Healthy sleep and a suitable daily routine

The daily routine is a succession of different activities during the day.

The right routine gives your baby predictability and therefore peace of mind. Your baby knows what to expect next. Thanks to the routine, sleep and awake time are normalized. It becomes easier for your child to go to sleep and wake up at the same time.

During a full night's sleep, accumulated stress levels are reduced and strength is restored, knowledge is structured, the immune system is strengthened and the growth hormone is produced.

Before 3 months of age, a baby is immature and cannot live according to a schedule. He falls asleep and wakes up when his or her body demands it. Melatonin is not produced. Circadian rhythms are not set and a baby does not distinguish day from night. The baby's dreams at this time are shallow and chaotic, and may last only 20-40 minutes.

At 5 months of age, children's sleep stages become similar to those of an adult. It’s possible to roughly stabilize the time of getting up and going to bed at night. From 6 months of age, it is worth setting an optimal routine for your baby. Up to 10 months, the routine will constantly change slightly due to the growth spurt and rapid development of the child. From 6 months of age, the parents' task is to fix the bedtime and wake-up times. 

You should not start a daily routine if your baby is teething, the regress has started or a child has health problems.

The feeding routine is established when complementary foods are introduced. It is very likely that a child who has eaten a big meal an hour before bedtime will sleep soundly and for longer stretches.

References

Joseph, D., Chong, N. W., Shanks, M. E., Rosato, E., Taub, N. A., Petersen, S. A., Symonds, M. E., Whitehouse, W. P., & Wailoo, M. (2015). Getting rhythm: how do babies do it?. Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 100(1), F50–F54.https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306104
Del Bene VE. Temperature. In: Walker HK, Hall WD, Hurst JW, editors. Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations. 3rd edition. Boston: Butterworths; 1990. Chapter 218. Retrieved October 5, 2020, fromhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK331/
Sleep Foundation. Children and Sleep https://www.sleepfoundation.org/children-and-sleep
https://rossleep.ru/skolko-spat-rekomendatsii-nsf/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29195725/
https://medlineplus.gov/healthysleep.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29562892/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01252.x
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/children-and-sleep/when-do-kids-stop-napping
Марк Вайсблут — "Здоровый сон – счастливый ребенок". Издательство: Альпина нон-фикшн. ISBN: 978-5-9614-3583-2. Год выпуска: 2014. Язык: Русский. 640 стр.
Мадлен Дени  — "Сон вашего ребенка (сборник)". Издательство: Клевер-Медиа-Групп. ISBN: 978-5-91982-202-8. Год издания: 2013. Язык: Русский. 192 стр.

All recommendations, articles and other content of the baby sleep diary app are intended for physically and mentally healthy children without developmental disabilities and are for information purposes only. Always follow your doctor's recommendations and prescriptions. If your child is experiencing sleep problems, reflecting the presence of any disease, most often neurological, you should contact your doctor.