Question
A two-month-old baby is experiencing poor deep sleep. Lately, the baby often sleeps heavily but wakes up once an hour, crying for someone to hold them. How can this be solved?
Answer
Unstable baby sleep can be caused by a variety of factors, which can be categorized into external and internal factors:
- External Factors
- Hunger: Newborns and infants under three months may wake up at night due to hunger, and the solution is to feed them at appropriate times. For older infants who are full before bedtime, this factor can be ruled out. During dry weather, infants may wake up at night due to thirst, so a small amount of water can be given before bed.
- Calcium Deficiency: Calcium deficiency is one of the important factors causing unstable baby sleep, possibly due to decreased blood calcium levels, which can increase the excitability of the brain’s vegetative nervous system, leading to night waking and night terrors. The solution is to supplement calcium and vitamin D while getting plenty of sunlight.