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Baby Frequently Waking Up - Reasons and Remedies
If your baby wakes up every hour at night and catches a glimpse of you every fleeting moment, then it's probably a case of frequent waking. Chances are he may be involving you in his sleep time woes, and it's time to pay some attention. Although frequent waking in babies is a common phenomenon in up to six month-old babies, it could be linked to other reasons too. Here's what you have to know about the subject.
Is it Normal for Babies to Wake Up Frequently and have Short Sleeping Cycles?
Frequent short-sleeping cycles are normal for six-month-old babies and younger infants. Babies sleep very lightly, very lightly, in fact, their sleep duration usually comes in 50-minute chunks after which they wake up and drift away to sleep again. Your baby will slowly learn how to sleep for longer stretches and master how to lull or soothe himself to sleep. Think of this as priming themselves up for longer nap-times or sleep cycles.
In some cases, however, when they wake up, they may not go back to sleep, and it could be linked to various reasons, be it medical or nutrition. We discuss them below.
Reasons why Some Babies are Unable to Sleep Longer?
Here are some of the reasons why newborn wakes up every hour:
1. Nutrition and Diet
Did your baby get to meet his RDA for nutrients and did you feed him well? If your baby's not getting proper nutrition or not eating enough, that could be the reason as hunger is a cause for frequent waking in babies. You may try increasing the amount of food slowly or add breastmilk and observe what happens in their sleep cycles.
2. Make Him Comfortable
Your baby's not at an age where he can speak. Look for signs to see if he's uncomfortable and needs some soothing. His discomfort may stem from bruises or bumps which he receives in the middle of the day, often going unnoticed until late at night since he's busy playing and enjoying himself. These little things may bother him and prevent him from sleeping well.
3. Stomach Pain
Air in the stomach is responsible for frequent waking in babies. The trapped air in tummies leads to stomach pain, this waking them up every so often. Burping is a nice way to fix that.
4. Silent Reflux
Reflux symptoms prevent babies from sleeping well at night. Watch out for silent reflux and ask your doctor for medication recommendations.
5. Noisy Environment
Noisy homes and too much unpleasant sounds during the day makes babies unhappy and unable to settle down at night. Every baby needs a bit of downtime to drift off into slumber.
6. Teething
Teething is a natural physiological process that disrupts sleeping patterns in babies. Teething begins around six months of age and sometimes may continue waking up babies right up to toddler hood.
7. Habit
If your baby's too used to sleeping in irregular patterns, it may have become a habit. You'll have to work on rewiring it, and that takes a bit of patience and time. Habits get hardwired over time, and you'll have to keep in mind that you'll have to change up the routines completely to rewire them.
For example, you can try reducing the duration of their daytime naps to get them ready for their night-time sleep. It's effective, but they may not be happy with it in the beginning.
8. Infections
A baby's immune system is in its developing stages which makes them more prone to catching illnesses, infections, and let's not forget the common cold.
Since your baby is able to grab and move objects, he will be exposing himself to germs more and more as the hours go by. Putting objects in their mouths increases the chances of upper respiratory tract infections and may cause congestion and coughing if he already has a cold.
Diarrhoea, irregular bowel movements, and fever are common waking factors in babies as well. Check with the doctor regarding infections and ask what medications or supplements you could give them. Avoid exposing your baby to people who have contagious infections and practice proper hygiene at home as precautionary measures.
Useful Tips to Help your Baby Get Good Sleep
Here are some useful tips to get your baby a good night's sleep.
1. Feed Him Well
Make sure you give him his breastmilk and formulae and meet the requirement nutritional intakes for the day. This applies to fruits, veggies, lean meats, and dairy. Feed small portions frequently if your baby is facing low appetite to improve it. Read nutrition labels for the formulae and check whether any ingredients cause allergies. Try using sleep aids like pacifiers and ask the doctor regarding medications or nutritional supplements in case you are worried about any nutritional deficiencies.
2. Set A Schedule
Set a sleeping schedule and allow your baby to wind down one hour prior to going to bed. Make him comfortable by singing his favourite nightly tunes and focus on giving them high-quality naps throughout the day.
3. Add White Noise
There is good noise and bad noise. White noise is the former and very useful in drifting babies away to deep sleep. A fan blowing in the corner of the room works to remedy their bedtime woes.
4. Help Him Sleep and Wake Up
Help your baby out by allowing him to learn how to soothe himself to sleep. Softly speak to him when he is waking up and don't suddenly pick him up or hold him. Your baby will gradually learn how to go back to sleep on his own this way, even in your absence.
5. Monitor His Naps
Maybe your little one had too many naps or too much time to sleep throughout the day which is why he hesitates to go back to bed at night. Gradually move his nap times around and ensure that they aren't set too late during the day.
6. Change The Environment
Changing the sleep environment for your baby works wonders for their sleep. Try to establish sleeping cues like turning on the fan as background noise and closing the curtains. Softly speak to your baby before lulling them to sleep and follow through these cues as consistently as possible since your baby will identify them and get ready to sleep.
Minimize environmental noise, turn down the lights and play bedtime songs if needed. Babies love the ambience.
7. Use A Crib Wedge
If your baby's having a hard time sleeping on a flat surface like a traditional crib or mattress, you may try giving a crib wedge a shot. Elevating one end of the mattress works too and placing a crib wedge under that adjusts their sleeping angle, thus allowing them to sleep comfortably.
8. Avoid Eye Contact
No, we're not telling to run away and leave your little one completely alone from the very minute. Eye contact or animated movements stimulate their brains and gets them overexcited. This may prevent them from sleeping and averting your gaze for a while and gradually leave the room after singing bedtime tunes may help.
9. Do Not Hold Him
If your baby happens to wake up in the middle of his sleep, don't hold him up. This wakes them up. Instead, let the fan noise keep playing in the background and give them the time and space they need to fall back asleep.
10. Change Their Diapers
Changing diapers strategically makes your baby feel cosy and worry-free. Thoughts and anguish aside, make sure to change their diapers before a midnight feeding session and re-swaddle him. Changing the diaper after night feedings make it difficult for them to fall back asleep since they get excited. Change it the moment he wakes up and also, it's considered good hygiene.
You can't change your baby's irregular routines in a single day. They just don't work that way. You'll need to give them lots of love, time, and patience to make them feel safe and not uneasy or separation anxiety.
Don't let their naps be too long and make sure they take the time to fall back asleep whenever they wake up. It's the cue you have to watch out for. Ask yourself - do they wake up normally or is something else waking them up? Once you've determined what it is, do what you can to fix it followed by giving time and space. They say it takes 2 weeks to grasp the nuances of a new habit and the same stands for bedtime routines.
If you still feel something's wrong despite trying out the above solutions, then it's best to have your baby checked by a paediatrician.
Also Read:
How to Make Baby Sleep At Night
Ferber Method – Getting Your Baby to Sleep
How to Get Your Baby to Nap
Lullaby Songs for Babies to Sleep
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simar
Guardian of a Newborn boy
2 mins ago
#cutestbaby
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6 Ways to Deal With an Irritating Mother-in-Law
Are you finding it hard to adjust to your mother-in-law? Do you want to make things work between the two of you and not tear your head off? Learn how to deal with a difficult mother-in-law with some helpful tips given below and keep your peace and sanity in check.
The relationship between a daughter-in-law and a mother-in-law is a complicated one. They're the two most important women in a man's life and both have his best interests at heart. As for him, he'd like nothing more than to see you two hit it off. But the road's not easy and if you have a controlling mother-in-law, you need to learn how to deal with her. It's the only way to keep your relationship in check.
One aspect that we would want to put forth is that you should learn to ignore her taunts or comments, upto a certain level. It will help you stride through your life smoothly. However, don't dismiss and disregard her from your mind and thoughts completely just because you are not able to get along. Writing her off totally would only take things from bad to worse. You never know, she may turn all the more hostile. Therefore, maintaining the balance between ignorance and cognizance is the key to success.
Get Your Sanity Back: How to Handle a Difficult Mother-in-law
1. Don't Raise Your Voice
She may get on your nerves and drive you to frustration, but avoid the temptation to yell. She could use that against you to make you feel guilty. Rather, be firm and assert your point, but don't be rude and lose control no matter how bad the situation gets. And what if you're reaching the boiling point? Well, in that case, be modest and walk away.
2. Try to Understand Her
Have you ever wondered why mothers-in-law seem to hate daughters-in-law? Well, many of them feel that they're losing their son to someone else. Your mother-in-law has always put him first and wants him to do the same with her. Now that you're in his life, she could feel that she's losing him. Try to understand her behaviour and her needs as a mom rather than taking things personally and escalating them into ugly fights.
3. Accept that She May Not Change
If your mother-in-law criticises you constantly and speaks about you behind your back, despite your best efforts to win her heart, it's time to accept that she's unlikely to mend her ways. The only thing you can do to save your sanity without losing control is to detach yourself from her emotionally. Respect her, but maintain a distance. On the off chance that your mother-in-law seems like she's turning the other cheek, give it time before deciding whether she's really changed.
4. Identify the Triggers
By now you must've figured out the mother-in-law issues that make you go mad. Maybe it's her rude remarks or condescending tone or her nagging that gets on your nerves. Whatever it is, identify the triggers so that you know when to hold your tongue or walk away. The sooner you do this, the quicker you can defuse situations.
5. Don't Nag Your Man About Her
Try to resolve your mother-in-law problems on your own. While you should tell your husband when the two of you have arguments, try to keep from complaining too much. She's his mother and he loves her no matter what, so you need to tread carefully. Too much nagging and things could go against you!
6. Let Her Have Her Say
An interfering mother-in-law can be tough to handle. More times than most, all you want to do is rage and get her to shut up. But a better solution is to let her give you as many advices and suggestions as she wants. Simply listen rather than getting into an argument. You don't have to follow them if you don't want to, but letting her have her say could get her to leave you alone quicker.
If you want to find a solution to your in-law woes, you need to get to the root of the problem first. Understand why she's rude or indifferent towards you and learn to get around it. Try to be good to her and win her heart before terming her as a bad mother-in-law. And if that doesn't work, it's time to try the clever tricks you've learnt from reading the write-up above. Read more
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Teaching Toddlers to Identify People By Name
As part of the growth and development of communication, a toddler has to learn how to identify people, places and things. You can help yours by means of fun activities to make toddlers identify people by names. You can also use conversation to drive the point home.
Toddlers who turn 2 years old enter a very exciting phase of their lives. They suddenly become more communicative and alert trying to grasp, understand and acquire all that is happening around them. As a parent, you have to help your child in the art of learning communication the right way through activities and even your communication with him. When he starts babbling words and shows the willingness to learn more words, you have to give him the right stimulus to identify others by their names and utter them properly as far as possible.
Tips for How to Teach Toddlers to Identify People by Name
1. When and How to Do this?
Toddlers are extremely busy human beings trying to understand and grasp as many things as they can! With a whole lot of activities happening around them, chances are your 2-year-old will be uttering some words too. It’ll be even better for him when those words get a response from you. This is the right time for you to start teaching him to identify others by name.
2. Activities to Engage Him in
Toddlers begin to show their oral development when they start using their mouths to form letters. They may even be babbling some words although they may still mix up the sounds. Here are some tips for teaching toddlers the name of others:
Repeat the name and the sound even if your toddler can’t spell it out.
Speak in sentences like 'George, say hello to your friend, Jack'. Repeat the entire sentence several times. Every time your toddler attempts to repeat the name, ask the person he’s speaking to to show interest and respond.
For complicated names like Jacqueline, you can break the name in two parts or simply shorten it for your toddler. This will prevent him from becoming frustrated while learning the name.
Ask your child to use nicknames like Jo for Jonathan, but as soon as your toddler begins to spell out names correctly, refrain from using them and switch to proper names for everyone.
3. Encouragement and Praise for Your Toddler
At every step of the learning process, you toddler needs praise and encouragement. At the same time, you need to be extremely patient and flexible. Repetition of names, activities, events and stories are a way of life with a toddler in the house, so brace yourself for it. As your child gets older, he’ll demand more answers from you and you should be ready for them. It’ll encourage him to learn.
If you keep repeating the process, very soon your toddler will amaze you by recognising and identifying not only things but also people by their names. You should start this learning process early and as soon as possible so that when he grows up, he knows to use the right names for the right things and the right people. Read more
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If Mommying Was a Regular Job, This Is What It Would Be Like
They say being a mom is the toughest job in the world. Let's imagine for a moment that mommying is an actual paying job. So, what would the job description be? What would be the perks and hardships? Let's take a closer look...
Before you read this, here's a disclaimer - If you're not a mom yet but planning to have a baby, this job description is going to intimidate you! But as veteran moms will tell you, parenting has multiple rewards, most of them not apparent or immediate. But the joys of raising your little one overpower the challenges of this tremendously difficult job profile...
1. If you're working as a mom, there will be a lot of multitasking on a daily basis.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Source: Tribune[/caption]
2. You will have to face a lot of challenging situations like this.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Source: The Social Crat[/caption]
3. And this.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Source: The Social Crat[/caption]
4. Of course, you will have to do it all by yourself.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="546"] Source: Parents Shouldn't Text[/caption]
5. You must be prepared to be embarrassed in public...
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Source: The Social Crat[/caption]
6. ...and have an eye for seeing things differently.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="564"] Source: Double The Batch[/caption]
7. There will be no shortage of disgusting tasks.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Source: Double The Batch[/caption]
8. Loads of patience will be required when dealing with kids.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="564"] Source: Perfection Pending[/caption]
9. After all, there will be a lot of tantrums along the way.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Source: Viral GIFs[/caption]
10. It is essential to be an expert at conflict resolution.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Source: Buzzfeed[/caption]
11. You will have to work 24/7.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="314"] Source: Redbook[/caption]
12. So you will be too busy to have a social life.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Source: Giphy[/caption]
13. Obviously, there will be no such thing as 'me time' either.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Source: Mashable[/caption]
14. And you can say goodbye to privacy.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Source: The Little Things[/caption]
15. Precious or expensive items might be damaged...
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="720"] Source: Awesome Inventions[/caption]
16. Or forever lost.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Source: The Poke[/caption]
17. Despite all that you do and tolerate, you will receive little to no appreciation.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="700"] Source: Lifehack[/caption]
18. Finally, just when you think you can sleep peacefully...
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Source: ViralGIFs[/caption]
19. You will be woken up at any time!
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Source: Lifehack[/caption]
Phew! It really does sound like the toughest job in the world! Yet moms do it everyday without complaining, and without any expectations. Hats off to you moms! Read more
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Dr Sameer awadhiya has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
2 hours ago
Q. #asktheexpert
baby having nose block.. sleeping problem
what should I do?
Dr Sameer awadhiya
Paediatrician
2 hours ago
A. nasal blockage can be relieved by using nasal saline drops like nasoclear saline drops in thecg nose followed by nasal aspirator to take out the secretions very ghently
steam inhalation can also be helpful in this condition
Nikitha has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 2 months
2 hours ago
Q. At what month does the baby go from breech position to cephalic position?
Nikitha
Mom of a 9 yr 5 m old boy
2 hours ago
A. hello nearing your delivery it will happen.any concern then it would be better to check with your doctor and she will be able to guide you better on examination of the same and advise you accordingly which would be better and also safe
Dr Vandan H Kumar has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
2 hours ago
Q. @ the time of birth baby weight 2.475kg but after completed 6weeks baby weight approx 3kg, why baby weight gain very slow, till breast-feeding milk and urinate 6-7 times and potty 2-3 times. can u please suggest why slow in progress in weight gain???
Read moreDr Vandan H Kumar
Paediatrician
2 hours ago
A. the average birth weight of neonates is about 3 kg.
during the first few days after birth, the newborn loses
extracellular fluid equivalent to about 10% of the body
weight.
most infants regain their birth weight by the age of 10 days. subsequently, they gain weight at a rate of
approximately 25 to 30 g per day for the first 3 months of life.
thereafter they gain about 400 g weight every month,
for the remaining part of the first year. x
an infant usually doubles his birth weight (taken as 3 kg) by the age of 5 months. the birth weight triples at 1 year and is four times at 2 years of age.
the weight of ca child at the age of three years is usually
five times that of the birth weight.
Manisha Singh has added a new answer
Trying To Conceive
2 hours ago
Q. #asktheexpert mera baby 3 month ka h use gas bhuat banti h is karan wo bhuat rota hai
Manisha Singh
Expecting Mom due in 1 month
1 hour ago
A. it's very common for babies having gas problem ...you should recommend your doctor for this
Sai Prasanthi R L has added a new answer
Trying To Conceive
2 hours ago
Q. Hi
what to give 6 months old baby to eat
Sai Prasanthi R L
Mom of a 10 yr 2 m old boy
2 hours ago
A. Hello dear! Once your baby completes 6 months you can start giving small quantities of semi solids like homemade cerelac, mashed bananas, apple puree, ragi and so on. Continue with breastfeeding. Keep Babyhug tummy roll on handy
Dr Muhsina has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 2 months
1 hour ago
Q. now I am in 30 weeks of pregnancy I have vomiting.I couldn't control what the reasons for this vomiting
Dr Muhsina
Expecting Mom due in 3 months
1 hour ago
A. Some women may have vomiting throughout their pregnancy. The most common reason for vomiting during the third trimester may be gastritis. Make sure you eat small frequent meals, preferably every 2 hours. If your baby's weight during checkups are adequate..u needn't worry much about this. You can also consult your doctor and take anti emetics and PPIs if the vomiting is bothering you or interfering with your daily activities.
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