The first problem that young parents face is that their newborn does not sleep as much time as they would like. It’s not that the baby doesn’t close his eyes at all, he sleeps a little, but wakes up too often. Especially, of course, mothers are concerned about the question of why the newborn does not sleep at night for at least 5-6 hours in a row.
The fact is that the baby’s sleep entirely depends on his emotionality, temperament, well-being and the duration of daytime wakefulness. It is considered normal if the child, before reaching the age of three weeks, sleeps about 18 hours a day, and then, until three months of age - about 15 hours.
An inconvenience is the fact that the child practically does not distinguish between day and night. Therefore, if a baby wakes up every 3 to 4 hours at night in order to be fed and changed clothes, this should not worry parents at all. But you should gradually accustom the baby to the fact that at night he should not stay awake for a long time. In this regard, you do not need to turn on a big light at night, talk with a child, play. Parents should try to reduce night communication with the baby to a minimum - only necessary procedures.
Worse if the newborn does not sleep even for 3 hours in a row. This is already a “bell” for mom: perhaps the baby is sick, or he does not have enough food! It should be checked if the baby is eating up during feeding. For this, the child must be weighed before feeding, and then after. Weight gain should correspond to the norm of food intake for a specific age of the baby.
If the child receives good nutrition, as evidenced by weight measurements, and the newborn does not sleep, however, for 3 hours in a row, you should pay attention to the patronage sister or the attending physician. Most likely, the baby is tormented by colic.
Most often this happens in children on artificial feeding or during the inclusion of complementary foods in his diet. If mommy breastfeeds the baby, then she should be extremely careful about her food. Cabbage and beets have the ability to relax the intestines, sparkling water and grapes can cause fermentation in the digestive tract. Excessive consumption of apples is also fraught with discomfort in the intestines of the baby.
Sometimes colic is so painful for the baby that the newborn does not sleep during the day either. And my mother seems to be on the necessary diet, and no baby gets any food, but still constantly expresses concern. Often this is due to increased gas formation.
Baby should be helped. To do this, in pharmacies they sell special products that contain plant extracts. The powder is simply added to the water and the baby is watered. But you can make healing drink on your own. An excellent tool is dill seed, which is steamed with boiling water. This broth a few drops and add it to the water.
Also, special attention should be paid to the stool of the child. The norm is a chair from one to six times a day. If the child does not recover at least once a day, this is a violation. It is possible that this fact is the root cause of the fact that the newborn does not sleep.
There are several ways to normalize this baby system. However, trivial enemas and pieces of soap inserted into the anus should not be carried away. These methods are addictive, as a result of which the child will never get used to doing it on his own.
Of course, if the baby’s stool is constantly solid, then you should consult a doctor so that he writes out special candles. But if the stool is soft, but the newborn can’t go down at all, many mothers use the “vent tube” technique. To do this, you need a pipette with a rubber band removed - that is, one glass tube. From the thick end, it should be smooth, without fragments. It is lubricated with vaseline or vegetable oil and, lifting the baby's legs with his knees to the tummy, is very carefully injected into the anus by 1 - 1.5 cm. Do not let the pipette in, so adults should be extremely careful at this point.
At the same time, the gases begin to actively exhaust, and feces begin to appear inside the tube. You should immediately remove it so that the baby finally gets rid of the torment. If this does not happen, you can gently move the tube, irritating the sphincter. This must be done in the morning at the same time. Gradually, the body will get used to it, and only adults will have time to swaddle the baby, as it will immediately fulfill its task independently. And if you prepare for this procedure in advance, for example, spread paper towels, then you can save yourself from having to wash the soiled diapers.
If parents are very attentive to their child, then it will not be difficult for them to guess what causes the baby discomfort, and try to rid the baby of these factors.