Sleep during lactation and childhood.

 Sleep during lactation and childhood.

During childhood.

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For three or four weeks after birth, the infant sleeps more or less, day and night, waking up only to meet the demands of hunger; however, when this time is over, each waking period lengthens, so that he sleeps less frequently but for longer periods at a time.

This disposition to rest should not be interfered with in the first weeks of an infant’s life; but after the expiration of this period, great care should be taken to induce regularity in his sleep hours, otherwise a lot will be eaten during the day, and restless and restless nights will follow. The child should get used to sleeping in the middle of the day, before dinner, and for about two hours, more or less. If he is put to rest later in the day, it will always cause a terrible night.

The infant should sleep with his parents. The low temperature of its body, and its low heat-generating power, make it necessary. However, if the baby has restless and restless nights, he should be put to bed and looked after by another female, to be brought to his mother early in the morning, to breastfeed. This is necessary to preserve the health of the mother, who, being in Sleepless Nights, will, of course, soon be disturbed, and the infant will also suffer from the impact of this disturbed health on milk.

When a month or six weeks have passed, the baby, if he is healthy, can sleep on his own in a crib or cradle. Taking care that he has enough clothes, and the room in which he is placed is warm enough. That is. 60 degrees, and the position of the bed itself is not like exposure to cold air currents. It is necessary to pay attention to these points, because the totality of heat production, and therefore the power of maintaining temperature, is lower during sleep than at any other time, so exposure to cold is especially harmful. Inflammation of an internal organ occurs in such conditions, without suspecting the true source of the disease. Here, however, we must beware of a frequent mistake, which is to cover the baby in his crib with a lot of clothes by throwing a gauze napkin over his face and by bringing the curtains closer to the bed. The goal is to keep the infant warm enough with fresh air; therefore, he must have free access to his mouth and the atmosphere of the whole room must remain warm enough to allow the baby to breathe: in winter, therefore, there should always be a fire in the nursery.

A child up to at least two years old should sleep on a feather bed, for the reasons listed above. However, the pillow after the sixth month should be made of horsehair; at this time teething begins, and the head must remain cool.

During childhood.

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Until the third or fourth grade, the child should be allowed to sleep an hour before dinner. After this time, it can be gradually interrupted; but it should be remembered that during the entire childhood period, more sleep is needed than in adulthood. So the child should rest every evening between seven and eight o’clock; and if he is healthy, he will sleep peacefully until the next morning. However, it is not possible to establish an exact rule regarding the number of Permissible hours of sleep; one will require more or less than outré. La the regularity of the rest time is the main point that needs to be monitored; do not leave room for inconvenience, and only then let the baby sleep undisturbed, so that he wakes up on his own the next morning, and will get enough rest.

The amount of sleep needed to maintain health varies depending on the state of the body and the habits of the individual. Children spend most of their time sleeping. Children sleep twelve or fourteen hours. A schoolboy is ten. In youth, a third of the twenty-four hours are devoted to sleep. While in old age, many people sleep only four, five, or six hours.

It is cruel for a mother to sacrifice the health of her child so that she can indulge her ego, however how often this is done regarding sleep? The evening should come together, and the little one stays awake for hours after the appointed time to retire to rest, so that he can be exposed, caressed, and admired. The usual part of his sleep is thus shortened, and from the previous excitement, the little he gets is broken and irrepressible, and the next day he gets up tired.

As soon as he wakes up, he should not be allowed to stay in bed any longer but should be encouraged to get up immediately. This is the way to provoke the habit of getting up early, which prevents many serious diseases that parents do not live enough, promotes mental and physical health, and considers all habits the most favorable for longevity.

A child should never suddenly wake up from sleep; it excites the brain and speeds up the work of the heart, and if it is repeated too often, serious consequences will result. The transition from sleep to wakefulness should always be gradual.

The bed on which the child now sleeps should be tidy: at this age, a feather bed is always harmful for children; because the body, sinking deep into the bed, is completely buried in feathers, and the resulting abnormal temperature relaxes and weakens the system, especially the skin, and makes the baby unusually sensitive to cold impressions. Then, instead of making the bed in the morning as soon as it is released, and while it is still saturated with the night exhalation of the body, the sheets should be thrown on the backs of the chairs. The mattress is shaken well, and the window is open for several hours so that the apartment is well ventilated. It is also necessary not to allow the child to sleep with people who are in poor health or very advanced in life; if possible, he should sleep alone.