It is not uncommon for newborn babies to have trouble sleeping at night. The fact is that at a very early age, shallow sleep prevails over deep phases, so children often wake up. The cause of night awakenings may also be a physiological need for feeding.
Indeed, a child's good sleep indicates his health. And if a child sleeps restlessly, often wakes up, and cries, this alarms the parents, and they seek help from a doctor. Parents of small children are especially often worried, because not being doctors, they cannot be sure of the health of the little person whom you cannot ask: “What happened? Does anything hurt?
Intestinal colic in a baby is not a pathology, but a natural reaction of the child’s body to new living conditions.
How can you help your baby cope with colic?
It is necessary to use a probiotic for children, containing a complex of beneficial bacteria that help reduce the risk of dysbiosis in infants and normalize the intestinal microflora from birth.
In the first months after the birth of a baby, parents face many difficulties, and colic in a child’s stomach is a common problem. Many people consider severe abdominal pain in infants as an unpleasant, but natural phenomenon. In fact, there are ways to help a child in such a situation and even prevent colic.
Symptoms and signs of colic in newborns
Colic is severe pain in the abdomen due to the accumulation of gases. Their cause is an imbalance of intestinal microflora. It can be difficult for young mothers to understand what is wrong with their child: the baby is worried and crying for an unknown reason. However, there are some signs that allow you to recognize colic. Their signs include:
characteristic pose - fists tightly clenched, legs pulled up to the stomach; facial redness; restless sleep and frequent crying; bloating - it becomes hard; watery, mucous stools; frequent regurgitation and flatulence.
We find out the causes of colic in children.
Most often, colic in a child’s stomach does not appear immediately after birth, but at the age of three to four weeks. By one and a half to two months the attacks become especially acute. What are the reasons for their appearance?
The fact is that during the first days of life, the baby encounters bacteria that are completely unfamiliar to his immune system.
Such bacteria enter the child’s body from the environment, and it is impossible to avoid this, and it is not necessary. Among hundreds of these microorganisms, there are necessarily opportunistic bacteria - those that normally do not harm us, but under certain conditions can actively multiply and cause illness. The baby's body is an ideal environment for such bacteria. Babies do not yet have beneficial intestinal microflora, their protective system is just being formed, and too few enzymes are produced for proper digestion.
This is why dysbiosis occurs—an imbalance of intestinal microflora. The baby experiences discomfort, the stool becomes watery or mucous, the child sleeps poorly,
Colic is a common problem in babies under four months of age.
Fortunately, these symptoms often go away on their own after about two weeks, without causing much trouble to either the child or the mother.
The baby’s digestive system is gradually adapting, the number of lacto- and bifidobacteria is growing, these “little defenders” inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms.
However, sometimes everything does not go according to plan: the formation of the correct microflora is delayed, and the child develops colic.
Why is this happening?
Doctors identify several risk factors, including prematurity, infectious diseases, taking antibiotics, artificial feeding, and prolonged stay of the child away from the mother. The more the baby is in contact with his mother, the faster his immune system “learns” to interact with the outside world. Allergies can also influence the occurrence of colic. Air entering the stomach also plays a role - this happens during feeding if the baby does not latch on to the breast correctly. However, even more often air enters the gastrointestinal tract during artificial feeding.
Normal intestinal microflora in a child is very important: it not only participates in metabolism and promotes proper development, but also performs a protective function, forming immunity.
Baby sleep norm 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 his cognitive activity is gradually beginning to prevail. 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 the norm of 9-10 hours. An important nuance of a good rest is the 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.
What treatment will help with colic?
Is it possible to help a child suffering from colic? Of course, but the approach must be comprehensive and systematic.
Proper nutrition for mom. If colic is accompanied by a rash, constipation, or too frequent bowel movements, there are reasons to suspect an allergy. Everything that the mother eats indirectly enters the child’s body. The main suspects are eggs, soy, fiber-rich vegetables, some dairy products, hot spices, nuts. At the same time, everything is very individual, so it is necessary to consult a doctor, identify foods that cause problems, and temporarily exclude them from the mother’s diet. In addition, it is advisable for nursing mothers to take probiotic preparations, since maternal microflora has a significant impact on the baby’s body. Probiotics promote the growth of beneficial microflora, which suppresses pathogenic microorganisms.
Correct feeding technique. It is important to ensure that the baby grasps the breast tightly when feeding (not only the nipple, but also the breast aureole). And if the baby is bottle-fed, you need to select a nipple of a suitable size and shape with a hole that will “give” a comfortable portion of the formula at a time, and hold the bottle at an angle of 45 0.
Change of position. The more time a child spends lying down, almost without moving, the higher the risk of developing colic. After feeding, the baby should be carried on the shoulder in an upright position for some time - this way the swallowed air will come out without getting into the intestines.
Gymnastics and massage. Simple exercises, such as alternately bending your legs towards your stomach, and a gentle circular massage of the tummy will help you quickly get rid of gas.
Warm. A heating pad or warm bath can significantly relieve the painful condition. Heat relieves tension and relaxes muscles.
Probiotics. Preparations that contain live bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are a quick and radical solution to the problem of colic. They normalize the intestinal microflora and help the baby and mother overcome the difficult period of gastrointestinal adaptation without difficulty.
Probiotics for dysbiosis of intestinal microflora.
Colic in babies is very often a consequence of dysbiosis - a lack of beneficial bacteria in the body that helps digestion. The intestinal microflora of a child reaches maturity at approximately two and a half years: by this age it is already similar to the intestinal flora of an adult. Infancy is the most important period when you can influence the formation of flora and, therefore, optimize the development of the baby. You can help the growth of the “correct” microflora by taking probiotics - preparations containing beneficial bacteria. In the early period, it is important to select children's forms of products - drops with a complex composition containing both bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. Both types of bacteria are present in our intestines, their ratio in the body is individual, however, both are necessary for the formation of intestinal microflora and proper digestion.
Moreover, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli have different functions. Lactobacilli help protect the baby from food allergies and atopic reactions, normalize stools and relieve diarrhea, and strengthen the child’s body’s defense system. Bifidobacteria are necessary for proper absorption of nutrients, healthy intestinal motility, synthesis of many vital vitamins and the formation of natural gastrointestinal microflora.
Both types of bacteria affect not only digestion, but also the formation of the child’s immunity and the rate of weight gain. They prevent the occurrence of colic, which means that the baby will be able to develop and rest peacefully.
The use of probiotics from the very first days of a baby’s life allows you to completely avoid colic, bloating, indigestion and allergic reactions. Of course, this is not a guarantee, but the risk of all these troubles will be much less, because you will have formed a healthy intestinal microflora in the child in advance.
Poor sleep in a 1.5 month old child
Natalia
March 19, 2020
Hello! Please tell me if our situation is normal. The child was born on February 1, 2021. Birth weight 4130, height 57 cm. Boy. The birth was natural, the second, the bladder was punctured, after the puncture I gave birth within about 1.5 hours. According to Apgar, the indicators were 8/8. From the second night in the maternity hospital, the child cried a lot at night, on the advice of the nurses, she began to supplement her with formula, put her to the breast more often, and if nothing helped, she rocked her in her arms for a long time. During the day, the baby slept for relatively long periods of time (1.5-2 hours). After discharge from the maternity hospital at night, the baby was attached to the breast on demand an unlimited number of times, there was no such prolonged crying, apparently there was enough milk, although he woke up often and sucked the breast for a long time . During the day, it was possible to lay the child down only in the arms or under the chest, and the child could sleep for an hour, sometimes for 1.5-2 hours. However, from about 3 weeks of age, daytime sleep became very short, motion sickness became longer. You rock it for about 30 minutes, seem to be sound asleep, transfer it to the crib, and after 15-30 minutes the child begins to wake up, sometimes crying in his sleep. Only long-term motion sickness again helps, shifting it is already unsuccessful, he also wakes up, or remains to hold the sleeping person in his arms. But even in your hands you can clearly see how after half an hour he begins to worry again. These are probably the changing phases of sleep. What’s confusing is that the child used to overcome these phase changes, but now he can’t. This lasts until now. The increase in the first month was 1 kg 100 g. During periods of wakefulness, the baby is quite calm, lies, walks, and looks at something. Approximate waking time is 1-1.30 hours. Complete breastfeeding, almost on demand, intervals of 2 hours, sometimes persistently demands by screaming and you have to breastfeed again an hour later. Sometimes the child lets go of the breast and it is clear that he is trying to fall asleep on his own, but after a few minutes he shudders, rubs his face with his hands, seems to calm down again, and after a few minutes all the actions are repeated again and the child finally wakes up, however, he is capricious and, with the help of the breast or rocking, quickly begins to fall asleep . I myself try to stick to the diet of a nursing mother. We didn’t have any attacks of creepy rabbits, as it seems to me, of course there are whims due to discomfort in the stomach, he sometimes cries and curls up his legs, but there was no incredible crying, which is impossible to distract with anything. I would like to know the opinion of experts. Is this still an ongoing adaptation to a new life? Or the wrong habit of falling asleep on your arms and chest? But I can’t help but rock the baby when he cries. We haven’t seen a neurologist in a month; for some reason the pediatrician didn’t refer us. We live in a military camp, there is no pediatric neurologist, most likely they will be sent to the regional center at 3 months. Is it possible, based on the situation I described, to suspect the cause of poor sleep in neurological problems? Or is this the norm for this age and we need to wait and be patient?
Age:
34
The question is closed
Restless short sleep
What should I give my baby to normalize the intestinal microflora?
If you need to choose the right treatment for your baby, you should pay attention to probiotics. The products are designed to combat colic in babies, improve digestion and form healthy microflora. Lactobacilli (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) reduce the risk of developing dysbiosis and allergies, help cope with colic, work as a preventive measure for diarrhea in babies who are being treated with antibiotics, and strengthen the body's defense system. Bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium longum) help the child better absorb vitamins and nutrients, suppress the activity of harmful and opportunistic bacteria, and improve digestion.
Author of the article:
Salikhova A.R.
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.
