. Go to bed during the day based on the age norms for your baby, remember about early evening bedtime (from 19-21.00). The nervous system is not yet mature, a child after 3 months is incredibly interested in the world around him and he FIGHTS sleep. If parents are of the opinion “he’ll get some exercise and fall asleep on his own,” problems begin with 20-minute naps during the day (accumulated fatigue is the most common cause), or problems with frequent awakenings at night.

The child sleeps for 20 - 30 minutes during the day

At 5 months, Maxim began to sleep for 20-30 minutes 4 times during the day, but sometimes he could sleep for 2 hours in a row.

At the age of 2 to 6 months, short daytime naps (20–40 minutes) are possible, due to the immaturity of the nervous system and they themselves “pass” with age. If the child is healthy, cheerful and alert after waking up, sleeps well at night, short sleeps are the norm.

Such dreams are also possible when transitioning from 4 dreams a day to 3 sleeps, from 3 to 2 sleeps, as well as during teething.

Often, short daytime naps that have become a habit are a sign of unsystematic parenting, a child’s lack of daily routine and accumulated fatigue. As a rule, a short nap indicates that the child was either put to bed too early (not tired enough) or too late (overtired).

The first 20 minutes are REM sleep, the second 20 are deep sleep, between them there is a partial awakening during the transition in sleep phases. Help your child go through this phase (often the child “jumps up” during the transition): swaddling or sitting near the crib and, upon waking, lightly holding the arms, shushing.

Short daytime sleep may occur due to late night bedtimes (after 9 p.m.) and accumulated fatigue.

If the duration of sleep differs greatly from age norms, you should consult a neurologist.

Our daytime and nighttime sleep improved after 8 teeth came out and we turned 11 months old, and at one point we began to sleep for two hours during the day and practically not wake up at night. Many mothers I know also said that sleep problems go away closer to 10-11 months!

Problems resume again at 1 year and 2 months - 1 year and 6 months when fangs and chewing teeth begin to cut in, at 1.2 we had 8 teeth at once, we slept terribly! Therefore, if at this age the baby begins to be capricious and sleep poorly, check whether you have another growth spurt according to this table or teeth. How to save yourself from teething and sleep peacefully.

There are really children who don’t sleep enough and children who are night owls! They need less time than others to recuperate. Watch your child, if he spends enough time sleeping to look alert and happy, then everything is fine. Such children can be put to bed later in the evening.

The child does not sleep well at night and often wakes up if:

  • one of the most common reasons is hunger, the child either does not eat enough (if he is still gaining weight poorly), or does not know how to stock up on food, if feedings during the day are more than 4 hours after 4 months, less than once every 3 hours before 4 months;
  • there was too much sleep during the day and the child feels sleepy already in the middle of the night;
  • late bedtimes (the longest phases of deep sleep, usually from 19 to 24 hours. They give the body complete rest. If the child did not manage to sleep 3-4 hours before 12 am, overexcitation can “wake him up” and prevent him from falling asleep);
  • something is disturbing: lighting, night light, extraneous noise, etc.
  • if the child wakes up in the middle of the night, do not talk to him, do not smile, do not turn on the light, do not change the diaper unless necessary (the child is not a newborn);
  • does not know how to fall asleep on his own (falling asleep in his mother’s arms, and waking up in the crib, the child tries to return to the original conditions under which he fell asleep);
  • got overexcited when putting him to bed (when the parents rock him, sing a song, and read a book, then they get tired and let him crawl...)
  • before going to bed at night there was too long a period of wakefulness, it is much more difficult to put an overtired child to sleep, it is better to organize a short additional evening nap;
  • natural needs (thirst, hunger) or discomfort (cold-hot-stuffy, itching or pain during teeth growth, as well as snoring and difficulty breathing), stomach pain, gas. The baby may start to stay awake at night if he immediately wants to go to the toilet and experiences discomfort, but while the mother was sorting it out, the dream “flew away”.
  • Separation anxiety (fear of separation from mother) appeared after 7 months, disappears with age. Try to give the child more attention and care during this period, do not ignore him, calm him down with your voice, take him in your arms, hug him.
  • got scared of something in a dream (after 10 months). In their dreams, small children can reproduce images seen on TV and become frightened by them. Keep track of what your child is watching that scares him or makes him nervous. Before going to bed at night, it is better to limit vivid visual images.


And remember! Useful tips

  • Once you establish sleep, your baby may change dramatically. As a rule, growth spurts and teeth change your usual routine. You just need to get through this period, returning to good habits will not be difficult.
  • You should not react to the slightest cry of the baby, perhaps he dreamed of something and he himself is able to calm down and fall asleep, as a rule, this is a short, fading cry. Learn to recognize your baby's cries. There is also “mantra” crying, it is quiet, mournful, subsiding at the end of each session - the child does not start yelling, does not express indignation, does not call. Many children calm themselves down by crying like this.
  • Don't let your baby stay awake for too long.
  • Your child is an individual, do not go against his natural rhythms. For some babies, a strict daily routine and certain rules are suitable, but for some it can turn into stress.
  • Change mode smoothly. “Small changes in the routine are often unnoticeable to the child, but a serious disruption can negatively affect the child’s condition. A child who lives according to a routine gets used to the predictability of actions and, if something changes unexpectedly, he can become very upset.”
  • After a year, children tend to hide signs of fatigue and often do not look sleepy at all in the evening. But since the child still gets tired during the day, the body helps him cope with drowsiness and fatigue with increased activity, producing the “activity hormone” cortisol. Cortisol triggers activating processes in the body, including in the brain, which is why it is so difficult for a child who has had too much fun to calm down and fall asleep. And having woken up at night, the baby cannot fall asleep due to the excitement “undigested” by the body.

Your child is a living person; before he falls asleep, he needs time to calm down and get ready for sleep. He cannot fall asleep immediately at your request! Prepare your child for bed with gentle words, explain to him that now is the time to rest, restore strength, kiss him, sing a song in a quiet, calm voice, read a book. It is desirable that these are repeated actions day after day - a “ritual” and the child will understand that now is time for sleep.

Very often, nerves are at their limit and it seems that the baby will never learn to fall asleep on his own, to fall asleep without crying, to fall asleep without crawling on his mother)) Don’t despair, continue to help the baby fall asleep, teach him useful habits. It takes time to see the result, do not deviate from the plan you have outlined for yourself, in 100% of cases stick to it, your little one will definitely test you for the strength of your intentions))

The older the baby gets, the more time he spends awake. He begins to get used to the new world. The total duration of rest time begins to decrease. Despite the interesting world around him, he still gets tired quite quickly, so you need to carefully monitor how much sleep a baby should sleep at 3 months. The sleep and wakefulness regime at 3 months is still little different from that of a newborn and looks like this: wakefulness - food - sleep. Feeding should lead to rest; after waking up, you should wait a little, let him get hungry (just a little). A 3 month old baby should sleep for approximately three hours during the day. At this age, the child sleeps more soundly and longer at night. He cannot stay hungry for more than 5 hours, so he will wake up to eat. Some children do not want to fall asleep immediately after feeding, try to avoid this, as it will be even more difficult to train him later.

There are differing opinions on how much sleep a 3-month-old baby should have. Pediatric doctors believe that a baby should sleep 16 hours a day at 3 months. Time is divided between night and daytime sleep; the baby should be awake for about 8 hours.

This happens when a 3 month old baby sleeps all day. If he is not capricious during breaks and eats with appetite, then there is no reason to worry. The reasons may be different, bad weather or the baby was tired the day before or did not rest well at night.

Day rest

When a baby is born, the duration of his daytime and nighttime sleep is approximately the same. Already by the third month, the regime begins to gradually shift, nighttime sleep increases, and accordingly the baby sleeps less during the day. On average, a 3-month-old child sleeps 5-6 hours during the day; this period is divided into 3-4 sleeps to restore lost energy. Of course, you shouldn’t blindly believe the norms; every baby is individual. If your child's routine is different, don't worry. During this period, the body itself is able to select the desired regime, the main thing is that it feels great and does not cry.

Night rest

The sleep pattern of a 3-month-old baby at night is 2/3 of the daily norm, about 10-11 hours. You should feed him at night on demand, this is about 2 feedings. Under no circumstances should a newborn at 3 months sleep hungry. He still won't fall asleep or his sleep will be restless.

Should you take your baby to bed with you?

Here the opinions of experts differ. Some believe that he can sleep with you for up to one and a half years, while others are categorically against it. It's up to you to decide what to do. Let's look at the pros and cons:

  • + the baby trusts his mother more;
  • + he feels calm and comfortable;
  • + With constant contact, the mother's milk increases.
  • you can overfeed your baby;
  • there is a fear of crushing it, sleep becomes anxious and intermittent;
  • lack of personal life among parents.

How to teach your baby to fall asleep on his own?

It is necessary for the newborn to develop a reflex. To understand how to put a 3-month-old baby to sleep, you must come up with some kind of ritual when he understands that it is time to rest. How to teach a 3 month old baby to sleep? For example, this could be an evening swim at a certain time. You can also tell stories and sing songs. After some time, the baby will begin to understand that after such actions it is necessary to go to bed. It will become easier and easier to lay him down, he will get used to it.

Do not rock your newborn in your arms, it will soon become a habit and it will be difficult to wean him off, and he will still wake up at the moment of transferring him. The bed should be comfortable, clean, it is important for him to feel protected.

Make sure your baby doesn't get too tired; this will have a bad effect on the quality of sleep.

A mother needs to know how to put her baby to sleep at 3 months and understand that the baby falls asleep. At this moment, he must be put in the cradle, even if he wakes up, seeing his mother nearby, he will fall asleep again.

Why isn't the baby sleeping?

If you're concerned that your 3-month-old baby isn't sleeping well during the day, don't panic. At this age, he becomes more active in learning about the world around him. Begins to be interested in toys, those around him and, above all, communication with you. All these actions lead to overexcitation, he does not sleep well during the day.

If a child of 3 months does not sleep during the day for a long time, this should be alarming; the reasons may be different:

  1. disease;
  2. your experiences or tense relationships between parents;
  3. too stuffy or cold in the room;
  4. failure of the regime and feeding.

If all attempts to put your baby to bed are in vain, remember how he behaved over the past 24 hours:

  1. Analyze the child’s sleep time at 3 months, how long he slept the previous night, how soundly he slept, and how well he ate. There may be illness or fever. In this case, call the pediatrician.
  2. Think about the relationship in your family. Perhaps the baby feels tension between parents or has witnessed a quarrel. Children feel such things very much and worry. Only good relationships and love contribute to a stable mental state.
  3. The climate in the room where the child sleeps is no less important; it is important to know how a child should sleep at 3 months. The ideal atmospheric temperature is 22-23 degrees, air humidity is about 50%. During the heating season, the air in apartments is often dry; it is recommended to use a humidifier.
  4. It happens that a newborn can confuse day and night. What to do if a child stops sleeping during the day at 3 months? It is important to let him understand that during the day life is more active, and at night he needs to sleep. Don't turn off the TV during the day and speak loudly. At night, on the contrary, close the curtains and speak more quietly, dim the lights. He will soon rebuild.

How to understand that your baby wants to fall asleep?

Mom needs to become extremely sensitive, since at the age of three months the baby cannot control the sleep and wakefulness patterns. Since the nervous system has not yet formed, it is not able to regulate the time for relaxation and rest. Constant parental supervision is important. Signs that it's time for your baby to sleep:

  • he becomes lethargic, activity decreases;
  • blinking slows down and eyes stick together;
  • begins to yawn and rub his eyes;
  • is capricious and cries;
  • everything becomes uninteresting, the baby gets nervous.

Having noticed these signs, rock the baby just a little and put him in the crib. He will quickly fall asleep and sleep soundly.

Sleeping on the street

3 month old babies sleep happily outside. Fresh air is especially important for a newborn. Try to have two naps during the day during a walk. Especially in warm weather, take advantage of every opportunity to get outside. Ideally, a 3-month-old child sleeps about 5 hours in the fresh air. Sleeping in the air forms a stable nervous system, protects the lungs from respiratory and inflammatory diseases, and strengthens the immune system. Children fall asleep faster outside and sleep sounder. If you come home and the baby doesn’t wake up, you don’t need to wake her up, remove the warm blanket and put it in the crib or leave it in the stroller.

You should walk at any time of the year; in winter, reduce the time of walking, but do not stop. If the weather is really bad, you can open the window and put the stroller on the balcony or put him to sleep with the window open (dress him to prevent illness).

The mother’s attention (she should clearly know how much the baby sleeps at 3 months) and rituals that help shape the child’s daily routine will help avoid problems with falling asleep. The sleep will be sound and the baby will be able to fully restore his strength, which will help him explore the world around him with interest and get to know his mother better.



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