Many parents have a headache and worry when their baby has a "crisis" at the age of 2 with difficulty sleeping and crying. So what should a 2-year-old child who has trouble sleeping at night do to improve? To handle this problem, please refer to the following article of Ru9!
1. Is it dangerous for a 2-year-old baby to have trouble sleeping at night?
According to many medical studies, children between the ages of 1 and 2 have irregular sleep times. At this time, the baby's biological clock has not been established, the child's living time also becomes messy, so the child often encounters night crying, sleep problems, irritability for no reason.
The phenomenon of 2-year-old children having trouble sleeping and crying at night for a long time can cause deterioration of their health, mental health, and even dementia later in life. Not only that, the nervous system and brain function of a 2-year-old child will also be affected at this time. In particular, if children lose sleep for a long time, their psychology will be disturbed, thereby seriously affecting their growth.
That said, for parents to see, sleep in a 2-year-old child is extremely important and has a direct impact on the overall development of the baby. Therefore, at this stage, parents must try their best to create scientific sleep habits for their children, thereby helping them easily get a better night's sleep.
2-year-old children have trouble sleeping at night for a long time, affecting their psychology and development later on.
2. Reasons why 2-year-olds struggle to sleep at night
Why 2-year-old children often have trouble sleeping at night is also one of the common questions of parents. Here are some typical causes that Ru9 has summarized, please refer to:
- Children often have anxiety, fear of strange things and things around them, such as the dark, strangers, etc. Therefore, when they have to take their eyes off their parents even for 1 second, they also screaming, crying, insomnia.
- Children 2 years old have begun to have a breakthrough in cognition, language, and emotions with the surrounding environment. At this time, the baby's schedule of activities also has certain changes, making it difficult for children to sleep at night.
- Psychological crisis at the age of 2 must be no stranger to parents. This is the period when children "explode" their language skills, observation abilities, etc. Children may stop eating, cry and lose sleep at night, making parents worry.
- Hunger is also a common cause of sleepless nights in 2-year-olds. Because during the day, children are active and play a lot, which consumes energy. If parents do not pay attention and find out that their child is hungry, the child will experience tossing and turning, having difficulty sleeping at night.
- Another reason why 2-year-olds can't sleep is their molars. These teeth cause children to have fever, sore gums, leading to irritability, tossing at night.
- For 2-year-old children, the diet not only helps children develop comprehensively physically and intellectually, but also helps to improve and enhance resistance. However, if parents feed the child too much or eat not enough nutrients, the child may have digestive disorders, causing night crying and insomnia.
- Long-term vitamin D deficiency is also the cause of insomnia in 2-year-old children. Vitamin D deficiency also puts children at high risk of rickets, malnutrition, weakened immune systems and respiratory depression if they cry for many hours continuously.
- According to statistics, children with symptoms of respiratory diseases such as runny nose, cough, stuffy nose, wheezing, ... often have trouble sleeping at night. At this time, children often show signs of fussiness, irritability, refusal to eat, difficulty sleeping.
- If a 2-year-old child is promoted to elder brother/sister during this period, he/she is often at risk of psychological changes. Because children are used to being the center of attention of all family members. At this time, attention is focused on the new-born baby, so the child will have a negative attitude with expressions of irritability, anger, restlessness, trouble sleeping.
Lack of nutrients, psychological disorders are the causes that make it difficult for 2-year-old children to sleep.
3. Children 2 years old have trouble sleeping at night, what to do? Find out the solution
It's hard to resist when your baby is often crying and tossing and turning, having trouble sleeping. So what should a 2-year-old child have trouble sleeping at night? Here are some experiences that Ru9 has synthesized, parents can save to apply when needed:
- Talk more with children: Instead of being angry and putting pressure, parents should immerse themselves in their children's feelings and desires. Help your 2-year-old forget his discomfort by talking more with him. You can tell stories about things and events around, or simply sing a song to make the child feel interesting, comfortable and easier to fall asleep.
- Find out the cause of the child's insomnia: After the child has stabilized his mind and stopped crying, parents need to observe the child's behavior and physical expression to find out the cause of the child's trouble sleeping. This helps parents understand their children better and find the right methods to handle their child's sleeplessness and crying.
- Scientific nutritional supplements: Children 2 years old are the period when children start to eat solids on their own. At this time, parents need to supplement their children with 4 essential food groups including protein, vegetable fat, fiber, and starch.
- Create a clean and cool bedroom space: The bedroom space determines a lot to the quality of sleep for a 2-year-old child. Therefore, parents should clean and sanitize the bedroom regularly, maintain a room temperature of about 27 to 29 degrees Celsius, and create a sense of security for children by placing favorite objects next to their children when they sleep.
- Adjust the light in the bedroom: A room that is too bright is also the cause of a 2-year-old tossing and turning, having trouble sleeping through the night. Therefore, parents should turn off all lights and electronic devices around to avoid negatively affecting their children's sleep.
- Create a quiet space: Help your child fall asleep easier by creating a quiet space, minimizing noise. Because loud noises can startle your baby and easily wake him up in the middle of the night.
- Adjusting the schedule is also a way to help 2-year-olds improve their sleep quality. Parents should pay attention to their children to align mealtimes, bedtimes, playtimes, etc. For example, if a 2-year-old baby takes a nap during the day, the mother can reduce playing time with her child. Let your baby go to bed earlier at night. This method is extremely important, it not only helps to solve the problem of insomnia in 2-year-old children, but also helps to build a sequence and schedule of scientific activities for your child.
Talking to children is a way to help 2-year-olds stabilize their psychology and sleep better.
Hopefully, the above article of Ru9 has partly helped parents relieve their worries and answered the question of what to do for a 2-year-old child who has trouble sleeping at night. Ru9 understands that taking care of and raising children to grow up is always the best and most difficult experience in every parent's life. Hope you have more interesting information on your baby care journey.