Sleep education is not equal to sleep training, and sleep training is not equal to crying immunity. We have comprehensively combed the authoritative views of academic circles and the sleep training methods of parenting websites, trying to objectively state the eternal topic of parenting from multiple angles.

If the baby has problems sleeping at night, if he doesn't sleep or wakes up when he sleeps, crying will often make the new mother exhausted and the life and rest of the whole family will be affected. If mothers can only apply the experience of the previous generation to their babies, or communicate through forums, Pony will be lucky if she succeeds, and if she fails, it may be counterproductive and the situation will deteriorate.

In Britain, America and other countries, whether children can sleep independently is a topic that parents must care about. They often start training in different ways from a few months, and the profession of sleep trainer came into being in the 1990s. Sleep trainers are generally affiliated with infant sleep service institutions and are the most professional groups in various infant services. The average cost of door-to-door service is 200 pounds per night, excluding the fees charged by the organization, which is about 2000 yuan. At present, there is no such occupation in China.

The survey report shows that 20%-40% of babies have sleep problems, which have a negative impact on family life. However, professional opinions on how to carry out sleep training are often diametrically opposed.

For example, the crying immunization method represented by Dr. Faber and the intimate contact method of Dr. Sears. Parents are usually divided into these two camps. However, in recent years, with the deepening of their respective research, both Felber and Sears are moving closer to each other's theories and tend to compromise. As a result, the public thinks that experts are even more unreliable because they have changed their positions. Hey, moms are going to throw bottles when they see this!

The University of Reading and University College London investigated and observed 65,438+000 mothers and their 65,438+04-65,438+06-month-old children. According to their clinical manifestations, their evaluation and treatment of infant sleep problems reached three conclusions:

First, in the face of children's sleep problems, cultural factors need to be considered. Through various studies, it is found that as an active method, it is no problem for parents and children to sleep together.

Secondly, compared with active intimacy and comfort (such as feeding in bed), we advocate sleep education behavior management for infants and young children, because the main parenting methods of parents at present will lead to children's sleep problems.

Third, if infants and young children have undefined anxiety and sleep cognitive problems, their mothers are depressed, and the emotional connection between mother and child is contradictory, they should be vigilant. These infants may develop long-lasting sleep problems.

1. Crying immunity.

How come? When he is still awake, put him in the crib, pat him on the back, talk to him gently, and then leave the room (this means leaving the room quickly, not waiting for him to fall asleep).

Then there will be expected protests, accompanied by tears, and then crying. Then it's time for bad mother to appear. Let him cry for five minutes, which seems so long. Then he went back to his room and repeated the same action-quickly patted him, said good night, and then left. Dad had better finish this step, because mom will think of breastfeeding and cuddling.

As long as the child is still crying, repeat the above process to gradually extend the time away from him, and extend it for another 5 minutes on the basis of the last time until he falls asleep.

Extend her time alone for a few minutes the next night, and the same is true on the third night.

2. Establish a sleep schedule training method.

Although each child needs different sleep time, it is important for parents to know how long children need to close their eyes and the best time to fall asleep. Babies aged 3- 12 months should have at least 2-3 hours of sleep during the day, plus adequate sleep at night, and need 14- 15 hours of sleep every day. If you skip the daytime nap, your child will become anxious, have difficulty falling asleep at night, and will probably sleep intermittently.

Once you know when the child will naturally feel sleepy and tired, rather than overtired, you can put him in the crib accordingly.

This method is very similar to the RIE sleep theory we introduced in the last issue. At the beginning, you need to do a series of quiet and relaxing actions, including taking a hot bath before going to bed and breastfeeding, which are routine and continuous. If your goal is to get him to sleep or take a nap early, then complete the above steps 20 minutes in advance every night until you reach the point where you want your child to start sleeping.

3. Re-establish customary law.

Does your baby rely on your care, nursing, or rocking back and forth to sleep?

How come? Now start to correct the sleep pattern. If the baby has to feed and cuddle to fall asleep, put the last feeding time 30 minutes earlier than usual, and put him in the crib when he is sleepy but not asleep.

Of course, at first, he will be anxious and even make a lot of noise. At this time, he should be given some time. Once he learns to comfort himself (almost all babies can learn it in a short time), he may suck his fingers (which is a harmless and effective habit) or a pacifier, or he may shake and play with the blanket himself. In short, he won't need you anymore, of course, only when he sleeps!

Even a baby who has slept all night will wake up in the middle of the night because of stress or changes in the environment. As long as these disturbing factors are still there, we should give extra comfort to our children. But as long as it returns to normal, please let the child get used to the original model again and check it before dawn.

Similarly, don't be surprised if the baby wakes up in the middle of the night at the main stage of physical development, such as learning to crawl or walk. This is your cleverness trying to practice his new skills, so it will interfere with his sleep pattern in a few weeks.