Skeleton cradle syndrome: when the baby wakes up crying every time you try to leave it in the crib

How many times have you heard that it looks like your crib has skewers? Or maybe you have suffered it yourself with your children. Why do some children sleep peacefully in their crib while others, trying to leave them, they wake up as if the crib burned them or had sharp skewers? Is there a trick to get babies to sleep in their crib?

Understanding babies sleep

Babies already sleep inside their mother's gut and newborns have a sleeping pattern very similar to what they had during pregnancy. However, his dream is very different from ours.

The dream is divided into cycles and each cycle in turn into several phases. Newborns have two phases of sleep predominantly: active (superficial) and calm (deep). There is a third phase of undetermined sleep. Like us, they alternate the different phases of sleep. Their cycles are shorter and last about 60 minutes (compared to 90 minutes of the adult). Newborns sleep many hours a day but do not pull it, but wake up every 2-4 hours, among other things to feed (a newborn takes between 8 and 12 shots a day).

During the first months they do not distinguish day at night, they have a rhythm of sleep that we call ultradiano.

When a baby falls asleep, they do it in active sleep phase. In this period there may be eye movements, grimaces and even make small movements of arms and legs or emit groans; Breathing in this phase is irregular. Sometimes we worry because it seems they are restless, even awake, but it is normal. About 30 minutes later the quiet sleep phase (deep sleep). Here the baby is completely relaxed and breathes softly and deeply; It does not emit any sound and there are no movements. This sleep phase lasts another 30-40 minutes.

The baby is alternating these sleep cycles until he wakes up. Sometimes he is not able to link the different cycles and wakes up earlier. It is also common for babies who slept acceptably in the first months to wake up more around 6 months; These happen because they are incorporating new phases of sleep. And although for many parents it can be hopeless, it is normal for up to 2-3 years, children to present nightly awakenings. But there will come a day when they will fall asleep ...

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Don't you sleep because you stay hungry?

This doubt appears especially in mothers who breastfeed. “I think he is hungry. I give it to him, he falls asleep, he doesn't want more; Then I leave him in his crib and in a minute, he's already awake! And ask me to breastfeed again. It must be that I don't have enough milk… ”

This, logically, anguish the mothers. And yet, most likely, milk is more than enough for this baby.

Imagine that you are in arms, warm and close to your mother (whom you already recognize perfectly and want to always be close as it is your food). You are sucking so at ease until you fall asleep (in the phase of superficial sleep). And, suddenly, you notice that they separate you from mom, you don't smell it, it also seems that it's colder ... so you look for the nipple, but you don't find it!

Then the baby wakes up, cries, we take them back in his arms and look for the breast to go back to sleep as he did before, sucking. They aren't hungry, so it's probably only a few seconds sucking to go back to sleep. In awakenings, babies often fall asleep again in the way they did the previous time (sucking, or with the pacifier, rocking ...)

If you have doubts that your baby is eating enough, consult the pediatrician. The best indicator that a baby eats well is that he gains weight properly.

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Then what do we do? How do we get them to sleep in their crib?

Unfortunately there are no magic tricks and each family must choose what best suits them. We can try not to fall asleep at all to the chest (or taking the bottle) and leave them awake (but sleepy) in their crib so that they sleep alone.

We can offer you the pacifier and / or a transitional object (duo, stuffed animal) that we must later remove in small babies (remember that to prevent sudden infant death syndrome the crib must be empty, without stuffed animals or cushions).

Sometimes, and especially at the beginning, getting them to not sleep while eating is frankly difficult. As we have said that babies fall asleep in the active (superficial) sleep phase, we can wait 20-30 minutes until they enter the deep sleep phase before leaving them in their crib.

Also, routines always help. Around 3-4 months they begin to distinguish day at night and it is convenient to establish sleep routines to facilitate rest.

In the practical guide for parents of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics you can deepen the sleep in babies and read the advice they propose.

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But the crib seems to have skewers ...

It turns out that it is time to put him to sleep, we hope to be sure that he is sound asleep, cradling it, and that nothing disturbs him. It's the moment. Stealthy we go to your room. And we leave it slowly in his crib, with the soft light, in silence. But just rubbing his back the mattress our little angel wakes up and starts complaining. If we insist on the idea of ​​leaving him in the crib, he cries. Instead of having a fluffy mattress, the crib seems to have spikes that stick in its back.

He cries because he doesn't want us to walk away, being separated from us means that their survival mechanisms come into alert and let us know that we are leaving them forgotten. They do not know that they are safe at home, they are still emotional and instinctive beings that need to feel safe with us. What can we do?

Although the usual thing for us is for the baby to sleep for the first months in a bassinet or mini-crib in the parents' room, each family must choose what best suits them. There are families who choose to put a baby cot and others decide to share their bed with the baby. If we keep in mind the recommendations to avoid sudden infant death, it can also be a good solution. The baby will sleep calmer, better, and therefore the parents too.

The Spanish Association of Pediatrics recommends avoiding schooling in children under three months, premature babies or smoking parents, who consume alcohol, sedative drugs or drugs; Nor should they share a bed with siblings or relatives other than parents. Babies should sleep on a firm surface (not on sofas or armchairs), free of objects (there should be no stuffed animals or cushions, or even roll-over positioners) and in a well-ventilated room with a pleasant temperature.

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Video: Safe Sleep for Infants (March 2024).