An 11-month-old child often wakes up at night, sleeps poorly and cries: causes, prevention

Sometimes an 11-month-old child does not sleep well at night, and often wakes up and cries. Parents should make sure that he is healthy and does not have a fever. Next, you need to check the diaper and evaluate the conditions in which the baby sleeps. The quality of sleep depends on whether he is comfortable or, for example, hot or cold. It is necessary to exclude all factors that could interfere with the child’s proper rest.

Baby at 11 months

Sleep characteristics of an eleven-month-old baby

Children at 11 months are quite active, many are already starting to walk. In order to rest and recuperate, they need about 14 hours of sleep, 11-12 of which occur at night. Some babies try to switch to one nap during the day. Readiness for this can be determined by the following signs:

The child stays awake for about 5-6 hours in a row, while remaining active and joyful, does not become capricious, does not scream or cry;
In the morning, the baby wakes up earlier and earlier;
The second sleep is shifted to a later time, and the baby gets up when it is time to rest at night.

If the baby still has two naps during the day, then their total duration should not exceed 3 hours. Parents need to carefully monitor the child, notice signs of extreme fatigue, in order to painlessly make the transition to one rest during daylight hours.

Eleven-month-old babies often no longer wake up at night to eat. The main thing is that the child eats well before lights out. If the baby is calm and comfortable, he sleeps until the morning without waking up.

Why is sleep disrupted in infants?

Baby sucks breast

An 11-month-old child, like an adult, sleeps according to biorhythms. If they are disturbed, then the baby rests for a long time during the day, but at night he is mostly awake. The baby's nervous system is still immature, so you need to help your baby establish sleep rhythms. He should associate day and sunlight with activity; in the morning he should open the curtains. In the evening, the child should tune in to sleep, so it is recommended to dim the lights and not turn on loud music and TV.

Note! If the baby is healthy, has not been out for a long walk during the day, has eaten heavily before bed, and his diaper is empty, the causes of the sleep disorder should be looked for in the conditions in which the baby is located.
First of all, this is the temperature and humidity in the room.

Why does my child have trouble sleeping?

At what age can you give your child kiwi?

A baby's sleep will be disrupted for a variety of reasons. First, parents must rule out the disease, check if the baby has a fever, and if possible, examine the throat.

Doesn't sleep well

If your 11-month-old baby has trouble sleeping at night, chances are he hasn't used up his energy during the day. It happens that the baby is not very active, but in order to get tired, the baby can run for several hours in a row. To tire out the baby, you need to spend time outdoors and play. At the same time, parents are not faced with the task of exhausting the baby so that he collapses without strength. At this age, children usually do not know how to entertain themselves, so moms and dads should help them and teach them various games.

Games with baby

Poor sleep is often explained by the baby's hunger. Children on breastfeeding at 11 months may still need night feedings and wake up several times during the night. In any case, you should not overfeed the baby at the penultimate meal. It is necessary that he remains slightly hungry. Then, immediately before bedtime, the child will eat a hearty meal and sleep much more soundly.

Wakes up often

If your 11 month old baby wakes up frequently at night, he may be feeling uncomfortable:

Too hot or, conversely, cold;
The crib is in a draft;
A street lamp shines into your eyes;
The room is stuffy, hot, the air is dry;
The diaper is full or does not fit the baby. Even the best quality diapers sometimes provoke allergic reactions; you need to check for irritation on the bottom;
Clothes rub. Babies grow so quickly, so pants and blouses imperceptibly become small for them;
Underwear or bedding made of synthetic materials causes discomfort.

Wakes up and cries

It is worth reconsidering how busy the day is with events, if the child often wakes up at night and cries; 11 months is a transition period characterized by hyperactivity. Babies get excited quickly, but calm down much more slowly.

Note! Poor sleep, with constant waking up and crying, usually appears if the child has received a lot of emotions during the day. It doesn’t matter whether they were happy or the baby was stressed.

The baby’s nervous system does not have time to cope with all the experiences, so his calmness is disturbed and the quality of his sleep suffers. Therefore, it is so important to follow simple rules:

plan active games and acquaintances for the afternoon;
in the evening, gradually prepare the baby for bed, create rituals that help him relax and feel safe.

A child may cry during illness. At this age, babies are actively teething, which causes itching, and sometimes the temperature rises. The baby may wake up in the middle of the night due to unpleasant sensations. Then during the day the baby will drool profusely and have clear mucous discharge from the nose. To alleviate the condition, the baby will put everything in his mouth, scratching his gums.

Teeth cutting

Psychological reasons

The main reasons why a child sleeps poorly, which are psychological in nature, are frequent mental and emotional overload. With each new day, the baby receives many new, previously unknown impressions. His nervous system turns out to be unprepared for so much new information, new sensations and new emotions. It often happens that she simply cannot cope, and the one-year-old child does not sleep well at night or often wakes up because she cannot react inappropriately to certain events.

Therefore, at this age, parents must correctly “dose” such loads in order to understand at any time whether everything is all right with the child, that is, to be sure that he is not overtired or overly excited.

The human psyche is structured in such a way that in childhood the processes of its inhibition are much slower than the processes of excitation. That is, the baby is able to be impressed for a long time by what he sees or hears.

Therefore, you should not “surprise” your child with something extraordinary in the afternoon - it will be very difficult for him to fall asleep after that. A simple and very correct conclusion follows from this: everything unfamiliar and not previously mastered should happen to children in the first half of the day.

It is better to plan the following activities for the first half of the day:

Active games and entertainment.
Arrival at the guests' house.
Visits to the doctor or to crowded places.
Watching entertainment programs.
Meeting new people and things.

In this case, all new experiences and their consequences will occur in the second half of the day and by the time of the night's rest, the baby will gradually calm down.

In addition, the afternoon (and especially the evening) time should be structured so that its course is as ordinary as possible for children. This will also give the child an additional “set” that everything calms down and slows down in the evening.

An important point is the daily ritual of going to bed. If it has not yet been introduced into the daily routine, this omission must be urgently corrected.

This approach allows not only to accustom the child to order, but also gives him additional confidence in the correctness of his actions, their importance and usefulness. In the future, this will make it easy to resolve situations when the child does not want to go to bed due to whims or manifestations of his character

If all of the above conditions are created, but the baby still has trouble falling asleep at night (even despite the child’s healthy condition), you need to consult a doctor. Perhaps the problem is neurological in nature, and it is no longer possible to do without the help of a specialist.

How to normalize baby's sleep

Loose stools in a breastfed baby

Parents can help their baby sleep more peacefully and longer by following simple tips:

Ventilate the room before going to bed;
Make sure that the temperature remains around 22 degrees;
Make sure the humidity is between 50 and 70 percent. To do this, it is better to get rid of carpets and soft toys. Wipe and dust floors daily. You can already try to introduce your child to these activities;
Buy bedding for your baby only from natural materials. The same goes for pajamas;
Do not dress your baby too warmly and make sure that he does not freeze;
Spend active time during the day, study with your child, play, walk for at least two hours every day;
Surround the baby with care, do not leave him alone for a long time. Frequent waking up may occur due to the fact that the baby did not have enough attention from its mother during the day;
Try to fix the problem as soon as it arises. The longer a child cries, the more difficult it is for him to fall asleep later. This does not mean that you need to immediately grab him in your arms and rock him to sleep. You can wait a few minutes, perhaps the baby will calm down on his own, which will help him learn to fall asleep on his own. You cannot ignore a child's cry. He must understand that his parents are nearby and will always come to his aid. It is important for the baby to feel safe.

The main reason for poor sleep

It should be noted that you can begin to teach your child to fall asleep without outside help at 10-11 months. If a baby does not get used to falling asleep on his own before the age of 1.5 years, it will be very difficult to do this at an older age.

3 common mistakes made by parents during this period:

Abruptly leaving the baby alone in the crib. If a child is not used to falling asleep on his own, then he will not be able to learn this in 1 day. Left alone in the room, without parents, the baby may get scared, which will only complicate the situation. Therefore, you need to gradually teach your baby to fall asleep on his own.
Not explaining the reason for your actions. By the age of 11 months, children, despite their modest vocabulary, understand many things that their parents talk about. If the baby is used to falling asleep in his mother's arms, then leaving him alone without explanation can lead to psychological disorders.
Ignoring the baby's fears. In order for a child to learn to fall asleep without assistance, you should be attentive to him, creating comfortable conditions. If you notice that your baby is afraid of the dark, leave a night light on in the room. Eliminate loud sounds or excessive silence; the baby falls asleep well to monotonous background noise. You can put on a disc with lullabies or fairy tales.

Preventing sleep problems

In order for your baby to sleep peacefully and sweetly, you need to help organize his daily routine. To do this, you need to adhere to a certain schedule, this applies not only to sleep, but also to nutrition and walks. Children quickly get used to the routine.

The child should be in a calm environment. Quarrels between parents, constant screaming and showdowns can affect the child’s psyche and lead to problems with sleep. In addition, babies adopt the mood of their parents. If they are tired and exhausted, then the baby begins to suffer from this. Therefore, when planning your daily schedule, you need to take into account the interests of all family members.

Note! Rituals whose purpose is to help the child fall asleep have proven themselves to be effective. Every day the baby repeats the same actions with mom or dad. For example, he bathes, then eats, changes clothes before bed and goes to bed, where he listens to his favorite fairy tale or lullaby.

Part of the ritual

When a child at eleven months does not sleep well, what his parents should do depends on the factors affecting the baby’s rest. It is not always immediately possible to understand why the baby constantly wakes up. Perhaps you just need to choose more comfortable clothes for your baby and change the underwear. Sometimes you have to revise your daily routine to help your baby sleep peacefully and sweetly.

What absolutely should not be done

Sometimes a child who cannot fall asleep exhausts parents so much that they are ready to do anything just to ensure a peaceful rest. Yes, some concessions can be made, especially when the baby is sick and capricious due to poor health. But there are things that absolutely cannot be done, as they only aggravate sleep problems:

Rock the baby. Sleeping cannot become a bad habit if it is practiced only for up to three months. The older the baby gets, the more difficult it will be to wean him off this in the future. By rocking a child for up to a year or more, you will make it so that he will not be able to quickly adapt to a child care facility or fall asleep normally outside the home. Even just holding a one-year-old baby in your arms until he falls asleep is no longer worth it. 10-15 minutes is enough, and then put him in the crib, but extend the tactile contact by stroking his tummy or head.
Feed your baby at night. You can practice feeding at night for up to six months, maximum – up to 8-9 months. And then you need to organize the diet so that the child does not go to bed immediately after eating, but also does not have time to get hungry before bed. Night feedings completely disrupt the baby's daily rhythm and overload the digestive system. The only thing you can offer a one-year-old child at night is a few sips of water.
Scold or make fun of him. Yes, he has really grown and matured a lot in a year and his mother really wants to consider him independent. But this is far from the case yet. Therefore, scolding your baby for tossing around for a long time and not being able to sleep will only make the problem even worse. And even more so, making fun of the first fears: darkness, nightmares, etc. The child should see you as an ally and helper, not a critic.
Take it to your bed. Especially if you haven't practiced co-sleeping before. The baby must understand that at night my mother and I sleep separately. In the first year of life, the best option is for the baby's crib to be in the parents' room. And in a year and a half it is quite possible to transfer him to a separate room. In bed with his mother, he can lie down during the day, read a book, and talk. But a sleeping child should only be in his own bed.
Leave him alone in the room. Especially if you just recently moved your baby out of your own bedroom. One of the most common reasons why a child sleeps poorly or takes a long time to fall asleep is that he is afraid of being left alone. Sit with him until he falls asleep. This way the child will feel that his mother is nearby all the time and he is completely safe. At an older age, this will eliminate most of the children’s nighttime fears, which means it will make the child’s psyche healthier.

If a one-year-old child does not sleep well at night and often wakes up, the problem must be solved right now. He also adapts very easily to various changes. Therefore, it's time to think about what you can change in your family life to improve the quality of your night's sleep.

It is necessary to teach him to fall asleep on his own at this age - this will avoid many problems in the future.

Children who sleep with their parents for up to two years or more have a harder time coping with even short-term separation from their mother. It is more difficult for them to build normal relationships with peers, and they are slow to adapt to new conditions.

The “you sleep and I sleep” principle does not give the mother the opportunity to do her own business while the baby is resting. And this affects her quality of life. Therefore, it is better to endure temporary inconveniences during the year and solve the problem of falling asleep on your own, rather than have both the child and the parents suffer from it.