Sleeping is a spiritual practice of my mother. I often whisper softly for half a day. I am sleepy. My baby still stares at a pair of big eyes and looks sleepy.
At this time, family members often say:
You see the baby’s eyes are wide open, where is the appearance of wanting to sleep, you let her play for a while, and when she is tired, she will fall asleep at once!
[Not sleeping means that you are not tired, and when you are tired, you fall asleep at once].
This experience has been widely circulated, but if you really believe it, you may raise a sleeping slag baby with your own hands.
Don’t sleep because you are too tired.
The baby did not sleep after playing very late, not necessarily because he was not tired or sleepy. On the contrary, they were probably unable to sleep because of excessive fatigue.
Here is a hormone that controls our [sleep-wake] pattern: cortisol. It is a hormone that helps us resist fatigue and stay awake.
When there is a sign of drowsiness but we do not go to sleep, the secretion of cortisol in our body will increase to resist fatigue.
At this time, adults can metabolize too much cortisol through exercise, deep breathing, meditation and other means to prepare for sleep, but small babies do not have this ability.
This chemical change in the body will further hinder sleep and make the baby appear more tired and excited.
Want to sleep, but can’t sleep
For babies who only depend on their parents to survive, sleep is not something they can sleep if they want.
Whether the sleep process can be successfully completed depends on the support of the sleep environment and the coordination of sleep ability. [Go to sleep when tired] It is really difficult for babies.
They can’t pull the curtains, change their pajamas and climb to bed to sleep obediently. Instead, they need parents to help them and create an atmosphere suitable for sleep.
In addition, in order to fall asleep smoothly, one needs to keep one’s body and mind at peace.
However, the baby does not have the ability to transition from an active mood of playing to a peaceful state. Parents are required to provide appropriate bedtime procedures to appease the baby’s mood, help the baby create a sleep atmosphere and prepare for sleep.
Therefore, most of the time, it is not that the baby is not sleepy and does not want to sleep, but that the surrounding environment is not suitable for sleep and they cannot sleep.
If parents mistakenly think that the baby is not sleepy at this moment, they can wait until they are tired before going to sleep, which will push the baby to an unhealthy collapse sleep.
Collapse falling asleep will make the baby more tired and sleep poorly.
After the baby falls asleep, the brain will direct the whole sleep cycle and switch between different sleep stages, just like driving to shift gears.
If the baby falls asleep properly, the brain will calmly command and make the whole conversion process gradual and peaceful:
Sleep starts in the first gear, then changes to the second gear to enter the light sleep phase of non-REM sleep, and then changes to the third gear to enter the deep sleep phase of non-REM sleep.
If the baby is too tired to sleep again, it will become a collapse sleep: they will fall asleep very fast, and the transition between sleep states will also become faster, just like after the first gear starts, they will directly switch to the third gear.
Therefore, for babies, the more tired they are, the harder it is to fall asleep, or they cry frequently when they fall asleep. Excessive fatigue will make them more prone to [sleep] and even wake up repeatedly after falling asleep.
Don’t believe the experience of [not sleeping is not tired, tired will naturally sleep]. When the baby sends out drowsy signals such as reduced activities, slow movements, rubbing eyes, yawning, etc., don’t ignore it, otherwise it is easy to make the baby [overtired].
In the long run, the baby’s sleep structure will slowly change, causing more phenomena of being unable to sleep peacefully and waking up frequently, not to mention forming a good sleep habit.