Blog where midwives attend to the anxieties many moms and dads have about raising their children

#13
Baby crying at night

Sleeping is also being practiced It is important to create a rhythm of life

Sleeping is also being practicedIt is important to create a rhythm of life

At night, just when you think you've finally fallen asleep and can finally go back to sleep, they start crying at night!
As a parent, I often hear moms say that it is so hard for them to do this every day that they want to cry themselves to sleep. It seems that moms everywhere want to sleep for 6-7 hours at a time, which is a small but sincere desire.

Nighttime crying begins around 3 months in the earliest infants, but most begin around 6 months and subside around 1 year of age. There are individual differences among babies, such as some babies are very active in nursing, others are not so active, and others are not so active. Some babies are good sleepers while others are not. Since various parts of the body are still in a state of immaturity, it is important to think of sleeping as something that is being practiced. Since it is not a pathological condition, it is not caused by a single thing, but older mothers feel that night crying occurs when there is a slight change, such as a day when they did something a little different from the previous day, or when the time of what they usually do is shifted.

Around 3 to 4 months, they will begin to distinguish between day and night, so it may be a good idea to help them establish a rhythm in their lives.
First, it is important to establish a daily rhythm of "going to bed at night. To do this, wake them up by 8:00 a.m. at the latest, open the curtains, and let them enjoy the morning sunlight and a pleasant breeze. Even if you were up late the night before, it is important to wake them up at a certain time in the morning. Then, take your baby outside once a day for a walk or other time-consuming activity. Staying active during the day will help your baby fall asleep with a moderate amount of fatigue. Naps should be cut short and babies woken up by 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. at the latest.
It is a good idea to take a bath at least 2 hours before bed and take some time to cool down and go to sleep. As your body temperature drops, you will fall asleep. Prepare for sleep by spending an hour or two quietly before bed. Avoid exciting play and stay quiet. Showing the TV or smartphone stimulates the brain and inevitably makes you excited. Darkening the room produces the hormone melatonin, which makes it easier to fall asleep.
Does your family have a kind of sleep ritual?
After getting out of the bath, moisturize and massage the whole body, then feed the baby and go to bed, and so on. It may sound exaggerated to call it a ritual, but for the child, it will help him or her grasp the sequence of events.

Parents should also try to go to bed early. Once the child goes to bed, you will want to do this and do that, but you will probably be woken up in the middle of the night for feeding or other reasons, so let's go to bed together. Sleeping together will help the child sleep peacefully. When parents are frustrated, their children will feel the same way. It is surprisingly common for children to become frustrated as well, causing both parents to have trouble sleeping.

There is no right answer to dealing with a baby's nighttime crying Let's also make it a day when mom can get a good night's sleep

There is no right answer to dealing with a baby's nighttime cryingLet's also make it a day when mom can get a good night's sleep

I think that many of them are calmed by sleeping with you at night and drinking a breastfeed.
A baby's brain is developing rapidly. This requires a lot of energy, but because their stomachs are small, they are unable to drink and store a lot at once, so milk taken little by little is quickly digested and becomes energy quickly. Some people believe that by drinking breast milk even at night, the mother's mammary glands are stimulated and milk secretion is stimulated. It is also said that when babies fall asleep, they are checking to see if their parents are nearby. Human babies are not able to cling to their parents, so they probably want their parents to be near them. Although you may not be able to let your baby cry much due to housing conditions, it is okay to stay by your side and let your baby cry for a little while and see how it goes. It is possible that the baby will feel safe knowing that you are there and may even fall asleep.

There is no right answer for dealing with a baby's nighttime crying.
As I mentioned earlier, babies are still in a very immature state with regard to sleep.
To avoid exhausting mom, we encourage you to make some days when you can sleep well overnight and leave the rest of the day to dad.

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Next time... Thursday, May 23, 2024 Update
Enjoy!

Yoko Nanbu, Midwife
The speaker is

Midwife Yoko Nambu

After graduating from Tokyo Medical and Dental University School of Nursing and obtaining a national nursing license, and graduating from the Japanese Red Cross School of Midwifery and obtaining a national midwifery license, she worked as a midwife in the obstetrics and gynecology ward of Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, attending over 300 births and picking up babies. After that, she established "Toraube Inc.", a consultation office mainly for women's body. As a woman's ally, she provides consultation for problems at all ages. She believes that women should understand their own body as their own. She believes that this will lead to the solution of all problems and deals with them on a daily basis.
Her hobbies include traveling with her husband, listening to movies and music, and playing healthy mahjong.

What I want you to know from my experience
supporting many mothers as a midwife.

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