Sleep During Infancy and Childhood

Sleep During Infancy and Childhood:-

During infancy

For three or four weeks after birth, the baby sleeps more or less day and night, waking only to meet the demands of hunger; However, when this period ends, each interval of wakefulness becomes longer, so that he falls asleep less often, but sleeps longer at a time.

This nature of rest should not interfere with the first weeks of the baby’s life; But when this period is over, great care is required to bring about regularity in sleep, otherwise too much will be taken up during the day and the nights restless and restless. The child should get used to sleeping in the middle of the day, before dinner, and for about two hours. If rested later in the day, it will worsen at night.

First of all the child should sleep with his parents. Its low body temperature and low power to generate heat make it essential. However, if it happens that the child spends a restless and restless night, it should be immediately removed from the bed and taken care of by another woman, being brought to its mother early in the morning for the purpose of care. , This is necessary to maintain the health of the mother, who will certainly soon suffer sleepless nights, and the children will also suffer from the effects of such impaired health on milk.

When a month or six weeks have passed, the child can sleep alone in a crib or cot if it is healthy, care has been taken that he has enough clothes, and the room in which he is kept is warm enough, like. 60 degrees and keep the bed in a position not exposed to cold air currents. It is necessary to pay attention to these points, because the ability to generate heat and consequently the power to maintain temperature is less during sleep than at any other time, and therefore exposure to cold is particularly harmful.

It is very frequent that inflammation of some internal organs occurs under such circumstances, without the real source of the disease being suspected. However, there is one common mistake to avoid, such as covering the baby in his cot with too many clothes, throwing a muslin handkerchief over his face, and finally, pulling the drapery of the bed together.

Its purpose is to keep the child warm enough in the fresh air; It should therefore have free access to the mouth, and the atmosphere of the whole room should be kept warm enough that the child may breathe freely: in winter, there should always be a fire in the nursery.

For the reasons mentioned above, babies up to the age of two should at least sleep on a feather bed. But after the sixth month, the pillow should be made of horse hair; Because teeth start coming out at this time and it is very important to keep the head cool.

Also, Read – The Appearance of Milk Teeth

During childhood

By the third or fourth year, the child should be given an hour or two of sleep before dinner. After this time it can be gradually stopped; However, it should be remembered that throughout childhood, more sleep is needed than in adults. Therefore, the child should be given rest every evening between seven and eight o’clock; And if he is healthy, he will sleep peacefully till the next morning.

However, no fixed rule can be laid down regarding the number of hours of sleep; One will need more or less than the other. The regularity of rest time is the main point that should be taken care of; Don’t allow anything to interfere with this, and then let the baby sleep peacefully until he wakes up on his own the next morning and is well-rested.

The amount of sleep required to maintain health varies according to the condition of the body and the habits of the individual. Children spend most of their time sleeping. Babies sleep for twelve or fourteen hours a day. A schoolboy is usually ten. In youth one-third of the twenty-four hours is spent in sleep. However, in old age, many people do not sleep more than four, five, or six hours.

It is cruel for a mother to sacrifice her child’s health to indulge her vanity, and yet how often is it done in her sleep? An evening party is assembled, and the little child is put to rest for hours beyond the appointed hour, so that it may be displayed, caressed, and admired. His normal portion of sleep is thus shortened, and, from the previous excitement, he becomes all broken and restless, and he wakes up tired and exhausted tomorrow.

Once you get up, you should not lie on the bed for a long time, but you should be encouraged to get up immediately. It is a means of inculcating the habit of early rising, which prevents many serious disorders for which the parent is not alive enough, promotes both mental and physical health, and is said to be the most useful of all habits for longevity. Is.

The baby should never be woken up suddenly; It excites the brain, accelerates the action of the heart, and if repeated too often, can have serious consequences. The transition from sleeping to waking should always be gradual.

Also, Read – Deficiency of milk

The bed in which the child now sleeps should be a mattress: at this age, feather bedding is always harmful to children; For the body, sinking deep into the bed, is completely buried in the feathers, and the unusual degree of warmth thus produced relaxes and weakens the system, especially the skin, and leaves the child exposed to the impressions of cold. Makes you unusually sensitive.

Then in the morning, as soon as the bed is empty and the body is saturated with the night’s breath, the bedclothes should be thrown behind the chair, the mattress should be shaken well and the window should be left open for a few hours. To ventilate the apartment well. It is also imperative that the child should not be allowed to sleep with persons of poor health or those very advanced in life; If possible, sleep alone.

Also, Read – Teaching a child to walk

FAQ for Infancy and Childhood:-