Too many parents and children are troubled by sleepless nights, or nights where both parents and children sleeps too little. Is is very important both to have a good place to sleep for the child, but also to develop good sleeping routines, if you want both you and your child to sleep well.

Sleep is important for everyone – adults and children alike. If you are unable to sleep, or if you are woken many times when you want to sleep, it may destroy both night and day for you. For sleep is invigorating for the soul and body.

Many things takes place during sleep, both in the body and in the brain. Similar to how a computer is kept tidy, the brain moves files to the right places, the consciouses is purified much like a hard drive is kept free from fragmented files. Dreams helps the brain, the consciousness and the sub-consciousness to clean themselves up and put topics together in new and constructive ways.

The body relaxes the muscles and regenerates the cells during sleep. Different substances are produced and released in the body in much larger quantities during sleep. Hormones, such as growth hormones and hormones that regulated the milk production in lactating women, are produced and released during sleep.

Depression, becoming psychotic or getting other psychiatric disorders are well documented causes, if you are depraved sleep for an extended period. One of the most simple and yet devastation ways of torture is sleep deprivation, and this should tell us, just how important sleep is for both parents and their children.

There are so many arguments to prioritize the good sleep in any family. But to fall asleep and sleep is not necessarily something that happens all by itself for all children. An important foundation for sleep is a good place to sleep.

Falling asleep

The child sleeps much dream sleep, called REM sleep. The type of sleep is shallow, and the baby is breathing irregularly, the eyes have quick, small movements behind closed eyelids (Rapid Eye Movements), and many babies wake up easily when they are in this stage. Most also easily falls back asleep. So wait a little, and don’t do anything until you have seen, if the child falls asleep again. Perhaps a slight humming is enough, or a gentle touch on the forehead or over the muzzle. For many children, the first superficial sleep well last 20 minutes to hour.

When a child is tired, it must be allowed to sleep. The child sleeps better if it has a clean diaper, is full and the temperature is pleasant. If it can be avoided, don’t accustom your baby to sleep with a breast or a pacifier in his or hers mouth. It is also unwise to accustom the child to hold the father’s or mother’s hand when it is about to sleep. Then the pacifier, the breast or the hands will be the signal to that now is the time to sleep for the child. Crying can also work the same way if the child gets used to cry before sleeping. The trick is to make the child falls asleep without any specific stimuli.

It is not good for any children for them to cry themselves to sleep. A child that cries must be comforted. If something is wrong, you must help the child. Food, clean diaper, less light or less noise or more security. Is the child sick, then you must consider what is wrong. Is it hot (signs of fever)? Is it cold? Is it a stomach ache? Is this constipation? Consider wether a health visitor or doctor should be contacted and asked for advice.

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