A 5 month old child wakes up very often at night. Why a newborn does not sleep well at night and often wakes up, what should parents of infants do: advice from psychologists and neurologists. Why sleep is so important

Many parents are interested in why a 5 month old baby does not sleep well at night. A baby's sleep pattern at 5 months changes compared to a newborn. This is due to a new stage in development. The number of feedings during the day decreases by at least 1. This is no longer a baby, he becomes more active and socializes. In this regard, sleep time, especially during the day, begins to decrease.

Due to the baby's behavioral changes, his sleep pattern also changes. During the daytime it decreases, accounting for approximately 3.5 hours. Adequate time for one of the periods of daily wakefulness, including games, feeding, and putting to bed should take from 2 to 2.5 hours.

The first nap of the day can be called the morning nap, since the child definitely needs it in the early hours. Many mothers combine it with a walk in the fresh air. This is useful and will make it easier to fall asleep. The second usually occurs after lunch, around one or two in the afternoon. It's okay if there is a delay of a few minutes. If you follow the pediatrician's recommendations, then the third nap should fall between 17-18 pm.

It is important to know! At 5 months of age, a child's nighttime sleep lasts from 9 to 12 hours. Possible awakenings for feeding. Normally, after them, the baby should quickly fall asleep.

Many parents get used to swaddling their child from birth. At this age, such a procedure only interferes. The baby becomes stronger, unravels and thereby wakes himself up.

The child will sleep well throughout the night if he is not allowed to nap during the day. The only exception to all the rules may be teething. During this period, the baby is very restless and sleeps poorly. Although in such cases there are options to alleviate the baby’s condition.

Sleep disturbances in a baby aged five months

Types of violations

Poor sleep in children under one year of age is a very common occurrence. It can be triggered by many different factors. There is currently no exact classification. Scientists consider the most correct division of Americans:

Primary disorder. This disorder is not the result of any underlying condition. There are no obvious signs of illness or other causes of poor sleep.
Secondary disorder. In this case, disturbances may be caused by some internal pathologies, for example, stress, diseases of the digestive tract, teething or allergies.

Most often, such disorders are a consequence of changes in the child’s nervous system. Different types can be distinguished based on how exactly it regulates the process of night rest. Sleep disorders are also divided into short-term, which disappear within a few days, and long-term, lasting for months and sometimes years.

Causes of poor sleep in children

There are many causes of sleep disturbance in children under one year of age. Most of them do not require seeing a doctor or taking any medications:

Advice! If at 5 months your child is not sleeping well at night, you should not rush to conclusions and think that something is wrong with him. When the baby is active during the day and nothing bothers him, poor sleep can be caused by overexcitation of the nervous system. In this case, parents need to establish a daily routine. If a 5-month-old child also sleeps poorly during the day, this is a serious reason to consult a specialist.

Ways to improve your baby's sleep

In order for a child to sleep well at night, it is necessary to create optimal conditions for this. You can also come up with certain rituals. If you follow all the rules, your sleep will quickly return to normal. It is very important to understand what the root cause of the violations is. Experts identify several simple ways to put a child to bed if he does not have any health problems:

Dr. Komarovsky gives many lectures for parents on normalizing their child’s sleep patterns. As for children 5 months old, he advises adhering to the following basic rules:

The sleep schedule must be clearly established; the child must not be allowed to confuse day and night.
The baby must not become overtired; as soon as he begins to yawn or rub his eyes, he must be put to bed immediately.
Very important at this age is the ritual of falling asleep, which the baby will like.
If in the morning your child sleeps longer than usual, you need to wake him up. It is important that you wake up at approximately the same time.
Before going to bed, you should definitely eat, but not more than the usual portion.
If the baby doesn’t want to fall asleep without some kind of toy, it’s okay, let him sleep with it, it will be more comfortable for him.

Dr. Komarovsky considers the basis of everything to be the attentive attitude of parents towards their baby. If you notice an emerging problem in time, it will be much easier to get rid of it.

Advice! The nervous system must rest during sleep, so it is very important to bring all routine aspects back to normal.

The importance of good sleep for a child

Sleep is one of the most important components of the daily routine, which significantly affects the child’s health. Adequate sleep is very important for a child’s body, as it promotes the baby’s growth and development, energizes him, improves his emotional background and normalizes appetite. If rest is disrupted, all these important processes will be suspended. To prevent this from happening, you must first rule out health problems. If there are none, then you need to be patient and figure out how to help your baby improve sleep.

Every parent should clearly understand the characteristics of their child at a certain age. At five months, active cognition of the world occurs, and therefore disturbances can be triggered by an excess of emotions and events that the nervous system processes during sleep. The most important thing in eliminating problems should be the patience and understanding of parents. If the child is active during the day and nothing bothers him, then sleep should normalize over time.

Every caring mother is interested in the question: at 5 months?" There are generally accepted norms, but do not forget that each child is unique, individual, including the body, physiology and psychology. It is also important to be able to distinguish between day and night. Their duration varies markedly .

Baby at 5 months

By this time, the child already weighs about 6.8 kg with a height of about 66 cm. Every day the baby begins to gain less and less weight, as he leads a more active lifestyle.

Boys and girls at this age develop almost identically. At 5 months, the baby should not only pronounce individual sounds, but also begin to gradually form simple syllables, hum melodiously, looking at his favorite toys or listening to music.

At this age, kids already show interest in colorful pictures and books. They treat strangers with caution and restraint, and they treat parents with special trepidation and love visible in their eyes.

By this point, the child should independently entertain himself with toys for up to 10 minutes, pick up and throw small objects, roll over on his stomach, try to sit up, lean on straightened arms.

at 5 months

Generally accepted standards do not suit every child. So how much should babies sleep at 5 months? The daily norm of an infant is from 15 to 16 hours. At 4 months the child could sleep for 18 hours. Now it is gradually beginning to predominate.

In fact, a child’s routine at this age should consist of three processes: eating, sleeping and being awake. The other two directly depend on each of them. How long should 5 month olds sleep during the day? At this time of day, rest for up to 6 hours is allowed. It turns out that between feedings the baby can only dream for 1-1.5 hours. The rest of the time should be taken up with walks, gymnastics and games.

To the question “how long should children sleep at 5 months at night,” pediatricians still cannot give a unanimous answer. Some believe that a baby can sleep for up to 12 hours. However, the majority insists on a norm of 9-10 hours.

An important aspect of a good rest is bedtime. It must be no later than 22.00 hours. Otherwise, the dream will not give the expected effect. The displaced mode entails a violation of the psychological state of the infant.

Why sleep is so important

This process is extremely important for children under 3 years of age. Adequate sleep allows you to avoid overwork and mental breakdown due to hyperfatigue. Thanks to this process, the baby’s brain activity and all its internal systems are restored, and cell growth is accelerated.

It has been proven that if a child does not sleep well for 5 months, his mood noticeably worsens and his behavior becomes unpredictable. Scientists have also found that sleep duration directly depends on age criteria. The older a person is, the less he should sleep. Therefore, a child’s body needs good, long sleep.

No wonder newborns sleep for days on end. For one-year-old children, the norm is about 13 hours of rest. And for an adult, the optimal duration of sleep is almost two times less.

Determination of sleep norms

An individual day and night routine should be established for each child. For some, one time will be enough for optimal rest, while others will need twice as much. Therefore, you should pay attention to the child’s behavior and various additional aspects.

If a 5-month-old child sleeps little, is very capricious, is easily irritated, cannot concentrate, often thinks or looks at one point, then most likely he has a serious lack of sleep. Such children are recommended to be in a more sleepy state.

If a 5-month-old baby sleeps a lot, optimally gains weight and height, is alert, active and attentive to details, then he gets his share of rest. In this case, there is no need to worry - the mode is selected correctly.

If a 5-month-old baby sleeps poorly, often wakes up, and while awake constantly yawns and rubs his eyes, you should radically change your daily routine. The cause of the problems is that the baby’s body does not have time to recover during rest.

Causes of poor night sleep

One of the main sources of insomnia is the baby’s character. If he is hyperactive while awake, then his sleep will be weak and light. Such children are easy to wake up.

How much does a 5 month old child diagnosed with hyperactivity sleep? On average, such children need an hour more than the generally accepted norm for optimal rest. The fact is that the body requires a longer time to recover, since during the waking period it exhausts its entire supply of vital energy.

Another common cause of restless sleep is illness. How long does a 5 month old baby sleep at night if he has a cold? It all depends on the presence and degree of complications of acute respiratory infections. Fever and chills can be relieved with medications, but getting rid of a runny nose is almost impossible. In this case, the baby will be forced to suffer all night from a stuffy nose. Therefore, during a cold, a child can only sleep for a few hours with long breaks.

How to avoid waking up at night

Often sleeps poorly due to hunger. That is why you should put your baby to sleep at night only on a full stomach. It is important to exclude sweets from the diet, as saccharides negatively affect the general condition of the child.

To avoid frequent awakenings, regular bed changes are recommended. Before putting your baby into bed, the sheets and blanket should be warm. Also, a 5-month-old child does not sleep well due to a change in routine. It is not recommended to shift the daily routine by more than 1 hour.

You cannot interrupt your child's sleep. If he wants to sleep a little earlier than expected, then you need to immediately put him to bed. This will eliminate the likelihood of subsequently developing chronic lack of sleep or insomnia.

Before going to bed at night, the baby should be busy with active activities: swimming, crawling, playing, walking. This is necessary for the body to expend a large amount of energy. In this case, the baby will ask to go to bed within a few hours.

At least 4 hours should pass between evening and night sleep. It is not recommended to put your child to bed before 20.00.

Every baby should be sure that his mother will be there when he wakes up. Therefore, when crying, you should immediately go to the crib and calm your child.

In the first seconds, you can try to put the little one to sleep with your voice. If this does not produce results, then you should approach him and let him know that his parents are nearby. It is not recommended to turn on the lights, TV, scream or suddenly lift the child. In most cases, it is enough to simply stroke his back, head, legs and quietly hum a lullaby.

If your baby often wakes up crying, you need to determine the source of the irritation. It could be the light from the window, the creaking of the bed, or malaise. In any case, the baby should be calmed quickly and quietly, otherwise he will completely wake up.

associated with illnesses

If a 5-month-old child does not sleep through the night or often wakes up, he may be worried about pain.

In first place among the most common causes of this type is colic. Abdominal pain can occur in children up to 2 years of age. This is due to both the restructuring of the digestive system and a change in diet.

Sleep can often be disrupted by teething. This is a very painful process. At 5 months, most children's first baby tooth begins to emerge.

Sometimes poor sleep occurs due to an acute allergic reaction to salicylates, found in large quantities in aspirin, citrus fruits and some food additives.

Why does a child sleep poorly at night and what should be done to normalize his sleep? Detailed explanations of the causes of poor sleep for each age and practical recommendations to help parents.

Future parents are not always prepared for the fact that newborns have completely different sleep phases from adults. The big exception is children who fall asleep in the evening and sleep without waking up all night until the morning.

The overwhelming majority of young mothers are faced with the fact that their babies wake up very often, which is incredibly exhausting for parents. But there is no need to worry that such a dream will negatively affect the child. Frequent waking up is the norm for many children. Be patient - you just need to wait out this time.

Why does a newborn have trouble sleeping at night?

Any person's sleep consists of two cycles - fast and slow. An adult spends most of the night in deep, slow-wave sleep. REM sleep is characterized by startling, constant turning from side to side - at this time a person is easy to wake up
Babies sleep in the fast cycle and very rarely in the slow cycle. Therefore, all mothers should understand that frequent waking up of the child is not a bad dream, this is the normal development of the little person’s nervous system.
If you still have concerns that something is wrong with your child, then the surest method is to consult a neurologist
Only an experienced doctor can determine the problem (if there is one) and prescribe medications. But it’s worth noting right away that the presence of real problems is rare. Each baby’s age has its own characteristics that affect sleep.

Causes of poor sleep in children under 6 months

At your appointment with a neurologist, you will definitely be asked how many hours a day does your baby sleep? There is a generally accepted norm of 18 hours, but 14 hours is also acceptable. Doctors in Russia agree that 16 hours is the norm. It is worth noting that the conversation is not only about night sleep, but also about all daytime sleep.
If your child sleeps less, this is already a cause for concern, because his body does not rest, which can negatively affect his overall development and well-being.
Some babies wake up little until 6 months, and then more often. There is a situation and vice versa, when babies constantly wake up until they are six months old.

What is this connected with?

The baby is hot/cold – the optimal temperature in the baby’s room is considered to be 19-22 degrees
The baby is hungry - breastfed babies eat more often than bottle-fed babies
The child is not swaddled and wakes himself up with unconscious movements of his arms and legs.
Colic in the tummy - as a general rule, goes away by 3 months
Nasal breathing disorders - infectious diseases, nasal discharge, dry air, anatomical features
Narrowness of the nasal passages - goes away with age, but sometimes surgery is necessary
Lack of vitamin D3 - especially noticeable in winter, add a vitamin D supplement to your diet
Feeling of anxiety - the baby has not yet learned to perceive the world the way adults do, so closing his eyes may be associated with an anxious state, just be there

Causes of poor sleep in children 7-9 months old

At this age, children begin to actively explore the world around them and learn to crawl in order to independently get to the object of interest. The skill of sitting without support is also developed. All this can even give an unconscious impulse to the brain at night, when the child tries to sit up in his sleep. Your task is to put and calm an overexcited child
Due to increased daily activity, the baby may not receive enough food, as he is constantly distracted. And at night he tries to make up for lost time, constantly waking up. Analyze whether your child eats enough during the day
At this time, acquaintance with new products continues, so mothers should strictly monitor the body’s reaction to complementary foods
Poor sleep may indicate a digestive disorder or an allergic reaction that prevents you from sleeping
Another reason for poor sleep at 7-9 months is painful teething. Don't wait for the pain to go away on its own, help your baby. Buy a special teething gel that will relieve painful sensations and allow parents to sleep peacefully

Causes of poor sleep in children 10-12 months old

During this period, the child has even more stress on the body, because he learns to get up and walk. It is also important to monitor your diet and avoid malnutrition. Activity increases, emotions overwhelm from your own achievements - it is important to strictly adhere to the daily routine
Also, at 10-12 months, there may be a lack of calcium in the body, and this is what causes poor sleep. Do not immediately run to the laboratory - take a safe drug from the pharmacy and administer it according to the instructions. Within a week, sleep returns to normal. By the way, calcium is also needed when absorbing vitamin D3
Another option to improve nighttime sleep is to reduce daytime sleep. Closer to one year, a child can sleep only 2 times during the day. It is now that the child begins to have dreams, and just like adults, he can see something scary, which causes him to wake up.

Poor sleep in a child under one year old Komarovsky

According to Dr. Komarovsky, healthy sleep for a child means healthy sleep for all family members. And only parents can help their child sleep long and well, devoting enough time to walking, organizing meals, cleaning the premises, and air humidity.

Komarovsky recommends following only 10 rules that will definitely help normalize your child’s sleep:

1. Understand that the most important thing for a baby is loving parents and a healthy family environment, so it’s important to set your priorities correctly
2. Strictly observe your sleep schedule and do not deviate from the chosen time
3. Decide where and with whom the baby will sleep: alone in a crib in the parents’ bedroom, alone in a crib in the children’s room, or in the same bed with parents
4. Reduce your child's naps if they tend to sleep too much.
5. Try to underfeed at the penultimate feeding and then the child will have a good and satisfying meal before bedtime
6. Spend your time actively during the day, and in the evening play quietly and read books
7. Keep the air temperature in the child’s bedroom 18-20 degrees, and humidity 50-70%
8. Do massage or exercises before the evening bath, then bathe your baby in cool water in a large bathtub, then dress warmly, feed him and put him to bed.
9. Take the mattress seriously - it should be smooth and dense. Bed linen is made from natural fabrics. Up to two years - no pillows
10. Use a quality diaper

Why does an infant sleep poorly at night and often wake up?

There are many reasons why an infant sleeps restlessly and prevents the whole family from getting enough sleep. Basically, all the reasons come down to the physiological characteristics of the development of a small organism, and many of them are already described in the article.

In order to exclude serious pathologies, you should consult a neurologist and pediatrician. However, do not try to find a reason where there is none. If all doctors report normal development of the baby, then calm down and be patient.

Why does the baby start waking up more often at night?

It happens that the baby slept more or less normally and suddenly began to wake up much more often. With what it can be connected? Let's consider several reasons:
Presence of disease, infection
Teething
Stomach ache
Increased excitability during the day
Too many impressions during the day
Disturbed sleep patterns
A new product has been introduced into the diet

It should also not be ruled out that the mother’s bad mood affected the child’s sleep.

Why does a child often wake up at night and cry?

Crying at night is normal and should not be given much importance. Crying is the only way to call your mother for help. Perhaps the baby is hungry or simply requires communication.
By the way, children who sleep with their mother cry much less when waking up than those who sleep in a separate crib. This is due to the fact that the child knows that just by starting to move, his mother will pay attention to him. Over time, such children generally cry less.

Why does my child sleep restlessly and toss and turn a lot?

If a newborn doesn’t sleep well and toss and turn a lot, just try swaddling him; perhaps his hands are in the way and he wakes himself up
For older children, this nighttime behavior is often associated with stomach pain or teething.
However, it is better to seek help from a neurologist and, if necessary, start giving sedatives

The child sleeps poorly and starts in his sleep

Startling is normal sleep behavior for babies under one year old. This can happen for several reasons:

Overstimulation during the day
The transition of sleep from one phase to another
Uncontrolled movements of arms and legs
Most often, shuddering appears in the first months of life, and gradually disappears as the child grows older.

Swaddling is especially important in the first months, because the baby involuntarily moves his arms and legs, which is why he can hit or scratch himself. Even if you are one of the mothers who uses only modern methods, it is not recommended to give up night swaddling. Sometimes even children under one or one and a half years old need to be swaddled, but not completely, but only their arms
Stay with your child for a while after falling asleep. If the baby shudders and wakes up, pet him, sing a song, calm him down.
Do not create stressful situations for your child - excessive number of guests, too long active games, long travels. In a word - do not overload the nervous system, do not overwork
Strictly follow the daily routine and create a special procedure before going to bed, repeating it every evening. No matter what happens, don’t deviate from the rule

What should you do if your child has trouble sleeping at night?

Try to analyze and understand what caused the sleep disorder. If you can identify the cause, then it needs to be eliminated. Consider a few situations that may help you:

Perhaps you used to sleep with your baby, but now you’ve decided to put him in a separate crib at night. Then the baby is simply afraid to sleep alone, go back to your previous routine and wait a little longer
Starting from 4 months, a baby may be tormented by teething - purchase a special teething gel, but use it strictly according to the instructions
Babies up to 3 months suffer from colic, try to help: buy the product at the pharmacy, make dill water, apply a warm diaper to the tummy, and if you are breastfeeding, analyze your diet and exclude onions, legumes, cabbage and other foods that can cause colic at the baby's
If you slept well in the summer, but began to wake up often in the fall and winter, then try adding a supplement with vitamin D. Perhaps this is what the body lacks
Do you have a strict bedtime routine? For example: a walk, dinner, swimming, dimming the lights and sleeping. Perhaps the usual procedure has been disrupted? Children react sharply to such changes
How is the child feeling? Do you have nasal discharge, cough, or fever? Children sleep restlessly when they are sick. Consult your pediatrician at the first signs and he will prescribe treatment
Analyze your child’s diet: does he eat enough during the day or does he try to make up for what he doesn’t get at night? Starting from 6 months, babies actively explore the world around them, begin to crawl and get distracted while eating, so come up with your own procedure so that he eats his quota
Perhaps the child is overtired during the day. Try to add soothing herbs to your evening baths and reduce increased activity during the day. Dose emotional impressions and guest visits
Is everything good in your family? Are there frequent conflicts and quarrels? What is mom's emotional state? Behave as calmly as possible with your child, and especially do not swear in front of him. Children feel their mother's condition

A 1.5 year old child does not sleep well at night

A 1.5 year old child is characterized by high activity during the daytime, but try to reasonably limit it in the evening.
Just before going to bed, you need to take a good, long walk. If you don’t let your child run around during the day, then by the evening he will be full of energy, and at night he will have trouble sleeping.
We must not forget that the child also dreams, so if he wakes up, calm him down, stroke him and put him back to sleep
At 1.5, the baby constantly puts everything in his mouth, so infection with helminths is possible. If at home you need to wash toys and the floor for preventive purposes, then on the street, infection most often occurs in the sandbox
The active activity of worms in the child’s body occurs precisely at night, which prevents him from sleeping
At this age, many children sleep only once a day, so it is advisable to adhere to this regime

Causes of poor sleep in a child 2-4 years old

By the age of two, children already sleep peacefully throughout the night, and only sleep during the day. However, it happens that even during this period the child begins to sleep poorly.
Diagnosing the cause is much easier, since the child can already explain what is bothering him: his stomach hurts, his head hurts, or he dreamed about something. For this age, poor sleep can only occur in cases of obvious discomfort and any pain should be taken seriously, as it may indicate serious illness. It won't go away on its own
Often, sleep disturbances at this age are associated with nervous overexcitation or fatigue. If sleep disturbances continue for several days, you should consult a doctor.

Causes of poor sleep in a child 5-7 years old

At this age, children's sleep is similar to adults - deeper, less superficial, REM sleep. At 5 years old, talking about an excess of emotions or an incorrect regime is no longer correct.
Of course, children have dreams and may have nightmares, which can cause them to wake up, but if this happens every night, then you should be concerned. Only a competent neurologist can help
Perhaps the dream has become more disturbing due to the fact that the child was moved to his own room and now he is forced to sleep alone. It is important to carry out a calm ritual of reading fairy tales and singing songs every evening. The mother can lie with the baby until he falls asleep. A little patience and the baby will get used to independence

Glycine for poor sleep in a child

Despite the fact that glycine is a common amino acid, there is no need to voluntarily prescribe it to your child. Only a neurologist can tell whether it is needed or not in your case. Speaking about dosages, doctors recommend that children under three years old take 0.5 tablets, and after three years old - 1 tablet 2-3 times a day.
Glycine has a cumulative effect, so it must be taken in a course. However, it begins to act only when absorbed under the tongue, so it is not always effective for children.
They don’t write in the instructions, but many mothers observe the opposite effect in their children after using glycine - excessive activity and overexcitement. Each baby is individual
Children of any age need attentive attention from their parents. If poor sleep is the norm for an infant, then at 4 years old it can signal the presence of a serious illness. Treat everything wisely and listen to yourself. Contact your doctors if you feel the need

Video: How to improve your baby's sleep and get enough sleep? — Dr. Komarovsky

The expression “sleep like a baby” is the standard of calm and deep sleep, but babies themselves are not always able to fall asleep soundly. This article will talk about why a 5-month-old baby does not sleep well at night, as well as how this can be corrected.

Features of night rest in infants

The very structure of an infant's sleep differs significantly from the sleep of an adult. The main difference is the ratio of shallow sleep to deep sleep. In total, an adult spends only a quarter of the night time in fast-wave sleep, while a child spends most of the night in deep, slow-wave sleep. It is during the fast-wave phase of sleep that the brain actively analyzes and processes information received during the day, this contributes to the timely and comprehensive development of the baby.

The above-described children's feature explains the main characteristics of recreation in this age group:

The baby's sleep is superficial, can be easily and often interrupted, the child often wakes up at night;
The situation has a strong influence on superficial sleep; the child wakes up less often if he feels completely safe. For example, children who sleep with their parents usually sleep better.

A child of 5 months or less does not always wake up and sleep poorly at night because he needs something or something bothers him, sometimes he does this in order to understand that he is not alone, that his parents are nearby. In such cases, having woken up and started to whine, but having heard his native voice, the child can continue to sleep peacefully.

About the main causes of poor sleep

What could be the cause of poor sleep and frequent awakenings of a baby at the age of 5 months? First of all, these are the following factors.

Hunger. For a 5-month-old baby, waking up at night is the norm, he needs to be fed according to his demand, this can be every 2-3 hours. Exclusively breastfed children usually require nutrition more often than bottle-fed children. After receiving the next portion of milk, the baby goes back to sleep. We must remember that you should not deliberately wake up your child minute by minute ─ it is better to feed him on demand.
Wet diapers. A wet diaper may be the reason why a 5-month-old baby wakes up every hour at night. Some children may wake up and become fussy just when they want to go to the toilet. Therefore, if your child wakes up and cries, you should check his diaper.
Uncomfortable bed. A mattress that is too hard or too soft, seams on bedding, or an unpleasant texture can all negatively affect your baby’s quality of sleep.
The baby is cold or hot. The baby should be dressed appropriately for the temperature in the room; he should not be overly bundled up or left undressed.
There is too much light or sound around. From a young age (no matter how old he is, five or only a month and a half old and it seems that he still doesn’t understand anything) the difference between day and night should be shown: during the day there is a lot of light, a lot of sounds, at night it is better to try to create a calm atmosphere and dim lighting .
Teeth. A 5-month-old baby may start teething, which can cause him to have trouble sleeping at night, waking up frequently, fidgeting and even moaning. Parents may notice swelling of the gums and a slight increase in body temperature. You can help by rocking the baby, massaging the gums, and also using a teether, which, when biting, speeds up and facilitates teething.
Stuffy nose, stomach pain, or other health problems. If all possible reasons for why your child wakes up every hour at night have been ruled out, he may be sick and should see a doctor.
Character traits. A child even at 5 months can already show his temperament and have trouble sleeping at night. He may be easily excitable, have difficulty relaxing and being distracted from extraneous sounds and rustles.

How to improve sleep for a 5 month old baby

First of all, you need to try to create the most comfortable conditions for a night's rest: a comfortable crib, a ventilated room, the absence of bright lights and harsh sounds.

You should also satisfy natural needs in a timely manner - feed him at his request, change diapers on time, pay attention and communicate with him.

It is believed that children who sleep with their parents fall asleep easier, wake up less often at night and are capricious, and all because in order to attract attention they do not need to cry, but just move ─ the parents are already nearby and show their care. It also helps everyone in the family get a good night's sleep.

The child will fall asleep better if, before a night's rest, you create a kind of sleepy ritual, that is, before putting him to bed, a set of stereotypical actions are carried out that are repeated day after day. For example, a child is bathed, fed, then a lullaby is sung to him and then he falls asleep. To prevent your baby from getting scared and feeling lonely when he wakes up at night, you can put a toy in his crib that will be with him while he sleeps. Also, while the child falls asleep and until he falls asleep, you can affectionately repeat the same phrase, which will become a kind of “signal” to fall asleep and when pronounced, he will then fall asleep better.

Common Mistakes

Some actions that parents take with the best intentions may not only not improve the child’s sleep, but only worsen it.

The baby may often wake up, toss and turn, roll over from side to side, cry, demand the attention of the parents and fall asleep only in their arms. You should not teach your child to fall asleep only in the arms of his parents, otherwise he will always demand this. It is necessary to create optimal conditions for his independent sleep so that he himself feels comfortable. Creating a sleep ritual can also help with this, which, when constantly repeated, will help develop the right attitudes for night's rest.
Of course, it is better and more pleasant for children to sleep in bed with their parents, but it is better not to abuse this and from the very beginning accustom your child to rest in his own crib. This will also allow parents to get enough sleep and rest fully at night. And if a child, accustomed to sleeping with his parents, wakes up at night and finds himself alone in his own crib, he will cry even in the absence of objective reasons, but simply because he wants to see his parents again. In addition, the child should be allowed to gradually get used to being alone at night; you should not immediately run up to him at his every request; in the future, this can become a problem for parents.

If incorrect attitudes have already become entrenched, you can still gradually retrain him.

The main thing in this case for parents is to be consistent. Do not be nervous if the child begins to be capricious; after a week he can get used to the new features of night rest and will be quite happy with them.

Thus, there may be a great many reasons why a 5-month-old baby is not sleeping well. From dissatisfaction of basic needs to character traits. To understand what exactly needs to be done, you need to be attentive to the baby.

For a newborn, sleep is as important as mother's milk and love. This is a necessity that allows the baby to develop normally. But it's not always easy to get your baby to sleep well. In some cases, this becomes a real problem for the mother. What should you do if your child often cries soon after going to bed and constantly wakes up at night?

Until 3 months, the baby is not awake much. During the newborn period, an average of about 17-18 hours a day is spent on sleep, in the next few months up to 15 hours. At the same time, at first it doesn’t matter to the baby whether it’s day or night. He will be able to confidently distinguish this only by 4 months.

At one time, a newborn can sleep for several minutes or several hours. On average, babies sleep longer, and infants sleep slightly less. Much to the inconvenience of the mother, the newborn, as a rule, cannot sleep continuously throughout the night or day, so she does not get more than three or four hours of rest without interruption.

While he is awake, you need to feed the baby, take a walk and play with him, and perform the necessary procedures. Some babies can sleep through the night by the end of the second month of life. But more often at this age, a situation occurs when the child wakes up every two hours at night.

By 6 months, as a rule, mom has to get up less and less every few hours. The baby is already able to sleep up to 10 hours at night and about 3 times for a couple of hours during the day. Perhaps the mother needs to get up, but only for night feeding. Sometimes it happens that a child even at 6 months constantly wakes up at night. How to instill healthy sleep skills in your baby?

For what reasons does a child often wake up at night?

To find the reason why a child often wakes up at night and cries, you need to remember the phases of sleep - fast and slow. Every normal person's sleep alternates between deep and shallow periods. If the baby shudders and smiles, then the dream is superficial. During this period it is easy to wake him up. Therefore, a mother’s attempts to transfer a baby who has fallen asleep in her arms to a crib in this phase usually fail.

The deep period gives way to the superficial one about half an hour after the child falls asleep. This phase can be determined by its appearance. The baby's face relaxes, his fists unclench, his breathing becomes even and quiet. At this time, if you shift him, cover him with a blanket, and calmly walk around the room, the child will be difficult to disturb.

But after 40 minutes the deep phase will be replaced by the superficial one, and the baby can wake up from any sound. Even if there is absolute silence in the room, the baby can wake himself up by waving his hands. If such a problem is relevant, many mothers use swaddling in the first months.

The child constantly wakes up at night for various reasons.

Bad habits

Perhaps the baby is used to being fed or rocked as soon as he wakes up. The habit of falling asleep in a swing, in your arms, in a stroller, or in a stroller may interfere with your baby's habit. The problem can also be caused by a pacifier if the child is used to it and constantly loses it in his sleep.

Overtired child

If the baby does not sleep enough during the day, the level of the cheerfulness hormone - cortisol - increases in his blood. Therefore, the mother needs to monitor how much the baby sleeps per day.

The biological clock

By about 4 months, the child has already developed his own sleep and wakefulness pattern and is able to distinguish day from night. The optimal bedtime for a child under five years of age is from seven o'clock in the evening to half past eight. Hourly individual deviations are allowed for it. If you follow such a time frame for putting your baby to bed, the likelihood that your baby will sleep soundly at night increases.

Hunger

A newborn's stomach is so small that it cannot accommodate the amount of milk needed to sleep continuously for 10 or 12 hours. The child's need to eat at night goes away by about one year. This means that a 9-month-old child most often wakes up at night not because he is hungry, but because he is used to eating at night. Many children, even in adulthood, do not sleep well due to a feeling of hunger, which can be either true if the dinner was not hearty enough, or just a normal habit. If your child is one year old and has eaten a large meal in the evening, and despite this, often wakes up at night to eat, you can try offering him some water.

Stages of child development (teething, emergence of new skills)

A child often wakes up at night after 4 months of life precisely because of a big leap in development and the acquisition of new skills. Some children tolerate it easily, but for others it becomes a real torment. The pain makes it difficult to sleep. It is possible that a child, for example, 10 months old, wakes up at night because of this. In such cases, the problem of poor sleep will not last long. A special anesthetic gel will help you cope with it.

Sleep hygiene

If a child who has never previously caused trouble at night now sleeps poorly and wakes up frequently, the mother needs to pay attention to whether his sleeping conditions have changed. You need to check whether light or extraneous noise is disturbing the baby. Or maybe your favorite pajamas have become too small and restrict movement, or they are uncomfortable due to changes in the air temperature in the apartment. This reason for a child’s poor sleep is easy to eliminate.

Health status

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to do without a doctor if the child constantly wakes up at night. Poor baby sleep can be caused by nausea, breathing problems, infections, etc.

In addition, parents are often concerned about the question of why the child cries when he wakes up. There are many reasons for this, and they are not always easy to establish. This phenomenon can occur in children of any age. A common situation is when a child suddenly wakes up and cries both before one year and at 3-5 years. More often this happens at night, but it is possible during the daytime rest.

Don't be afraid of this. For a newborn, a cry is the only means of communication. A newly born child wakes up and immediately cries. This is how he shows that he is hungry, wants to go to his mother, that he is uncomfortable in the wet, something hurts, or he is just scared of something. Older children may cry because they did not find their mother near them, who was with them when they fell asleep.

In what cases is it necessary to consult a doctor?

When your child wakes up constantly at night, if certain symptoms are present, you should consult a doctor.

Consultation with a pediatrician is necessary in the following cases:

a baby under one year old has sleep disturbances that last for more than several days in a row;
it became difficult for a one-year-old child to fall asleep during the day;
the baby cannot sleep during the day and after that he becomes capricious and irritable;
sleep problems are associated with breathing disorders;
in a child over 3 years old it appeared during daytime sleep.

The problem of poor sleep in the presence of health pathologies can be solved with the help of a pediatrician. A child under 4 months often wakes up at night due to colic. At this age, the problem of poor sleep can also be caused by anemia or. To diagnose the causes, you can perform an ultrasound of the brain and consult a neurologist.

A five-month-old baby often wakes up during the night due to teething. If this is the reason for poor sleep, then the doctor will recommend special cooling and pain-relieving gels for the gums. After teeth erupt, sleep will improve.

How to help your child wake up less often at night?

How to stop a child from waking up at night? The problem of restless sleep can be solved when its cause is identified and eliminated. How can you help your child sleep more soundly and stop him from waking up at night?

First of all, you should take care of a calm atmosphere at home before going to bed. A few hours before bedtime, you need to stop noisy games and do not turn on the TV for your baby. You can bathe your baby in a bath with the addition of a decoction of valerian, lemon balm or lavender.

It will be useful to establish a special bedtime ritual. For example, this could be reading a fairy tale, singing a song, or kissing goodnight.

The crib in which the child sleeps should be comfortable. All unnecessary soft toys or pillows must be removed from it to ensure normal air circulation.