Do you know that your baby needs twice as much sleep as you need?
Health care professionals recommend that your baby gets enough sleep but most people may ignore this fact, as they are still not aware of the importance of sleep for newborns and toddlers.
Sleep is important for your baby. It affects their moods and their immune system and their capability to develop socially. Sleep affects the way your baby or toddler interacts with you and with other people. As earlier stated, your baby needs as much sleep as you need and more for their brain development. The brain of your child develops at night and nobody can trivialise the importance of brain development. The brain controls most of the anatomical and physiological aspects of the body and so as a parent you need to ensure adequate sleep for your child.
The amount of sleep affects the alertness of the child and their concentration on different developmental aspects and how the child relates with the environment and how they are able to pass through the required psychological stages as described by doctors. Quality sleep is as crucial to your newborns and toddlers as is the nourishment you give them.
Sleep and Nervous System Development for Newborns and Toddlers
According to research, the Central Nervous System (CNS) develops as a result of the sleep that your baby gets. The development of the CNS is very important as it coordinates the interaction of the baby and the environment in terms of stimuli and response. General body development also relies on the amount and the quality of sleep that your baby gets. Further research shows the development of the newborns’ immune system occurs while the baby sleeps. The ability of the child to fight diseases will thus depend on the amount of sleep they get.
While your child is awake, they are exposed to different experiences which require time to process. Each of the experiences is new to them and they have not yet learned to block out or how to deal with the sounds and movements they need and those they do not need. Sleep is thus a sanctuary from the social and the physical environment.
There are two cycles of sleep that your baby will experience; deep sleep (Non REM) and active sleep (REM). The two cycles rotates in 45 – 60 minutes cycle.
Active sleep involves movements and it is at this time that your baby will twitch, smile, open eyes and other body movements. It is at this time that the baby’s brain develops. The body movements indicate the amount of activity going through the baby’s brain.
Deep sleep is important for your baby as different aspects of development also take part during this time. Research shows that the physical aspect of the brain and other physical aspects of the entire body are developing and thus letting your child enjoy deep sleep is crucial.
Your newborn’s or toddler’s sleep each day needs to be consistent, to enable your baby to develop as required. Under normal conditions the baby and toddler do not have to be forced to sleep as it is involuntarily. Their body processes ensure that they sleep whether you sooth them or not. Sleep is important and if it happens that your baby stays awake for long without sleeping, you should seek help from a trained professional.
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