It must be very difficult to find even onea new mother who would not dream of the opportunity to sleep peacefully at least a night, without waking up from the baby's crying. And in some cases, dreams come true - young parents sleep throughout the night without waking up even once. And other parents do their best to adjust the baby to an adult lifestyle. But is it really safe and will such a daily routine harm the baby? After all, the sleep of a newborn baby is a very delicate substance. For the harmonious development of a newborn baby, two main components are necessary - sound healthy sleep and breastfeeding. A breastfed baby sleeps a lot and this is normal. It is this relationship between food and sleep that will be discussed below. Of course, a baby who sleeps a lot throughout the entire neonatal period, which is considered the first six weeks of the baby's life, and does not wake up, causes delight and affection in his parents, grandparents and other relatives. And few people think about the question of whether it is normal for a child to sleep a lot? After all, at first glance, the child seems healthy, well-fed and absolutely happy. However, if the child sleeps a lot, pediatricians most often encounter certain disorders that are often dangerous to the baby's health. Such a "convenient" baby for mom and dad has some problems with breastfeeding: the child sucks the breast little by little, as a result of which he does not receive the necessary amount of milk. Due to the fact that the baby's body lacks nutrients, and fluid in general, the child becomes even more passive and calm, simply put, loses strength. Due to dehydration, the baby's jaundice may worsen or even develop hypoglycemia, causing pathological drowsiness. Possible dehydration of the body is no less dangerous for a newborn baby. Such complications often lead to hospitalization of the baby, because they require the most intensive intervention of doctors. In fact, the natural characteristics of a newborn baby are such that he should suckle at his mother's breast as often and as long as possible. A healthy child can be breastfed every hour or hour and a half. But, alas, most parents are not delighted with the baby being at his mother's breast almost around the clock, mistakenly considering such a baby a spoiled and problematic baby. But such a physiological need for food has a scientifically proven explanation. The volume of a newborn baby's stomach is very small - no more than the baby's own fist. Breast milk has its own chemical composition, due to which it is digested very, very quickly - literally within one hour. And no child will sleep peacefully when his stomach is empty. That is why frequent breastfeeding is so important for a child - it indicates that the baby is absolutely healthy and developing as it should, without any pathological deviations from the age norm.

Danger of underfeeding

But rare sucking - once every three hours andless often - is a deviation from the norm. Such a feeding schedule significantly increases the risk of health problems for the baby. In addition, rare breastfeeding leads to the emergence of related problems, as a result, the pathological circle can close and it will be very difficult to break it, often without the help of doctors and completely unrealistic:

• Immunoglobulins.

The baby, in the first weeks of life, sucks littlemother's breast, does not receive enough colostrum first, and then early breast milk, which contains a huge amount of various immunoglobulins. But it is these very immunoglobulins that protect the child's body from the invasion of infections and other hostile agents.

• Difficulty of the act of sucking.

A baby who did not suckle for the first fewdays when there was colostrum in the breast, may experience serious difficulties with the process of sucking the breast itself after milk appears in it. This problem is especially relevant for those babies whose mothers have flat or inverted nipples.

• Jaundice of newborns.

As is known, for successful treatment of a child fromjaundice of a newborn, it is necessary to give the child water as often as possible, so that bilirubin is excreted from the body along with the liquid. That is why it is easy to guess that if the child does not suckle well and does not receive enough liquid, the course of jaundice becomes more pronounced and severe.

• Delayed arrival of milk.

Because the baby sucks little during the first few days after birth, the nipples do not receive sufficient stimulation. As a result, the arrival of milk is significantly delayed.

• Risk of developing mastitis.

Quite a large number of womenare faced with such an extremely unpleasant phenomenon as mastitis. Mastitis in women especially often develops precisely during the period when the first rush of milk is observed. And if the baby sucks the breast poorly, the risk of the disease increases many times over.

• Increased risk of postpartum hemorrhage in the mother.

Breast stimulation that occurs duringbreastfeeding the baby, stimulates active contraction of the uterus. And, as a result, bleeding in the early and late postpartum periods is reduced.

• Increased risk of hypoglycemia.

If the baby does not receive enoughbreast milk or formula, the level of glucose in the child's blood drops significantly. Accordingly, the risk of hypoglycemia in the child increases several times, which manifests itself in the following symptoms:

• The child is pathologically drowsy - it is almost impossible to wake him, he sleeps almost all the time.
• The child is very sluggish, does not care about anything.
• Parents may notice that the baby's undershirts and sheets become wet too quickly - the child sweats very actively.
• A baby can very often shudder in a dream.
• Breathing in crumbs can be very frequent and superficial.
• The skin and mucous membranes of the child acquire a very pale color.
• A baby can have problems with sucking, and therefore completely refuses food.

If a newborn baby exhibits one or more of the above symptoms, parents should consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Other causes of increased drowsiness of a newborn baby

Above are just a few reasons for the baby's refusal to breastfeed and increased sleepiness. However, this is far from a complete list:

• Features of the generic process.

In the event that the birth process was toodifficult and protracted, especially if any pharmacological drugs were used during the birth, the child may also sleep soundly for almost the entire first period and, accordingly, miss feedings. In particularly severe cases, such children lose the ability to coordinate the processes of breathing and swallowing at the mother's breast.

• Incorrect application of crumbs to the chest.

In case the baby takes the breastincorrectly, he can quickly get tired and fall asleep at the breast. In order to correct this problem, the mother needs to seek help from a breastfeeding consultant, and in his absence, from a pediatric nurse or at least an experienced friend who has successfully breastfed her own babies. By the way, very often the first rush of milk prevents the correct latching on to the breast. From the arrival of milk, the breast swells, the nipples become rough and it is quite difficult for the baby to grasp them with his lips. The baby, after several fruitless attempts, simply gets tired and falls asleep again, without having received the nutrition he needs. In order to avoid this situation, the mother should express a small amount of milk before each feeding so that the breast becomes softer and the baby can grasp the nipple.

• Environmental factors.

There is an opinion that a newborn baby canfall asleep only in the dark and almost complete silence. However, this opinion is wrong - bright light and loud sounds make the baby fall asleep almost instantly. Thus, the baby's body protects itself from stress and nervous system overload. Doctors have noticed an interesting pattern - if it is noisy at home, the child wants to sleep constantly. However, remember that in a noisy environment, a baby sleeps restlessly, and this sleep of a baby cannot be considered full. If your newborn baby sleeps a lot and is not going to wake up at feeding time, you should wake the baby up and feed him. With such actions, the mother will be able to develop an associative series of "hunger - discomfort" and "feeling of satiety - pleasant sensations." And the most important thing that you will achieve is providing your baby with everything necessary for normal growth and development. Today, all doctors - pediatricians and breastfeeding specialists unanimously believe that the maximum permissible time of a baby's uninterrupted sleep can be no more than 5 hours. However, parents need to take into account the fact that all children without exception are individuals, so the time between feedings is different for all babies. Someone can eat every five hours, and someone - every hour or two should suckle their mother's breast.

• A baby breast does not sleep much during the day

If for some reason the baby sleeps littleduring the day, it is quite natural that at night he will sleep soundly. In such cases, try to put the baby to bed more often during the day. If the child began to sleep more in the evening and at night, monitor his sleep during the day.

How to wake the crumbs?

Probably every mother knows how hard it can be sometimeswake up the baby. In order to make the baby's awakening easier, doctors recommend waking the baby during the period of superficial sleep. It is quite easy to determine this period by the following signs:

• The child's eyelids begin to shake, open slightly, looking closely, parents can notice how the eyeballs move.
• Handles and legs of the baby begin to twitch, slightly shudder.
• The child begins to make sucking movements, especially if the child's face is concerned.
• A facial expression appears on the face of the sleeping crumb.

As mentioned above, bright light canmake the baby close his eyes, and he will fall asleep again. Therefore, before waking the baby for feeding, be sure to make sure that the room has subdued, soft lighting. After that, remove the blankets, unswaddle the baby. Remember that if the baby is hot, he is unlikely to suckle at his mother's breast. Some mothers change the diaper before feeding. However, this should only be done if the baby has pooped. But if the baby has not pooped, it is advisable to change the diaper after feeding, since the baby pees several times during feeding.

Sleep as an alarm

In all the cases described above, the statethe child requires consultation with breastfeeding specialists or pediatricians. However, the situation is not that dangerous. But if you find the following symptoms in your baby, call an ambulance immediately:

• The child sleeps more than 5 hours in a row, practically without stirring or changing his posture, all attempts to wake him up do not bring success.
• The sleeping baby has a bluish skin and mucous membranes
• The baby got a fever.
• The child's breathing became heavy and superficial.

All these symptoms can be a sign of seriousdiseases and should never be ignored by parents. The price for delay can be too high. Doctors will accurately determine why the child sleeps a lot and what causes the accompanying symptoms. In general, pediatricians advise seeking medical advice in any situation that raises doubts in young parents - the child began to sleep a lot, eats less, etc. It is much better to sound the alarm in vain than to miss a real danger. Very little time will pass, and you will get used to the still new role of parents, get to know your baby, and he - you. You yourself will not notice how the baby will have a stable daily routine that suits the whole family, and the question of how much a baby should sleep will become irrelevant for you. But healthy and restful sleep is necessary not only for a newborn baby, but for any person throughout his life. And it is in your power from early childhood to accustom the child to the correct sleep pattern, which will allow him to avoid many problems in the future. We recommend reading:

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