Science has long confirmed that the growth hormone needed for young children to grow is secreted by the pituitary gland during sleep. It is a consensus that babies grow well only when they sleep well. Baby sleep characteristics 1-3 months old babies mainly spend their time in sleep. Although there are also problems with night crying, day and night reversals and midnight nursing, sleep is less likely to bother parents with a little soothing. Babies between the ages of 4 and 6 months typically sleep 15-16 hours a day. Sleep is still the most important part of a baby’s life. This period, the baby shallow sleep more time, as shown by sleep with rich facial expressions, such as smiling, frowning, pouting or doing strange equal, sometimes stretching the limbs a little, humming, breathing fast and slow unevenly, etc.. Light sleep has an important role in the baby’s brain development, it can increase the synthesis and metabolism of protein and enhance the baby’s memory. Some mothers observe their babies especially carefully, and worry about the slightest movement at night: is the baby hungry? Or is he thirsty? Wet? The baby’s normal sleep will be disturbed by the excessive care or attention given to the baby. Do not place long stuffed toys, small cushions, etc. in the baby’s bed to avoid blocking the child’s breathing and causing danger. Other toys with cords or angles should not be placed on the bed either. Why babies do not sleep well After 4 months, many babies refuse to sleep well or fall asleep alone, and even after sleeping, they often wake up crying. What are the reasons for this? One, because the sleep environment is not good Indoor light is too strong, external noise is too loud, will interfere with the normal sleep of young children, easy to wake up. Babies are prone to kick the quilt at night and get cold, or the quilt is covered too thick and too hot, all of which cause babies to be irritable and wake up easily. To avoid this, the mother has to do is to create a safe and comfortable bed environment for the baby. At this stage, the baby’s bones are not yet well developed, the mattress should be soft and hard, do not lay too soft, so as not to affect the growth of the baby’s bones. This time you should pick a suitable pillow for your baby to facilitate their sleep. In order to prevent your baby from kicking the quilt and catching cold at night, you can cover your baby with a small cotton quilt and your little feet with thick socks that are exposed outside the quilt. It is not advisable to let babies sleep in thick clothes. Babies are tightly wrapped in thick clothes, which can easily lead to poor breathing and blood circulation and affect physical development. Second, no good sleep habits Most babies do not sleep well because of bad habits, did not form a biological clock, resulting in them not distinguish between day and night. Three tips to help your baby sleep well overnight A. Create a good sleep environment. Mom can control the light and sound in the bedroom to encourage the formation of the baby’s biological clock. Through the contrast between light and darkness, your baby can develop an awareness of day and night. In the morning when it is time for your baby to get up, mom draws the curtains of the room to let the sunlight in. You can give your baby a hug or play soft music to wake him or her up on their own. Try to play with your baby as much as possible during the day when he is awake, so that his room has plenty of daylight. Daily life noises, such as the ringing of the phone, the volume of the TV, or the hum of the clothes less machine, the sound of adults walking and talking, do not need to be deliberately lightened. An hour or two before the baby goes to sleep at night, the mother can draw the curtains and dim the light in the room, and when it’s time for the baby to go to sleep, turn off the lights and close the door so that no light comes through the door or noises come in. If you need to take care of your baby at night, you should also choose a dark night light or use a flashlight, and turn it off when you’re done. The curtains in the room should be thick to avoid the light coming through the window to affect the baby’s biological clock. Second, the programmed bedtime pattern A programmed bedtime pattern helps babies develop regular sleep habits. An American expert once wrote in “A Good Night’s Sleep”: “If your baby knows what to do next, he will be more relaxed. The more relaxed your baby is, the easier it is to go to bed and fall asleep quickly.” The content of this bedtime routine is up to the mother. It usually includes giving baby a bath, changing into pajamas, telling a story, singing a nursery song or giving baby a massage and playing a quiet game with him or her. The mother should stick to these bedtime routines as much as possible so that the baby understands that it is time to go to sleep after all this is done. This procedure will not only help your baby to fall asleep as soon as possible, but also promote your baby’s intellectual development through the interaction between mom and baby. Third, train your baby’s ability to fall asleep on his own Many mothers are used to holding and patting their babies to sleep, and then putting him to bed after they fall asleep. This is actually a very unscientific practice, especially when the baby is 4-6 months old and starting to learn to establish sleep habits. If he is held and patted to sleep every night, he will become accustomed to having to fall asleep the same way in later years. As your baby gets older, putting him to sleep will become a “difficult” task for mom to perform every day. Mom can try to encourage her baby to fall asleep on her own. When she observes that they are sleepy, put her baby to bed and let them fall asleep on their own, and if he starts to cry, she might as well harden her heart and let him cry for a while. When he learns to fall asleep by himself, when he wakes up in the middle of the night (all babies wake up several times in the night), he can also fall back to sleep by himself without relying on his mother’s help. Warm tip: Don’t sleep with your baby in your arms Many mothers worry that their babies will have accidents during sleep and often sleep with their arms around them. In fact, this increases the chances of accidents: 1, snuggling makes it difficult for the baby to breathe fresh air, inhale the dirty air from the blanket, easy to get sick; 2, may cause the baby to develop the bad habit of waking up to eat milk, not easy to form a regular feeding, thus hindering the baby’s appetite and digestive function; 3, restricts the baby’s free movement during sleep, difficult to stretch the body, affecting the normal blood circulation. If the mother sleeps too much and the nipple accidentally blocks the baby’s nostrils, it may also cause serious consequences such as suffocation.