Why does a newborn sleep a lot and eat little? The dangers of infrequent feeding. How much should a baby eat and sleep?

A calm toddler who sleeps for a long time and does not bother his parents is perceived by many mothers and fathers as a gift of fate. However, in reality this may not be the case at all: if the baby sleeps for a long time, it means that he eats little, and this leads to serious pathologies development of the little man. So, why can a baby sleep for a long time and not wake up, what to do to correct the situation - these issues need to be understood in detail.

How to determine your sleep norm?

The average number of hours of sleep for a newborn is 18–20 hours. At the same time, the baby should eat every hour and a half, since he eats very little during one feeding, and breast milk is digested very quickly and well. So sleeping without waking for 4, 5, 6 or more hours should alert parents.

This is interesting. The volume of a newborn's stomach is about 7 ml.

If a child skips a meal (and it doesn’t matter whether it’s breast milk or bottle-fed formula), then he doesn’t receive enough of the elements necessary for development, which means he becomes weaker and sleeps even more. It turns out vicious circle. From 1–1.5 months, toddlers begin to sleep a little less during the day, and the breaks between feedings at night increase to 5–6 hours. Gradually night sleep becomes more “whole”, that is, the child sleeps longer without interruption. So it is easier to observe a deviation from the norm by duration nap.

Table of sleep norms for children under one year old

True, sleep standards for newborns and infants are approximate. Let's look at the factors that can affect the duration of sleep.

When should you not worry?

You don’t have to worry about small deviations in your baby’s sleep schedule if the child sleeps 1–1.5 hours longer than normal, but at the same time he

• gaining weight well;
• grows and develops in accordance with the norms of its age;
• in the intervals between sleep, he is cheerful, alert, actively moves and requires attention to himself;
• phlegmatic by temperament type (this can also be determined by the fact that the little one falls asleep in his mother’s arms on his own, without rocking or lullabies).

Reasons why a child sleeps a lot

If your baby does not fit the characteristics described above, that is, is not gaining weight well, is lethargic, etc., then this is a reason to consult a doctor. The fact is that such hibernation may be the reason serious problems with health.

Malnutrition

This is the most common reason for a baby to sleep for long periods of time. Well-known pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky believes that without a “food regimen” there is no point in talking about a “sleep regimen.”

Refusal to eat can be caused by a number of factors:

• the child did not receive colostrum in the first hours of life (due to the laxative effect of colostrum, meconium is removed from the newborn’s body, which prevents the absorption of bilirubin and protects against the development of jaundice);
• incorrect nipple structure - too flat or too elongated (specialists in breastfeeding They recommend, firstly, to express the first portion of milk before feeding, and secondly, to properly attach the baby to the breast);
• taste of milk (if a young mother does not adhere to a diet or takes some medications, the milk acquires an unpleasant taste, which can repel the baby from the breast, and when taking antibiotics, candidiasis may begin in the baby’s mouth, which provokes painful sensations when sucking);
• excess or lack of milk (in the first case, the child chokes, and in the second, he puts in too much effort and gets tired quickly);
• pathology of the palate in an infant (as a rule, disorders are detected in the maternity hospital, but, for example, cleft palate in the depths of the mouth in such early age difficult to determine);
• A runny nose and otitis media also complicate the sucking process.

To solve these problems, you need to consult a pediatrician and, possibly, switch to a mixed diet. If the little one is artificial, then it makes sense to switch to other mixtures, but only after this has been discussed with the doctor.

Difficult birth

In the first days after birth, due to the stress experienced during birth, the baby sleeps a lot, interrupted by feeding. Violations of this regime can be the consequences of taking medications during childbirth (including painkillers), as well as stimulants. Some of them pharmacological substances can cause the baby’s sucking reflex or reflex swallowing and breathing to be disrupted during feeding. Conclusion: if you had a difficult birth, your child sleeps a lot and eats little, you need to consult a specialist (pediatrician). He will carefully study the history and make a plan further actions. The same is the sequence of actions if the child was born premature.

Teething

Sleep disturbance usually occurs during teething (5–6 months). Usually, babies feel pain especially strongly at night, which makes them cry. And it is not surprising that during the day they sleep longer than they should - this is how the body reacts to fatigue. You need to survive this period, and your mother’s breast will help you do this. After all, mother’s milk perfectly restores strength and strengthens the immune system weakened by pain.

Vaccinations

In the first year of life, children undergo several very serious vaccinations, the reaction to which may be a rise in temperature. Doctors usually advise giving antipyretics, which have a soporific effect, as a preventive measure. In this case long sleep is the norm.

Diseases

If your child has suffered from some kind of illness (ARVI, influenza or rotavirus), then it is natural that the baby’s body needs strength to recover, so he sleeps long and soundly. And if such a dream is not accompanied by a disturbance in the breathing rhythm (the child does not wheeze), an increase in temperature (above 37 degrees), or changes in complexion (no redness), then there is no reason to panic. But even with this healthy sleep It is simply necessary to put the baby to the breast - the healing process will go faster. It is especially important to do this if the toddler is diagnosed with neonatal jaundice. The fact is that liquid helps remove excess bilirubin from the blood, and in its absence, the concentration of this substance does not decrease, which means that recovery does not occur.

This is interesting. If a child sleeps a lot and has diarrhea and vomiting, this may be a sign of poisoning. If these symptoms occur, you should immediately call ambulance. Remember that it is better to bother the doctor in vain than to risk the baby’s health.

External factors

These include

• family quarrels;
• working TV;
• lighting is too bright.

These factors determine long sleep as the activation of the body's defense against nervous overload.

This is interesting. Scientists have discovered an interesting pattern: if the house is noisy, children sleep better. However, such sleep is not complete and beneficial for their development.

When is a long sleep a reason to call an ambulance?

The child needs urgent health care, If

• he sleeps for more than 3 hours in one position;
• cries quietly;
• the fontanelle has sunk;
• temperature rises;
• mucous membranes are bluish and dry;
• less than 5 diapers are used per day, that is, rare urination is observed;
• sweating increases.

Do I need to wake up how to do it correctly?

If a toddler misses one feeding, it’s not a big deal. But it’s better to wake him up for the next one.

This is interesting. The mother’s task is to use trial and error to find out the most suitable awakening options for her baby.

First of all, it is necessary to understand that it is possible to wake up a child only in the phase REM sleep. It is not difficult to identify it: his eyelids begin to twitch, his pupils move under them, his limbs move, and grimaces appear on his face. The following actions could be:

• apply the crumb to the chest (the smell of milk will wake him up), if there is no reaction, then drip milk onto the lips;
• lift the blanket, carefully undress the baby (only if the room is warm!);
• change the diaper (if necessary);
• Gently massage the back and legs;
• wipe your face with a soft, warm, damp cloth;
• lift the baby to an upright position;
• if the baby is more than 6 months old, you can put him in prison;
• We start talking quietly with Sonya, singing songs to him.

Please note that the light in the room at the moment of awakening should be dimmed so that when the little one opens his eyes, he does not instinctively close them from sudden irritation.

Doctor Komarovsky's opinion: to wake up or not to wake up?

Dr. Komarovsky claims that when normal development The baby himself is able to determine how much sleep he needs. And the forcible interruption of sleep, only because the parents are convinced that it is time for the little one to eat or do other things, is nothing more than actions against nature. At the same time, the doctor focuses on the fact that the baby sleeps for a long time, but at the same time he has no health problems. IN otherwise The mother should not come up with a way to wake up the baby, but consult a doctor for advice.

Video. Doctor Komarovsky: when to wake up your baby

From the experience of parents

Some parents own experience We were convinced that drowsiness is not a reason to panic.

Long sleep is a reason for parents to monitor their baby’s health even more closely.

My amazing “spit” was also at first advised to wake up for feeding, but this option did not work. Until the age of 2, I slept 2 times a day, for an hour and a half to two hours.

I'm making plans

https://deti.mail.ru/forum/zdorove/detskoe_zdorove/novorozhdennyj_podolgu_spit_normalno_li_jeto_stoit_li_budit/

My daughter was born at 35 weeks, weight 2980 and height 49 cm. In the maternity hospital I slept constantly, in the hospital the doctors were also surprised that the child. sleeps constantly and does not wake up for food. There was a problem with feeding, it was just terrible. Because of this, they didn’t even want to write me out. But in fact, it’s just a feature. But now, it’s like an awl in one place.

http://2009–2012.littleone.ru/archive/index.php/t-2292977.html

There are also quite clear opinions regarding whether it is worth waking up the baby for feeding.

A good neonatologist and VMA told me that sometimes babies sleep a lot due to weakness. You definitely need to stir them up and feed them!

A healthy baby is active, cheerful and inquisitive. Lethargy in a child makes parents think about his condition. Infants, especially in the first months of life, sleep a lot, but at the same time, they actively develop and grow. Any changes in the baby's behavior are serious reason for anxiety. The course of the disease can develop rapidly in a small, fragile organism, due to imperfect immune system. Sometimes parents make a huge mistake, believing that their child is lethargic. normal symptom, for example, during teething, or after vaccination, and this is not a cause for concern. At this time, immunity decreases significantly and infection occurs.

Lethargy in newborns

The neonatal period lasts from the birth of the baby until six weeks of his life. Adaptation to the surrounding world occurs, as well as further development all organs and systems. A newborn child has long sleep, about twenty hours a day, with short breaks for feeding. In some cases, the baby finds it difficult to breastfeed and begins to become weaker and sleep more. Increased sleepiness may be a manifestation of lethargy due to insufficient nutrition and dehydration.

Doctor's advice. It is necessary to carry out control weighing before and after breastfeeding throughout the day to avoid the consequences associated with systematic malnutrition of the baby

Every 3 hours it is necessary to put the baby to the breast so that he feels the difference between hunger and satiety, and also learns to suck out a sufficient amount of milk for his growth and development.

You should immediately consult a doctor if your newborn, in addition to drowsiness and lethargy, experiences symptoms such as:

• Fever.
• The crying is weak and quiet.
• It is impossible to wake up the child.
• The amount of urine and the frequency of urination have decreased, less than five times a day. To avoid confusion, you can put a dry paper napkin in the diaper.
• Dry mouth and eyes.
• Absence or weakness of the sucking reflex.
• Feces Green colour or foamy.
• Stool with streaks or blood clots.
• Lack of bowel movements for at least a day.
• The skin has a bluish or yellow tint.
• Skin turgor has decreased (when pinched, the skin straightens very slowly).
• Convulsions appeared.

These manifestations may indicate extremely dangerous conditions for the child. pathological conditions, such as: complicated viral, bacterial, intestinal infections, dehydration, heart, kidney and liver diseases.

Lethargy in infants

Infancy begins after the neonatal period and continues until twelve months. The baby is growing quickly, gaining weight and developing. Organs and systems are not fully formed and the body is still adapting to the surrounding world. Illnesses in infants can occur, at first glance, without symptoms; the child is not able to complain and explain his illness.

Lethargy can be present in an infant during teething, the presence of an intestinal or viral infection, and many other ailments. High temperature is an inseparable companion to drowsiness, weakness and lethargy in children. It is also a manifestation various pathologies. All inflammatory processes cover children's body They develop very quickly and at lightning speed.

Important! High temperature in infants (above 38˚C) is a serious reason to urgently call an ambulance. May develop hyperthermic syndrome which manifests itself as seizures and negatively affects the child’s brain and heart

Diseases that cause lethargy in infants, along with other symptoms, and are the reason for visiting a doctor, are shown in the table below.

Acute intestinal infection. Lethargy is always present during an acute intestinal infection. Children under one year of age are susceptible to this disease. An intestinal infection is often confused with a condition that occurs in a child during teething, and for this reason, parents do not always consult a doctor.

An intestinal infection manifests itself with the following symptoms:

• Pain in the abdomen (when pressure is applied to the abdomen, the child begins to cry heavily and pulls his knees to his stomach).
• Heat.
• Frequent stool liquid consistency, greenish color with mucus impurities (in healthy child chair yellow color consistency resembles porridge).
• Refusal to eat.
• There may be vomiting, but the baby will not always vomit with an intestinal infection. This symptom appears with moderate or severe disease.

Intestinal infection, like any other, is acute in infants. When all listed symptoms you should try to give your child clean water boiled water, as often as possible, in small portions and immediately consult a doctor.

Important! If there is no urine for six hours, the appearance of stool traces of blood, loss of consciousness, dry skin, sunken fontanel, you should immediately call an ambulance. These are signs of dehydration dangerous condition for babies

Lethargy and weakness may be present with diseases such as:

• allergies, bronchitis, pneumonia, sore throat, after vaccinations. And is the symptoms serious illnesses, such as: meningitis, meningoccemia, sepsis.

Lethargy in young and older children

After one year and up to 6-7 years, the child goes through a period early childhood. After the age of seven, the next stage of growing up begins, called childhood. Small man no longer so vulnerable to infections, becomes stronger and more resilient. His body has completely adapted to the world around him, and the baby begins to explore everything around him with interest. The appearance of lethargy in a child at this age, warning sign, which may indicate both the development of diseases and the impact external factors. Almost all of the above pathologies that cause lethargy in infants can also appear in older children. Of course, they will not develop so quickly. Slight temperature, cough, runny nose will no longer cause fear and panic in parents and increased anxiety in the doctor. But still, the risk of various diseases always present.

False croup. Viral infections, may be complicated false croup in children from one to 4-5 years. This is a condition in which, due to a cold, the larynx narrows and suffocation occurs, threatening the life of the child.

Important! Dry barking cough, rapid loud breathing, anxiety, shortness of breath, pale skin, blueness in the mouth, lethargy - all these symptoms quickly progress and lead to suffocation. The child must receive immediate medical attention

Before the ambulance arrives, parents need to free the child from tight clothing and give an antiallergic drug in the form of syrup in accordance with the age dosage (for example, Claritin). Take the baby to the bathroom, turn on hot water and ask to inhale the steam generated from the water.

Also, lethargy, apathy, high fever, and nausea at this age can occur due to childhood infections.

For example, such as: rubella, chicken pox, scarlet fever.

If lethargy and vomiting appear in a child without fever, you should definitely consult a doctor. Perhaps this is an intestinal infection or a malfunction gastrointestinal tract. Head injuries can also cause these symptoms. Drug poisoning should not be ruled out.

Important! All medications available in the house must be stored out of the reach of children. A baby may eat brightly coated tablets, mistaking them for tasty candy.

Also, if lethargy appears without fever, increased sleepiness, weakness, it is necessary to reconsider the child’s daily routine and nutrition. Perhaps he consumes few vitamins and protein foods. Or they don’t get enough sleep, they feel overstressed and have a lot of workload at school.

You should always consult a doctor if lethargy appears in a child of any age. Especially in combination with high temperature, vomiting and weakness. If the above symptoms appear in infants and newborns, you should immediately call an ambulance. Special attention requires a fortune infants during teething: it can be associated with various infections.

If baby sleeps for a long time, cries little, parents are happy that they have such calm child, does not cause much trouble, gives you the opportunity to relax. But you shouldn’t always be happy about this; this feature should alert the mother that perhaps not everything is in order with the baby’s health. What does it mean when a baby sleeps a lot, what is the danger of this situation?

In order for a newborn baby to develop harmoniously, it is necessary good nutrition mother's breast milk and healthy sleep, but a reasonable balance between these important components is required.

Physiologically, a baby is designed in such a way that it needs to feed frequently. After all, the volume of his stomach is small, approximately 7 ml, and the structure of breast milk is such that it is easily processed by the digestive organs and absorbed quickly, the process takes no more than an hour. Therefore, the mother should put the baby to her breast every hour or hour and a half.

When a baby has difficulty sucking, he sleeps too much and doesn't get enough nutrition. After all, he sucks out milk little by little and rarely. The lack of useful components, nutritional components and liquid leads to the fact that the baby gradually loses strength, becomes lethargic, and it seems to the parents that he is simply calm.

It turns out to be a vicious circle, the baby becomes weaker every day, sleeps constantly, and does not ask for the breast. This behavior should alert parents, because no one healthy child, will not sleep if he is hungry.

Why does my baby eat poorly?

Why does a child have difficulty eating? There can be many reasons:

1. Often, difficulties arise for a baby if he did not suckle at the breast in the first days when colostrum was produced.
2. Children experience problems if the mother has a peculiar nipple structure: they have a flat or elongated shape. When a baby has difficulty sucking, he refuses food.
3. If mommy doesn't follow a diet, the milk changes taste. The child may not like this, he refuses the breast or eats too little.
4. When a woman has excess milk, the baby chokes and refuses to eat. It happens that the nipple becomes rough, and it is difficult for the baby to wrap his lips around it. The baby gets tired and falls asleep at the breast without eating. To prevent this situation from arising, it is better to express the first portion of milk before feeding, so that it is easier for the baby to latch on to the nipple.
5. Sometimes a child’s sucking reflex is poorly developed or there is a pathology and he cannot suck. This is usually detected in the maternity hospital, but sometimes the defect cannot be diagnosed on early stage. For example, when the cleft palate is located deep in the mouth.
6. Perhaps the baby has a cold, his nose is stuffy, and it’s difficult for him to breathe when sucking.
7. If the baby has colic or otitis media, he also does not eat well.
8. When the mother takes antibiotics, the child develops candidiasis (thrush), pain in oral cavity does not allow you to eat properly.

To solve the problem faster, you should find out the cause; if you cannot normalize breastfeeding, you will have to switch to a mixed diet.

Other causes of drowsiness

There are other factors that affect infant drowsiness:

• In case of long and difficult labor, if additional medications, the baby is able to sleep a lot and for a very long time.
• If a mother does not breastfeed her baby correctly, this provokes malnutrition: the baby quickly gets tired and falls asleep. If you can’t organize the feeding process correctly, you can consult with more experienced friends, or better yet, with a specialist.
• Sometimes sound and long sleep is provoked by the environment. Conversation on raised voices, Full time job TV, bright lighting tire the baby’s psyche, in such conditions he falls asleep very quickly. This is how a small organism protects nervous system from overload. The pattern was discovered a long time ago: if there is noise in the apartment, children sleep for a long time, but such rest is not considered complete.

Alexandra, 33 years old: my son slept for a long time during windy weather, this did not cause any problems, he ate well before and after sleep, woke up, was cheerful and cheerful, common days and slept less. It’s just that, apparently, he’s weather dependent.

Therefore, the mother’s task is to constantly monitor the baby’s behavior. When he sleeps for a long time, this cannot be ignored.

The dangers of infrequent feeding

When a breastfeeding baby receives nutrition once every 3 hours or less, this is a deviation from the norm. The schedule can cause complications and health problems that will require long-term treatment to eliminate:

• With a lack of fluid, dehydration develops; for a baby, this condition is dangerous in itself, and the situation often ends in hospitalization.
• When a newborn has increased bilirubin(neonatal jaundice) he needs to drink more fluids to remove the substance from the blood. When a child sleeps a lot and suckles little, the concentration of bilirubin does not decrease; on the contrary, the course of jaundice becomes more complicated.
• Due to the fact that the baby rarely nurses, less milk comes in and its arrival is delayed.
  The first abundant flow of milk causes congestion in the chest, the baby does not suck it enough, there is a risk of developing mastitis.
• After childbirth in women, stimulation of the mammary glands by sucking promotes contractions of the uterus. This helps the organ return to normal faster and reduce the amount of blood released.
• With insufficient nutrition, the baby's blood glucose level decreases, which makes possible development hypocemia.

Therefore, when the child sleeps all the time, the mother needs to sound the alarm and urgently take measures to eliminate the critical situation.

What to do

When the baby is sleeping and feeding time has come, you should not wait for him to wake up; you should still feed him. It is not always necessary to wake up the baby, just take him in your arms and bring the breast to his mouth, he will feel the proximity of milk and begin to suck.

If the baby does not wake up, he should be woken up. It is important that the baby receives adequate nutrition to grow healthy.

So that the child does not get scared when he wakes up, he must be woken up correctly. They do this during shallow sleep; you can understand when this period has begun by the following signs:

• the eyelids tremble and open slightly;
• noticeable how they move under them eyeballs;
• facial expressions appear on the face;
• sometimes limbs tremble;
• the child makes other movements, this is especially noticeable if you lightly touch his face.

To prevent your baby from closing his eyes and falling asleep again when he opens his eyes, it is better to dim the lighting.

When urgent action is needed

Prolonged sleep is a signal that the baby is not doing well. In any case, you cannot do without consulting a doctor. If the situation is not out of control, it can be corrected. But when signs of deterioration appear, an ambulance should be called urgently:

• the child does not wake up for more than 5 hours;
• lies in almost the same position;
• I can’t wake him up;
• the skin and mucous membranes have turned pale or turned blue;
• increased sweating;
• breathing is heavy, shallow.

This indicates in serious condition, even if one of the signs is present, Urgent measures necessary.

The mother of a newborn should contact a pediatrician in any case of changes in the baby’s behavior. And you shouldn’t be embarrassed; it’s better to bother the doctor in vain than to miss a real danger. And you should be happy when the baby often asks for the breast, this means that he is healthy and developing well.

Almost all young parents dream of getting enough sleep. For some, their dreams come true, they sleep through the night and the baby doesn’t bother them. But is this right? Can a baby sleep more than 7-8 hours in a row without harming his own health?

Babies sleep quite a lot, but they often wake up to feed. It is important for a baby who has just been born to eat well and get enough food and get plenty of rest. But this does not mean that the child should sleep all day long. So how long should a newborn sleep?

Why does a child sleep a lot?

All children are different, some need more time to sleep, others less. By and large, the baby should sleep as much time as he wants. However, it must be remembered that prolonged sleep may be a symptom that the child is not getting enough food. Because of this, he becomes even more sleepy and passive, and loses strength.

Healthy, well-fed breastfed babies sleep 16-20 hours a day and wake up every 1.5-2 hours to eat. This is explained by the fact that in the first days of life the baby’s stomach has a very small volume, plus milk is digested quickly, so the baby has to eat little and often.

If the baby sleeps for more than five hours in a row, this may indicate that breastfeeding is poorly established and the baby does not have enough water and useful substances. Due to dehydration, the baby may develop hypoglycemia or the jaundice may become more severe. In order for newborns to develop normally, they need to eat a lot and sleep a lot.

A baby can sleep for a long time not only due to malnutrition, but also for other reasons:

• during difficult childbirth, especially with the use pharmacological drugs, children can sleep almost soundly in the first days. In the most severe cases babies lose the ability to control the processes of swallowing and breathing at the mother’s breast;
• If babies latch on incorrectly, they get tired quickly and sleep for a long time. At the same time, they often fall asleep right during feeding. To correct the situation, you should contact a consultant breastfeeding, a nurse or friend who has successful breastfeeding experience;
• The baby may get tired and fall asleep if the mother’s nipples are too rough. It’s hard for the baby to grab them, he tries, but then he stops and falls asleep hungry. To avoid similar situation, before breastfeeding your baby, you should express a little milk to make the breasts softer;
• The baby may sleep for a long time due to bright indoor lighting and noise. On the one hand, the child quickly falls asleep in the light and loud sounds, on the other hand, the newborn sleeps as much as he wants, but only restlessly. And this cannot be considered a full-fledged sleep.

Sometimes it happens that the baby sleeps little during the day, but at night you cannot wake him up. However, the baby also needs feeding at night. Therefore, it is recommended to put the baby to bed during the day to normalize his sleep.

How to wake up a baby for feeding?

It seems that no matter how long the baby sleeps, there is no need to wake him up. In fact, if your baby sleeps for more than five hours at a time, he should be woken up and fed, otherwise dehydration may occur. There is no need to worry that your baby will not fall asleep after you disturb her sleep.

When the baby eats and relieves himself, he will want to rest again. How long should a newborn sleep before there is a reason to wake him up? During the day you can wake up the child every 3-4 hours, at night - after five to six.

You need to wake up the baby carefully, and only during the period of shallow sleep. It is not difficult to recognize this period.

There are several signs:

• the baby's legs and arms twitch and shudder;
• the eyelids tremble, open slightly, the eyeballs move;
• if something touches the newborn’s face, he begins to make sucking movements;
• facial expressions appear on the face.

It is very important: no matter how much time the clock shows, before waking up the child, you need to create “twilight” in the room. Bright light acts on the baby like a sleeping pill. Therefore, you need to dim the lights in the room before waking up the baby. Also, before feeding, the baby needs to be swaddled so that he does not get too hot. Otherwise, he may refuse to eat.

In most cases, no matter how much the baby sleeps, he wakes up on his own when he is hungry. Some babies want to eat once every three to four hours, others want to breastfeed every hour - everything is very individual. However, sleeping more than five to six hours in a row is considered unacceptable by doctors.

How long does a newborn sleep between feedings when bottle-fed? Babies who are fed formula eat less often, about 8-10 times a day. As a rule, it is recommended to feed bottle-fed babies every three hours during the day and five hours at night. Accordingly, babies should sleep for three to five hours. In total, artificial babies sleep about the same amount as infants.

“Dangerous” prolonged sleep

If your child sleeps for a long time, five hours or more in a row, you should consult your pediatrician. If at the same time the baby eats normally, is in a good mood, and is not capricious, then the duration of his sleep is associated with malnutrition and the problem is easy to cope with.

You just need to establish breastfeeding. However, there are times when sleeping long hours should cause concern for parents.

If you have the following symptoms, you should immediately call an ambulance:

• the baby sleeps for more than five hours in almost one position, it is impossible to wake him up;
• the child’s skin and mucous membranes have become bluish;
• the newborn's body temperature has risen;
• The baby's breathing became shallow and heavy.

With these symptoms, no matter how much time is on the clock, you must urgently consult a doctor. Specialists will determine exactly what is wrong, why the child sleeps for a long time, and will be able to provide assistance.

Often parents are faced with the problem when the baby eats little and sleeps a lot. This lifestyle of a newborn baby should worry parents, because normally a child should eat frequently from the first days of life, waking up every 2-3 hours.

A newborn baby sleeps a lot, because he is just adapting to other living conditions, which takes a lot of energy from him. At this time, he gains strength and grows. Sleep duration small child depends on the characteristics of his body. However, other factors can also affect sleep. These include:

1. Difficult childbirth. The birth process- a lot of stress for the child. And difficult childbirth weakens the newborn’s body so much that in the first days he can sleep around the clock, waking up only to feed. Often, when complications occur, a woman in labor takes medications. Components pharmacological agents enter the newborn’s blood and are removed from there quite slowly, which also affects the baby’s drowsiness.

2. Malnutrition. There are several reasons why an infant is malnourished. But all of them lead to the fact that the baby does not receive required quantity milk and this makes him weaker. Malnutrition leads to lethargy and drowsiness.

3. Noise and bright light. Interestingly, newborns fall asleep best in bright light or noisy environments. These factors act on children as irritants, from which they protect themselves by deep sleep.

4. Vaccination. Vaccinations begin for children from birth. Often during the vaccination period, newborns are prescribed antiallergic and antipyretic drugs that have a calming effect. Therefore, long sleep for several days after vaccination - normal phenomenon for babies.

5. Diseases. Children who receive mother's milk have strong immunity. However, this only applies to those newborns who are breastfed, artificial feeding does not protect the child from diseases. They are more likely to be disturbed colds, colic or abdominal pain. And in infancy, any illness is stress for the body. Sleep helps restore strength.

Baby sleeps a lot and eats little, should you worry?

The fact that the newborn sleeps a lot, eats little and is not interested in environment, is normal in the first weeks after birth. During this period, the infant sleeps almost all the time, spending up to 20 hours a day in sleep. Only by the first year of life is it time general sleep is reduced to 12-13 hours a day.

However, sleep norms, like those, are changeable and depend on the characteristics of the baby’s body. In the first month infant Up to 700 ml of milk per day is enough. By the baby's first complementary feeding, this figure increases to 1000 ml. But sometimes a newborn eats little and does not feel hungry. If the newborn baby is cheerful, healthy, and gaining weight well, then there are no problems. You should be concerned if newborn babies sleep constantly, do not ask to eat at all, and often cry while awake.

What determines a baby's appetite?

In the first days of life, the stomach of a newborn baby can hold no more than 10 ml of milk. With each month, the amount of food consumed by the baby increases. However, some newborn babies eat a lot and constantly ask for the breast, while others often refuse to feed. For one child, a small amount of milk is normal, while for another, the appetite may have disappeared due to some reason.

Most often, refusal to eat is caused by the following reasons:

1. Lactation disturbance. Often, young mothers simply do not know how to wean a newborn to the breast. If a baby cannot latch on to the breast, this can lead to problems with lactation. Milk is produced in insufficient quantities, so after each feeding the baby either remains hungry or begins to suck formula from a bottle as supplementary feeding, switching to artificial feeding.

2. Excess milk. It is not uncommon for a mother to produce too much milk. During feeding, milk flows into the baby's mouth. The baby begins to choke and refuses to breastfeed.

3. The milk has changed taste. When a mother eats something bitter or sour, the milk takes on an unpleasant taste for the baby. This also happens if a woman becomes pregnant again during breastfeeding.

4. Choice. An incorrectly selected mixture is the cause of poor appetite in artificial babies. The composition of the diet must be appropriate for the baby’s age and not cause allergies or discomfort in the digestive system.

5. Illness. Any violations (from short bridle to pathologies digestive system) can be the reason why a newborn eats little.

But not always poor appetite Connected with negative factors. Breast milk, as well as artificial mixtures, have different composition. If the milk is fatty and nutritious, the baby will be satisfied a small amount, so it won’t require feeding for a long time.

A baby’s desire to eat depends on many factors: mood, amount of energy expended, taste mother's milk and even on how comfortable the mother's nipples are, the size of the opening and the softness of the breast.

The baby's appetite appears when the mother manages to establish the correct one. If there is an excess of milk, before feeding, one breast is expressed, then the other, and the baby without any problems receives the amount of food that he needs. Appetite also depends on the lifestyle of the newborn. If you walk with your child more often, play, and bathe him, the baby will spend more energy and eat more often.

How to feed a baby if he doesn't wake up

Pediatricians advise feeding a newborn on demand, not on a schedule. But what to do if the newborn eats poorly and does not ask for milk due to long sleep? If more than 3-4 hours have passed since the last feeding, and the newborn does not require food, then he must be woken up.

It is best to wake up a baby during REM sleep. The stage can be determined by the child’s behavior. During the phase deep sleep he is completely relaxed and does not respond to touch. If the sleep is superficial, then when you touch the child, his muscles tense.

The newborn has a well-developed sucking reflex. He will start sucking even in his sleep if you bring a breast or a bottle of formula to his lips. Therefore, it is not necessary to wake the baby completely for feeding. And in order for the feeding procedure to take place in conditions that are comfortable for the newborn, you need to remove his diapers, and then change the diaper.

When to sound the alarm

A newborn baby sleeps continuously for 2-3 hours. From 2 months, the duration of continuous daytime sleep increases to 3-4 hours, and at night a baby can sleep up to 5 hours. However, a lot depends on the child’s body. For some children, normal values ​​may deviate by 30-60 minutes. If the health of the newborn is in order and illnesses do not bother you, then there is nothing to worry about.

Sleeping too long should alert you if a newborn baby sleeps a lot, eats little, and at the same time slowly gains weight and lags behind other children of his age in growth and development. Do not confuse newborn drowsiness with lethargy. Uninterrupted sleep that lasts more than 4-5 hours and the baby’s inactive behavior during wakefulness should alert you. If a child is not eating well or suddenly begins to eat less, is almost not awake, even if he sleeps normally without whims, then this is a reason to contact a pediatrician.

When do you need a doctor?

Prolonged sleep can be a signal of illness. You should immediately consult a doctor if, during sleep, the newborn breathes heavily, sweats profusely, practically does not move, and does not respond to touch or attempts to wake him up.

Help from a lactation specialist is necessary if your newborn is not gaining weight well. Insufficient or improper feeding affect the baby's health. If for some reason the mother has not normalized the feeding process, then it is better to consult a specialist. A doctor is also necessary if the child himself refuses to eat.